I repotted some tomato plants and the new leaves have gone all weird.
What is in the compost that would make them do that?
Can I do anything to make them go normal again?
(http://www.davethewave.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/allotment/mutant-tomato-plant.jpg)
what compost did you use, dtw?
Now they do look wierd
To me, it looks like typical hormonal weedkiller damage. I would suspect clopyralid to be the most likely guilty party, or possibly aminopyralid.
Was the compost bought in or made by yourself?
Aminopyralid!
It comes from the compost. Find out what it is and report back. If you've used a commercial compost it's important.
thought it might be , that's worrying if it's bought in :o
It was rotted horse manure.
Do I need to destroy them?
Where else have you used the manure?
sorry, dtw..not good news :-\
I've got a big pile of it on my allotment waiting to rot down.
I've planted some squashes in it.
I spread some on the ground before winter where I have planted my potatoes.
It washed into the soil and I dug in the strawy remains on the surface.
Do I need to report it to somebody?
It came from a farmer who delivers to most of the plots on the site.
I take it that it is not safe to eat the crops affected.
Where did you get the manure from? Has anyone else on your site used it? If so, you need to inform them.
Destroy them? Probably eventually, yes. But this year's outbreak seems a bit different: we've obviously moved into a different phase. When this first occurred, plants seemed to (semi-) recover if they were well fed & watered and treated as if they had something like blight. So give them an awful lot of tlc and see what happens. Most important - keep records!!!! This thing is with us for a long time.
I've pm'd you.
Thanks, I'll try to let everybody on the plot know.
It seems that it's perfectly safe to eat the crops. (But you may not get much!)
Has this guy been delivering to your site regularly over several years, or has he just appeared out of the woodwork? Until a few months ago, it was illegal to even move it, let alone pass it on. Investigate and report back.
And it can't be rendered inert by merely stockpiling it. It has to be dug - or better still rotovated - into the soil repeatedly until all of the strawy residue has been destroyed.
Well, now the cause of the problem is known, this page will give you and your fellow plotters some more information :- http://www.growyourown.info/page164.html
I'm pretty sure the same guy has been delivering for a few years, I haven't been there that long and don't really see the other plotholders as I seem to go down at 'off-peak' times.
I've emailed ukhotline@dow.com and will see what they come back with.
Sorry that you are having problems, we have a lot of potatoes on site which look just the same.
It also affects, beans and to a lesser extent courgettes. So if people have used a lot of manure in their bean trenches I would guess you will have a lot of sick looking beans as well. The effects are not quite the same. They go crispy and rather odd shapes but not that rolled up effect.
It needs to be mixed with soil which contains bacteria which break it down. Left in a pile or even large lump in the soil it could take years to break down.
I suggest you grow sweet corn or brassicas on the ground. Their roots will hopefully help break up any clumps of manure and allow the bacteria to do their work.
As for eating the crops it is said to be safe but I am not particuarly keen. I have convinced myself it is no worse than non organic stuff from supermarket.
If you move the plant to a non contaminated site remove any comtaminated soil and water with rain water it may recover. I have some beans and courgettes I managed to move but I did move them very quickly.
It is quite likely that the supplier of the manure may not have used the weedkillerthemselves it seems to come in on contaminated feed stuffs. It would be nice to be able to track down the source. Have you any idea how old the manure is? I think Dow may still agree to take away piles of contaminated manure.
Just when we thought manure would be ok. I used homebase manure mixed with compost for the ring culture toms in the poly and same thing here. It's so frustrating.
It had been rotting for 8 months before I used it.
The aminopyralid fixes to the cellulose in the straw, so leaving it in a pile won't get rid of it,
it needs to be mixed with the soil so the bacteria decompose the cellulose, then the aminopyralid will decompose.
Here's the reply I got from Dow, they didn't offer to take it away.
I think I may burn the dried stuff on the top of the pile, then dig the rest into an unused bit.
Thank you for your email concerning aminopyralid in manure. Your photograph does show symptoms that would be consistent with aminopyralid.
I will provide some general information later, but firstly have you contacted the the manure supplier to ask if he has used any aminopyralid products in the last few years? If he has, have you asked him to removed the unused pile? Please let me know the address of stables so that we can offer advice to help prevent this happening in the future.
You specifically asked What do I need to do and Are crops safe to eat. I hope the following will answer both these questions.
Aminopyralid will affect the yield of a number of susceptible crops such as potatoes, tomatoes, peas and beans which will be greatly reduced, though this is dependent on the amount of manure applied.
The Chemicals Regulation Directorate (formerly PSD) the government body that regulates crop protection products produced the following statement concerning safety of eating produce grown in this manure
PSD has already confirmed that using manure, which may contain residues of aminopyralid, does not have implications for human health.
http://www.pesticides.gov.uk/farmers_growers.asp?id=2501
and further stated
Based on reasonable worst case assumptions: that cattle are only fed grass, or silage made from grass, treated with aminopyralid; that vegetables are grown in soil mixed with manure produced from the animals; and that all the aminopyralid released from the manure is taken up into the plants; the highest residues would not be a concern for health, so vegetables should be safe to eat.
http://www.pesticides.gov.uk/farmers_growers.asp?id=2480
Aminopyralid has a relatively short half life in soil of approximately 35 days. However it binds strongly to the cellulose within the manure, this plant cellulose must first decompose in order to release the chemical to the soil where it can be degraded by soil microbes.
The process of manure decomposition is quickest if the soil is occasionally rotovated to oxygenate the soil and to physically break down lumps of manure. Keeping the soil moist also helps. Cellulose decomposition does not take place within a manure heap so storing contaminated manure will not allow the chemical to decompose. Undertaking the bean test that can be found at www.manurematters.co.uk will help in assessing the presence of aminopyralid within the manure.
If you have mulched plants such as raspberries it is recommended that you rake this off.
Experience shows that ground treated with contaminated manure one year will be safe to grow susceptible crops the next year. However there are a number of crops that can be grown before then.
Sensitivity or tolerance to any herbicide is dose-dependent, so the list below is drawn up in the context of the likely amounts of aminopyralid found in manure that might be used in gardens or allotments. Plant species which exhibit less sensitivity to aminopyralid include:
Grasses
Sweetcorn
Brassicae (e.g. broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower)
Cucubits (e.g. Courgetts, squash etc)
Cane fruits, such as raspberries, gooseberries, blackcurrants, redcurrants and whitecurrants do show some sensitivity to residues of aminopyralid, but not to the same degree as potatoes, tomatoes, carrots and legumes.
I hope this information help. Please contact me if I can help further.
SMP1704, I have just reread your post. Are you saying that the Homebase bagged manure that you bought was contaminated with aminopyralid?
I see that you mixed it with compost. Was this compost produced by yourself?
I see Dow didn't offer to take it away.
I have had mine taken away yesterday. I didn't ask. i called up and said that I had contaminated manure delivered and was calling to arrange collection.
It took a few weeks; but it is now gone. I just have 9 beds with the bad stuff in them; so am using them for crops that do not show effects and hoping that by next year it will have all gone. It will all get a good digging over as crops are removed [so much for organic no dig gardening].
Never ever again.....