http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aminopyralid

" It affects potatoes, tomatoes, and beans, causing deformed plants, and poor or non-existent yields. "

May end up having to move planting areas and get rid of any soil left over IMO. May have to move to container gardening till you sort your grow area out sadly. But it's still early in the year, you could still get a decent crop if you start over asap with some plants :-)

Hmmmm, I never thought about that possibility. I hope yours washes out quicker than than a few years. So, it sounds like your Peppers are in that same soil. I hope they have some immunity. It would be terrible to see a whole year go up in smoke for something like that. And then you would probably have to change out all the soil or leave it fallow for a number of years for it leach out of the soil enough to be able to grow tomatoes/peppers in it again. I hope the Tomatoes recover and the Pepper are not affected at all.
Bruce

Since it affects tomatoes won't it also affect peppers?

I went out and did some inventory (bad part is, I used this soil to top up my beds, so, as of now it's in almost all of them) luckily I hadn't topped up the beds that the peppers are in, BUT the peppers that are in pots are in this soil. From what I've read it doesn't leach out of the soil but is removed by microorganisms. Plus, it looks like none of us are safe if we use manure.
Pam

Used composted manure myself in the garden for years, unfortunate that you came across this. I'd keep the peppers as is and just rid myself of any you have in the beds for sure. Get rid of that stuff ASAP IMO.

Oh, that's horrible news... Sorry for the most unfortunate incident, and hopefully that stuff doesn't linger too long for you.

Jay

Thanks Jay.

Interesting, most of the info I have found on it is England. It doesn't seem that there's been a big issue with it here in the US, maybe it's just now being seen here. There is some info of it in the US, just not much.

I don't know how I can get rid of it, we're talking about 6-7 cubic yards. That's a lot to dispose of. ;-(
Pam

Yes, it's been a big issue in the US, too.

Problems with contaminated organic matter (OM) such as manure, composted or not, as well as commercially bagged or bulk.

Please read this:
http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/aminopyralid/

Basically same info if contaminated by clopyralid.
Read this http://www.puyallup.wsu.edu/soilmgmt/clopyralid.htm

both links include bio-assay you can do to verify contamination, or not.

Also describes how to manage contaminated soil.

Here is a link that might be useful: carryover herbicide in organic matter

Pam that's terrible, it's almost like we have to make our own compost to ensure quality. From your post above

"From what I've read it doesn't leach out of the soil but is removed by microorganisms."

I would see what microorganisms remove it, then purchase as much as I could and put into the garden to speed up the cleansing process.

I would be furious and the place I bought it would get tired of me until some sort of compensation was given, either by them or the source.

Mark

You have the option to sue him for damages and get the soil removed and replaced; he can then sue the company he got the contaminated manure from.

Yeah, way too much trouble. I've bought from him for years, it's not his fault, but I feel we do need to let him know.

Thanks Mark. I haven't seen what particular organisms remove it, I assume just the regular microorganisms you find in soil. Not sure if those can be purchased or not. Plus, even doing your own compost, if you purchase manure from a place where they used the herbicide, you are going to have it in your compost. damned if you do, damned if you don't.
Pam

This is one reason why I don't use municipal compost or things like leaves/grass clippings from neighbors....not only the risk of various diseases, but also contamination from stuff that folks spray on their lawns/plants.

Josh

I would be pissed!!!

Two words Pam -- That blows!

And it's kind of too late to start more. Although you've dealt with this guy for a long time, you should still be compensated in SOME way. Hope you get things turned around soon.

Everybody else--- For the link that jean001 provided, good info there. Click on the bioassay link to test your compost. I'll be doing it soon myself since I notice leaf distortion in my plants. For me, I don't think it's herbicidal since my container plants exhibit signs too.

Kevin

Pam,

It's time to get a few goats and cows, just keep em in the back yard and use them for your compost manure base ;)

I hope it all works out for you, please let the guy know so no one else gets the stuff maybe he can pull the product and let his vendor know. Let us know how it goes.

Mark

Actually, he should know about it by now, I bought the stuff about 2 months ago and just now put it in. But yeah, we'll tell him. I've been wanting some Nigerian dwarf goats for some time now. ;-)

yep Kevin, it sure blows. I put some of the soil in my pots and the peppers in pots are starting to look bad. I'm not going to bother with the plants in the beds, but the pots, well, guess I'll be stopping on the way home from work tomorrow to buy some bagged soil and try to save the ones in pots. Looks like all the work I'd planned to do over the weekend weekend has gone down the tubes. :-(
Pam