First post......garden lost to herbicide

[Steve73]

Not how I wanted to start on this forum, but thats the way it goes. We lost everything to herbicide this year. Tomatoes (all 48 plants), okra, watermelons and peppers. So upsetting to watch all that food and work go to waste. Im doing tests on some hay, and compost, to determine the source of contamination.

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[karstopography]

Oh no! So sorry for your loss! I’d be devastated as I’m sure you are. If you can or do find out the source of the contamination, please do share. Maybe you can prevent someone else from going through the same thing. I’d hate to think that a garden center supplied a herbicide contaminated product.

[Steve73]

I acquired compost from two different peoples farms last year, and a few bales of hay from a feed store last fall. The contamination is coming from one or more of those sources. I've got beans and tomatoes in test posts. Beans have germinated so we should know something soon.

[Labradors]

Welcome to the Junction.

How DEVASTATING . All that hard work down the drain! I hope you can figure out where the problem came from so that you can avert the problem next season.

Linda

[Clkeiper]

oh man! I am so sorry. that is devastating. a lot of work gone, but are you certain that it isn't drift from someones yard spray? tomatoes are incredibly sensitive to drift but someone spraying a yard even a mile away can ruin your garden if there is a good breeze going on. I cringe when the neighbor spays his lawn EVERY STINKING SPRING..I already have tomatoes planted and I worry he is going to ruin my high tunnel crop.

[Steve73]

I have had drift damage in the past, and that appears different to me (yellowing and browning of leaves). The new growth is the only thing that seems to be affected on these plants. Okra and watermelons were all planted from seed on different days, and all seedlings that have emerged have shown signs of herbicide damage. All of that is leading me to believe it is either in the compost, or the hay that I used as mulch. All I know is that this is very real, and I urge folks to be cautious about what is brought in from the outside. I am learning the hard way.

[brownrexx]

How terrible for you. I never use the township's compost because I have seen the landscapers dumping loads of treated lawn clippings into the pile that gets composted. Of course straw can also contain herbicides so it's good that you are doing the bean test.

[bower]

That is so brutal, to lose your entire garden.
Very sad.

[EdieJ]

I am also so very sorry. I hope you are able to pinpoint the source. Will you be able to scrape off the offending component?

[jillian]

I also had this happen a few years back but I am fairly certain it was herbicide drift. Still to be on the safe side I TRY to make most of my own compost and only use leaves and grass clippings from my own yard. We usually have several piles of shredded wood from our own trees although occasionally I might need to buy a few bags to fill in here and there. I feel for you, the pain is real. Please keep us updated and keep your chin up!

[Steve73]

Thanks to all for showing interest in this. The garden is a complete loss. Fortunately, I have enough land that I can start another garden in a different spot. Although I will have to rebuild the soil from scratch. Scraping/removing contaminated soil only leads to more issues such as.....where to put bad soil....replacing the soil thats been removed etc. It becomes a circular problem at some point. I feel like the best thing to do is just leave it in place, and let whatever can grow there, grow. I'm trying to stay as positive as I can. This is a frustrating thing to say the least.

[AZGardener]

Welcome to the Junction! [mention]Steve73[/mention]
I lost all of my melons to herbicide drift year before last, I understand the frustration.
One of the youtube channels I watch lost his tomatoes last year due to hay he brought in
for mulch in a raised bed. It was contaminated (he believes) with aminopyralid herbicide.
I can post the link to his channel if you're interested.
I'm sorry for the loss of your crops, it's heartbreaking to say the least.

[Steve73]

AZ......pretty sure I saw the video you are talking about, and I believe aminopyralid (or similar) is what has contaminated my garden. I will post results of my experiments soon. I have tomatoes and beans planted in the suspect materials.

[AZGardener]

AZ......pretty sure I saw the video you are talking about, and I believe aminopyralid (or similar) is what has contaminated my garden. I will post results of my experiments soon. I have tomatoes and beans planted in the suspect materials.

Looking forward to the results of your experiment, and sorry you have to do the experiment at all.

He had several videos on it and was an eye opener to me. I think my drift was from 24-D as I had no hay or straw mulch on
the melons yet.

Good luck, we're all here for you.

[Nan6b]

Welcome to the Junction from Pennsylvania! Thank goodness you have enough land to move your garden. I lost all my plants this year too, and had to start over, so I completely sympathize. You can grow in non-amended soil and still get a harvest. That's a real pickle about what to do with the contaminated soil. I wonder if there are any products/treatments out there that would neutralize the chemicals?

[Sue_CT]

Welcome, and I am so sorry it is under such aweful circumstances! I am glad you have the time to restart a new garden but that is also a lot of work. Good luck with your new planting. I wonder how long it will be before the soil is OK to plant in again? Have you considered raking back the mulch and then doing another test planting?

[Steve73]

Thanks Nan and Sue. Theres not much I can do until I pinpoint the origin of contamination. The compost has been disced in, so its impossible to just remove it. The rain had already washed through the hay, so if it is contaminated that means the herbicide has already leached into the soil. Planting corn and grasses is suppose to help draw the herbicide out of the ground. I don't know how true that is though. I don't think anyone knows for sure.

Some of these chemicals persist in the soil for years. This is what makes it difficult. Now I have to keep a mental note of everything I do so I don't accidentally contaminate everything else. This stuff is just a nightmare.

[MissS]

Welcome to the Junction Steve73. It's great to have you here. It's such a shame to lose your garden after all of that hard work and dreams of harvests to come. Gardening is becoming more and more difficult with all of the chemicals used in the world. One never knows if what they are purchasing is good for the soil or not. These big companies are killing the backyard gardeners with their oh so necessary chemicals. Wish that they would start selling a remedy for the damage that they cause to our non-GMO crops.

[Nan6b]

If it is an aminopyralid, I've read the half-life is 1-2 years. That means many years before it will be gone from the soil. You can plant grasses there. Not sure I'd plant an edible grass crop such as wheat or corn, although they're not affected by that herbicide.

[Steve73]

Well regardless of the results of the tests, I will probably just isolate any suspect compost and hay as best I can, because at this point, a lot of material has been mixed together and what not. I think the safest thing to do is just put it all in one spot and let it do its thing. Hopefully others will see how real this is. Its amazing how far reaching this stuff can be.