Allotments 4 All

lots of my tomatoes(5 different varieties) in 2 different composts, have developed strangely , distorted and stunted..the squash I've grown, exactly the same, have grown fine..is this starting to sound familiar, I bought the pots at the end of the year, from homebase, thought I'd got a good deal  :-\
the good news is, once in the ground, they've grown very well  ???
I've lost all me san marzano though

Can't undertand your question  ??? fibre pots and weedkiller where does this bit come in?

They look like a bit dry to me plus there seems to be a lot of side shoots on them.

Have you ever let them totally dry out or have you broken the growing tips by any chance?

I think what I would do is cut them right down to the first side shoot and grow this side shoot as the main plant.

Could you explain your question a bit more and can you take a closer picture of one of your tomatoes.

As I say I can't quite understand your question! ( Then again I might be having an aging moment)

there aren't any sideshoots on them  ???
they're not dry at all, just the surface as we water from the bottom..the plant has grown one sided, all growth on one side and none on the other
I sowed the seed in seed compost, transplanted into fibre pots, grew them on and they distorted..I have been told the weedkiller that was discussed on here could get into compost that is bought, wondered whether it could get into the stuff the pots is made of  ???
they were all different seed, the ones I have shown are garden pearl, moneymaker, golden sunrise and tigerella. all sown into seed compost, then transplanted into potting on compost in the pots, I can't take pics until tomorrow, just got back and it's dark  :-\

They're dry on the surface at least, but they look healthy enough.

Can you post a closer picture of the distortion/stunting tomorrow manics?  I've never heard of aminopyralid associated with fibre pots before and I don't know what fibre pots are made of so don't even know if it's possible.  Does it say on the packaging what they're made from?

Did you use a single type of compost for each plant or did you mix the 2 you mentioned?  What type of composts were they - shop-bought, council, home-made?  Composted stable manure has been found to contain weedkiller and I've heard of council compost from green waste being contaminated due to incomplete composting of grass clippings containing lawn treatments.

As it's toms I don't suppose they could have been exposed in any way to weedkiller drift outside?   

Fibre pots are made from wood pulp, paper pulp, peat, coir, bamboo, grass, seaweed, rice straw or more commonly a mix of 2 or more of these materials.

The materials are steam cleaned and sterilised, pressed into sheets, the sheets are moulded into pots using steam presses. They are then sprayed with latex so they hold their shape properly.
Some fibre pots are also impregnated with fertiliser the Gardman ones for instance are all impregnated with Miracle Gro.

thanks for that the info, baccy man I'll have to look for another cause  ???
ceres, the pots don't have a mix on, I used mother earth compost, the seedlings came up as normal, I transplanted them into the fibre pots, same compost and they distorted, they went into westland west advanced, started growing bigger but still distorted(still got the pots in there) my beans are sowed in the westland and are doing very well, when I've planted some of the distorted ones in the poly, they've shot up and are going to be good plants, no way they could've been n the way of a weedkiller.I've taken them to the plot so will get some photos today..it was just a thought that some contaminated compost may have got into them.
just thought, I bought some of them from wilkinsons, cheap with no name on ???

Hi MS. I do hope it's not the ME compost. I planted my toms, peppers & chilis last week so I will keep a watchful eye on them.
Janet

Hi Manics, i had the same last year with fibre pots from Wilkinsons. Could'nt understand it so i just stopped using them.

Well, if the pots contain grass, theoretically they could contain weedkiller,  But so could the compost.  I'd get some good pictures and send them in with a description of what's happened to the Chemicals Regulation Directorate (formerly Pesticides Safety Directorate) and see what they have to say.

pesticides@hse.gsi.gov.uk

garden pearl and moneymaker, bear in mind they have been in the new compost for 2 weeks, these plants were sowed in february  :o
everyone else has used the m e compost, Janet..really good results, in fact, someone has just given me 4 peppers and a tomato they grew in it
been told to put them in water, if a film appears, they have some sort of contamination  ???
I've stopped using them now, apart from sowing my winter greens, they're all doing fine .
thanks for the link, ceres, I'll sort something out tomorrow

I'm afraid I'm not into all those fancy containers I find that pricking out into a 3" plastic pot as good a way as any as seen here.



BTW these were sown on the 26th Feb