Author Topic: Any products sold to mitigate compost/manure containing broad leaf herbicides?  (Read 2376 times)

Mark in Texas

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Some of my mangos are taking a beating. In making up a batch of soil I used compost that was obviously made with manure tainted with broad leaf herbicides sourced from our local stockyard.   Young mangos planted late spring with a soil mix containing this compost shows the  usual herbicide signs - twisted branches and leaves,  new grafts that don't grow right, leaves with chlorosis.  Hoping to leech it out I have drenched the raised beds with well and rain water but it's not working.  I have also planted grasses like bluestem grass seeds with the intent of uptake and then disposing of the infected grasses.  My veggie garden was a total failure this year after working in a lot of this local compost on it.   Any active "micro" life that is the real deal that might work to break down this crap?
 


hawkfish007

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I encountered a similar situation when I planted on the south side of my backyard which was sprayed heavily with Round-Up and had artificial grass. I was afraid that the trees will not thrive or survive at all. I took a chance, tilled the area and drenched it with humic acid (Raw Organic Soil Conditioner- Root Hume- Simple Grow Solutions) from Amazon and hoped for the best. That was in September of this year, my trees have been thriving since planted in the ground mid September or last month in October. Here are some pictures.

After removing artificial grass, soil was compacted rock hard.


After tilling and drenching with soil conditioner.



Added 12" of free mulch from local green waste place and added wood chips on top. Now the trees are thriving and flushing in the winter. I added a PVC structures just in case we get a frost warning, I plan to cover the trees with frost cloth.







Coach62

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I read about this years ago, so now when I get compost I get it 6 months to a year in advance and age it out.  I try to encourage it to cook some more, hoping the heat will help degrade it. 
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nattyfroootz

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Try looking into Korean Natural Farming and rebuilding populations of indigenous microorganisms.  All about creating healthy ecosystems above and below soil level.
Grow cooler fruits

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Frog Valley Farm

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em1 has been shown to be useful in remidiating chemical pollution in soils.  I use it as a drench on conventionally grown trees while they are in pots before planting out.

Mark in Texas

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I encountered a similar situation when I planted on the south side of my backyard which was sprayed heavily with Round-Up and had artificial grass. I was afraid that the trees will not thrive or survive at all. I took a chance, tilled the area and drenched it with humic acid (Raw Organic Soil Conditioner- Root Hume- Simple Grow Solutions) from Amazon and hoped for the best. That was in September of this year, my trees have been thriving since planted in the ground mid September or last month in October. Here are some pictures.

After removing artificial grass, soil was compacted rock hard.

Looks great!  I too have worked with compacted soil after our custom build.  2' subsoiler on a 3 pt. tractor does a number on it!  I use a hand held pickax for the smaller jobs or where I can't get my tractor in.  Roots love that fractured soil, trees go nuts.



Will check out the Korean drills.  My farm soil is in excellent shape regarding soil organisms.  It's about 3 pots that were tainted when I expanded the RootBuilder pot.  New trees were fine for a while.  When they started to show stress is when I new the fresh, new roots had hit the perimeter which has the tainted soil.
« Last Edit: December 04, 2018, 07:22:36 AM by Mark in Texas »

shaneatwell

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I read about this years ago, so now when I get compost I get it 6 months to a year in advance and age it out.  I try to encourage it to cook some more, hoping the heat will help degrade it.

I've heard this works as well from the woman that runs El Corazon/Agriservices in Oceanside. I think she said 2yrs for mulch to take a contaminated site (not the much itself in that case) to undetectable.
Shane

Satya

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Some of my mangos are taking a beating. In making up a batch of soil I used compost that was obviously made with manure tainted with broad leaf herbicides sourced from our local stockyard.   Young mangos planted late spring with a soil mix containing this compost shows the  usual herbicide signs - twisted branches and leaves,  new grafts that don't grow right, leaves with chlorosis.
Mark, could you please share a photo of your mango tree damage from this? I have an area that was covered by suspicious mulch and all plants there have the same looking chlorosis and burn, have not been able to recover in 2 years. Have been drenching it with all kinds of microorganism preparations, the soil there is probably the richest by now, nothing helped so far, new leaves keep getting burnt.

Galatians522

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It sounds like aminopyralid contamination. Unlike glyphosate, which can be easily rinsed by .5" of irrigation or rain, aminopyralids stay in the soil for years. They are designed to pass right through mammals like cows but bind to the soil and plants. It was invented to help control broad leaf weeds. It is actually illiegal to use it in horse pastures because horse manure is more likely to be used for off site garden compost. It can take as long as 5 years to dissipate if I remember right. My advice would be to dig up and move or re-pot anything sensitive and leave the spot fallow for 2-5 years or use it to grow crops that are not sensitive to it. It doen't hurt grasses, so sugarcane might grow without issue.

TonyinCC

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Get some finely powdered activated charcoal, make a slurry,and water it in. Repeat until trees are growing normally. 20 years ago I used this to save a new planting of several hundred apple trees that were suffering.

Mark in Texas

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Mark, could you please share a photo of your mango tree damage from this? I have an area that was covered by suspicious mulch and all plants there have the same looking chlorosis and burn, have not been able to recover in 2 years. Have been drenching it with all kinds of microorganism preparations, the soil there is probably the richest by now, nothing helped so far, new leaves keep getting burnt.

Don't have any pix but the damage is the same on anything - distorted, twisted leaves and branches.

roblack

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Get some finely powdered activated charcoal, make a slurry,and water it in. Repeat until trees are growing normally. 20 years ago I used this to save a new planting of several hundred apple trees that were suffering.

This idea makes sense. Introduce something known to filter/absorb contaminants.


Guanabanus

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Gypsum is useful against some toxicities, but I haven't heard if it helps against any herbicides.
Har

Satya

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Thanks for the ideas everyone, will try

Daintree

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Mark,
Here is a great article on Identifying AND TREATING herbicide contamination in soil, compost, etc.  I have found it very helpful.  If you scroll down, it lists 10 different treatments that should help.  Good luck!

Carolyn

https://deepgreenpermaculture.com/2021/02/24/how-to-identify-and-treat-herbicide-contamination-of-commercial-soil-compost-and-manure/#:~:text=Many%20broadleaf%20plants%20are%20unable%20to%20metabolise%20and,growing%20media%2C%20can%20cause%20significant%20damage%20to%20plants.

Mark in Texas

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Thanks.  Great article.

Mark,
Here is a great article on Identifying AND TREATING herbicide contamination in soil, compost, etc.  I have found it very helpful.  If you scroll down, it lists 10 different treatments that should help.  Good luck!

Carolyn

https://deepgreenpermaculture.com/2021/02/24/how-to-identify-and-treat-herbicide-contamination-of-commercial-soil-compost-and-manure/#:~:text=Many%20broadleaf%20plants%20are%20unable%20to%20metabolise%20and,growing%20media%2C%20can%20cause%20significant%20damage%20to%20plants.