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Penny@Plot 33:
Hi All  - new member here, and I wasn't sure where to say hello! I'm in my first year as a plot holder, and my no-dig allotment is well under way in sunny (haha, sometimes!) west Wales. I found this forum whilst searching for info about Aminopyralid contamination. I am also a member of a no-dig Facebook group, and a lot of the members there seem to be having trouble again, including myself. Can I ask - the last post I could find on the matter was from 2016 - has anyone here had any issues this year? My problem has been with bags of Erin Farmyard Manure that I put down in my greenhouse, and I think at least one other bag used on the plot for some peas.

Tee Gee:
Hi Penny

Welcome to A4A


--- Quote ---has anyone here had any issues this year?
--- End quote ---

I am not sure! but I know there is something wrong with my compost and short of having it tested I won't find out if it is affected with this dreaded weedkiller!!

I put some well rotted 'horse muck' in the bottom of my rings ( I use the "ring culture" method) and all my plants are stunted, have discoloured leaves and are just pathetic!

I have thought of repotting my plants but by the time I suspected my problem, I thought it might be too late to move them, so I got to thinking at least as they are; I will get a few tomatoes and peppers.

My Cucumbers are the same height as they were when I put them in a couple of months ago and would you believe it? I have three embryo cucumbers on a plant that is less than 12" high!

Half of my 10 tomato plants are only around 2-2½ ft high and look terrible!

I gave a couple of spare plants to a neighbour and I potted them up in the same manner and these plants are touching the ceiling of his conservatory so at least I know my plants are not the problem!

So as I say short of having my soil tested I don't know if is affected with Aminopyralid. My muck came from a horse stable so and I guess the owner of the stable has unknowingly purchased treated feed for his horses!

...and as we all know the feed can go in the front end of the animal and come out the back end without affecting the animal but if I put it on my plants I'm in trouble! 

Here is a write-up on the subject from records I made when my plants were affected a few years ago!

http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Content/A/Aminopyralid/Aminopyralid.htm

Penny@Plot 33:
Hi T G - thanks for the reply.  I know it's been a tricky growing year, with most things not liking the cold spring, but it does sound like you have got some problems - have you tried the 'bean test'. I emailed Corteva and as suspected, they want a bean test done before considering it could be AP, so going to do that tomorrow.  I think this is going to be a huge issue, my toms are 5ft high and only now showing signs of problems - I'm pretty sure I've put their leaves in my compost bin, and so it goes on into next year...

galina:
Welcome Penny@plot 33  and sorry to read about the manure problem.  And you too TG.  I knew that muck was getting quite risky, but bought branded manure too?  That is very annoying.   We lost our free source of horse manure (you shovel it and you can have it) years ago and the local gentlemen farmers want 1.50 for a bag the size of a wastepaper basket liner. 

So I switched to chicken pellets and Fish Blood and Bone meal.  A friend has contacts to a local microbrewery and gets spent hops from there with great success on his clay soil.  I also use all our cut grass and swept up leaves for mulch and make as much compost as possible.  And I have a good comfrey patch for liquid fertiliser in a large blue butt with a tap, where I also put nettles.  When we had well rotted manure it was good stuff, but there are ways around it.  I use grass mulch over winter which is usually grass and leaves from the last mow of the season on the dug areas.  Many gardeners have good success with green manures that grow over winter and get dug in.  This way the plot gets manured and the precious homemade compost gets all used for the greenhouse.   My comfrey butt is full to the brim at the moment, so the last cut of comfrey went on the greenhouse as mulch too.

Some of my tomatoes are not doing great either this year but I have put this down to gardener neglect, mainly pricking out too late and letting the pots get over crowded.  Others have nice fruit hanging just waiting to ripen. 

Unfortunately I am not aware that any gardener has ever got compensation for crops lost, the purchase price of the branded manure at most.  Maybe you can make a switch away from bought manure as weedkiller contamination is obviously a problem to stay.  But it is rather sad and very unsatisfactory when you cannot trust branded products.  Hope that other crops make up for your losses.   :wave:

Penny@Plot 33:
Hi Galina. As I am no dig, and in my first year (I took over what was essentially a patch of field last September), I don't yet have my own compost, but I am composting as much as I can. Buying is was the only option I had for this year. My concern is that I may well have unknowingly added contaminated plant material into my own bins, so perpetuating the issue.
I'm a member of a group where actually one gardener had all the affected compost removed from her polytunnel, the cost refunded, and the plants replaced, all by the garden centre that sold it.
I know that Dow Corteva are claiming that they are getting very few reports of issues, so the chances are many gardeners are assuming issues are just bad weather, or pests or something other than this stuff, but I'm pretty sure that this is becoming a huge issue again.

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