Sunday 26 June 2016

More on the weedkiller problem

Several people have contacted me to say that having read what I wrote last week about further problems with weedkiller contamination in my tomatoes, they think they are suffering from the same thing. I'm pretty sure that this issue is a lot more widespread than you might imagine - and it's certainly not something that the compost manufacturers want to own up to. What a shame that the UK has chosen to leave the EU, because the EU is currently showing much more inclination than ever before to ban the use of harmful chemicals (such as Glyphosate / Roundup) in agriculture!


To help other people to determine whether their plants are affected by weedkiller, today I am posting some more photos of the symptoms. Before I go any further though, let me say that this year my plants are less badly affected than previously. Some of them even seem to be "growing out of" the problem - in other words producing slightly more normal foliage now. But the bad news is, what I'm showing here is a mild dose!


The most obvious symptom is the pronounced inward curling of the leaves, some of which have adopted a sort of corkscrew spiral configuration.






Many of the leaves have developed a blistered texture like this:



The worst affected plants have both of these symptoms, as well as blotchy discoloured leaves.



One of the plants, the "Stupice", is exhibiting the so-called "fern-like" foliage which is a well-known characteristic of this issue. Instead of being broad, the leaves it is producing now are long and spindly, and brown at the tips.




Here's a close-up:




The brown bits are not dry and crispy, nor are they soft and mushy. They are normal leaf texture.


One of my plants ("Cherokee Purple") is very stunted - about 30% smaller than its peers - and has weak yellow leaves with brown tips:




This plant was the first of my 17 plants to set fruit. I can't help thinking that this is because it wants to reproduce quickly before it succumbs! Which sort of leads me to my final point: if you see that your tomatoes are affected by this problem, don't despair, they will probably still produce a viable crop. It may not be a big crop, and the fruits may not be particularly beautiful specimens, but they will still be worth having.


In the long run, my plan is to use less and less commercial compost, and more of my own home-made stuff. I'm also working on a plan to acquire some locally-sourced Hazel rods and beanpoles, so maybe next year you'll see me advocating the elimination of bamboo as well.

20 comments:

  1. Roundup isn't one of the weed killers containing aminopyralid and clopyralid, Mark. The problems are Verdone and Foremost. Have you tried the bean test? Have you grown potatoes in the same compost?

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    1. Yes, I know this, but I was just using Roundup as an example of a harmful chemical used in agriculture - one that most people will have heard of. This year my potatoes are in the same mix of compost / soil as my tomatoes, yet they are completely unaffected. Hence my view that the contamination must be harboured in the "hardware", especially the porous canes.

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    2. That would be odd as the active ingredient of hormone weedkiller is actually stored in plant lignin or cellulose. If I were you I would contact DOW the manufacturer of ap,and cp to,see what they make of the problem. Maybe this Is new problem.

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  2. It's been a long few years for you when it comes to this issue; won't it be wonderful next year when you have NO contamination issues...fingers crossed!

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    1. Well, I'm not optimistic. The weedkillers' effects can last for years. Unless I remove all soil and compost and pots and canes and such stuff from my garden, I may be stuck with the problem for years to come.

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  3. Hi Mark,
    The leaves created by the weedkiller problem are horribly distinctive. Your Stupice and Cherokee Purple tomato plants were really affected, hopefully they'll still set a decent amount of fruit. I really hope you can get around the compost problem.

    A lot of my gardening friends and I use our city produced compost and mulch, it would be awful if that were infected with weedkiller. If that became a problem I'd probably have to start cruising the neighborhoods for bags of leaves to make leaf mold and using straw for mulch.

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    1. Domestic lawn-clippings go into municipal compost here too, and I don't trust the composters to do things in such a way that the effects of the weedkillers are negated.

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    2. As far as I am aware there is no process composter could carry out to negate hormonal weedkillers.

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    3. No, you're probably right. The only thing that works is Time! But at least they could test the compost to establish whether it is contaminated or not. They are currently selling something that is harmful.

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    4. I don't think that there is a test that rules out the presence of ap or cp due to how the residue is released. The best thing they could do was to stop using green waste.

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    5. Well I don't believe it's not possible to devise such a test. If they have the science to produce this stuff, then I'm sure they can detect it. But yes, stopping using green waste is definitely the way to go, although it sounds un-environment-friendly.

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  4. Too bad you are still feeling the effects. Roundup is a good example to use because glyphosate residue shows up in food, particularly GMO foods, and we all test positive for it. It affects our gut biome. It is nice that you will still get some fruit, but will you feel safe eating it? If it is in the plant, how can it not also be in the fruit?

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    1. Yes, I'm aware of the dangers, David, but my feeling is that this stuff is already in my body - we all eat it because it gets into the food chain (e.g. via bread and flour)and we can't avoid it.

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  5. Mark, this makes me think twice about how to add compost to my raised beds. There is no place where I live to obtain organic compost. How frustrating for you.Lis

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  6. Mark maybe you have seen this link, but a well known gardener in the US seems to had the same problem as you. What a disheartening story about compost.

    http://www.growingagreenerworld.com/killer-compost-it-happened-to-us/

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    1. Thank you for this - more confirmation of how widespread this issue is!

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  7. How on earth could you blame glyphosate for that damage Mark! It is thoughtless comments like this that give ammunition to the idiots who would ban it!
    The damage looks more like that caused by domestic lawn weedkiller and is the type that you get from recycled municipal compost or herbicide contaminated manure BUT NOT BY GLYPHOSATE
    IF glyphosate was banned you would get more of these nasty experiences. Sodium chlorate anyone?
    Please read my next post. It rejoices in the fact that glyphosate was not banned
    Tomatoes as I think you know are notoriously susceptible to lawn weedkiller - even if you have not washed your hands after applying it

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    1. Roger, if you read my several posts on this subject [and the earlier Comments on this one] you will see that I identify clopyralid weedkiller in domestic lawn-care products as the most likely culprit. I was not suggesting that the damage to my tomatoes was caused by Glyphosate. I was just citing Glyphosate as a harmful chemical - which even you admit is often used badly / incorrectly.

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    2. P.S. I resent the accusation of "thoughtless comments" because mine was far from such.

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  8. Hi Mark,

    Good that someone else is blogging about this. I think I have the same problem. http://ourlittlefield.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/disaster.html

    I've only just found your website thanks to Matt from garden59.co.uk

    It's the first year I have seen / had this problem. I can rule out my compost and I feel mine was from manure. I have Tomatoes, Cape Gooseberry mainly effected and carried out a pea and bean test to confirm. I can rule out pots and canes in my situation. I'll now go and read your other posts :)

    You look to have a very nice blog, I look forward to ploughing through all your previous years!

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