Don’t Ruin Your Garden! How To Tell if Horse Manure is Contaminated Aminopyralids

[@DiggingForHealth]

This is a great idea to test the manure this way! I'm so cautious about bringing manure in from outside sources for this very reason. Some herbicides can linger for up to TEN years, it's crazy!

[@beesandseeds]

It’s horrible! I hate to have to test it but I am not willing to risk it.

[@qx3V45p]

I've been using horse manure for hot composting for 3 years now with no issues. This year my radishes showed ZERO symptoms but Beets, Beans, Peas, Squash and Gourd are all suffering by mid May. I'd suggest testing on a bean or pea and let it grow several weeks and see how it goes. Besides my beans I didn't see any symptoms till plants were fairly large, unfortunately.... Total nightmare...

[@beesandseeds]

Thank you for letting me know your experience. Im sorry to hear your garden also was affected. I do have peas growing for testing it on through the summer. It is a total nightmare. When the garden was contaminated at school, it affected everything- even the radish. A friend of mine said they think they got some in their manure and it could be seen severely in their tomatoes and beans so she thought the contaminated manure ended up mostly in the section of her garden or it was stronger in some manure. It’s just unbelievable that such a chemical is allowed to be used. Manures are SO beneficial otherwise.

[@BonnyCroft]

It’s scary to think what is around to harm plants and food, am have glad you have found a way to be reassured that is safe.

[@beesandseeds]

I feel those chemicals should not be on the market. Very destructive. Thank you for stopping by 😊

[@mjones8170]

This is a great idea. I like both the tea method but also just letting the manure sit for a bit and seeing if weeds will grow on it. I will do both. You've been a great help in finding a solution.

[@TheOldSwedesFarm]

Great idea and process Lisa! Thanks for sharing! I received a bunch of horse manure from my neighbor last year. I know that no herbicides are used on her farm. All I got was some weed seeds!! Thanks for sharing this! Cheers!

[@beesandseeds]

That’s perfect! We have an organic dairy farm down the road but the charge and arm and a leg for manure.

[@foxhollerhomestead]

OK this is just an awesome idea I’ve never actually seen someone test manure like this! Thank you so much it’s a definite try for me!!

[@beesandseeds]

I wasn’t going to use manure from animals not belonging to me anymore but my dad brought it and if it’s not contaminated, it’s marvelous. Thanks for the positive feedback 😊

[@GardeningwithBernie]

This is a great video!!! Had no idea you could test manures to see if it would harm your garden 🪴 I have been offered some manure, and now if I decide to accept I know how to test it😊💚 Thanks for sharing.

[@beesandseeds]

Thank you 😊. Manure is great stuff if not contaminated. I think if accept it and see. Thanks for stopping by!

[@takeitslowhomestead5218]

Thanks for sharing your experiment! I’m glad your pile seems to be okay. 🌱

[@beesandseeds]

Thank you. Me too! I hope the rest of it is. It’s a pain to test it but I don’t want to risk jt

[@nedcramdon1306]

I buy bagged manure and soil every year and keep wondering why I get less and less yield every year. This is sinister and just another way to have control over us.

[@beesandseeds]

I agree, it is sinister

[@TRPGpilot]

"sinister and just another way to have control over us" ROFL so funny, better keep your money under your pillow ha ha ,

[@Well_I_am_just_saying]

​@@beesandseeds It is just a matter of farmers getting much better quality hay without weeds in it. It is very unfortunate that it affects other people unknowingly. I now only use composted leaves that I collect myself in the fall and have completely stopped using composted manure from any source.

[@rc1952]

It is full of cheap wood shavings that’s why. It’s crappy manure mix. Stop buying it. Better to find a pure one or use bags if compost not manure.

[@ebflegg]

​@@rc1952I agree. Don't use manure from stables because it contains the litter as well as the manure. My horses use a big run-in shelter and it's just manure

[@joniboulware1436]

I just ruined all my summer vegetable starts with contaminated compost. Not sure if Black Kow or the mushroom compost. I have leftover mushroom bags that I am going to test. It is just sickening. And before realizing it, some small pots if plants doing poorly went into my compost pile. Horrified now.

[@beesandseeds]

I’m so sorry to hear this! It’s infuriating that chemicals that can destroy our gardens are allowed to be sprayed plants. I believe I’ve heard of Black Cow being contaminated before. I’d check it first

[@HasnajudAlim]

Malaki talaga ang Garden nyo Madam Ang Sipag mo Talaga

[@CanadianBrewingChannel]

Great fast way to test! Thanks for sharing.

[@beesandseeds]

You’re welcome! Thanks for stopping by!

[@Allotmentinthefield]

Very helpful video. Our manure comes from our field so we know that there are no chemicals there

[@beesandseeds]

Perfect. Best way to get it. 😊

[@joniboulware1436]

I garden in raised beds and all the mixes contain compost so I have to test those as well.

[@beesandseeds]

Yes, better safe than sorry.

[@yamfingaz5598]

The problem with amino pyralids, coprylids etc is that they photoderage really quickly from light in clear/ish water, around half a day to a day (when mixing the herbicide you have to use it fairly quick otherwise it is not effective). Once the chemical is in soil, especially cold and dark, the half life is so slow that it can persist for years. So when you are making your compost tea, you are breaking down any potential remnants of the active ingredient within 24hrs, so if the compost is infact contaminated, you will not know. Such a shame that we even have to deal with these chemicals really. If you do find you have an issue best conditions to breakdown the chemicals are biological activity at or above 25c and sunlight. You could plant a heavy feeding monocot (corn or grain) that can uptake the chemical thus reducing the soil concentration

[@yamfingaz5598]

I also have not seen contamination in straight horse poo, but instead in the straw that was the bedding that was mixed in with the poo.

[@beesandseeds]

Interesting. Thank you for the information. I’m currently making tea from the whole pile . I’ve got buckets soaking and peas planted to test each batch. Good to know that will take care of it. It’s crazy such chemicals are allowed to be used.

[@bevfitzsimmonds3382]

And just a reminder...that any plants grown & used to quickly reduce contaminants will have to be taken to landfill, not eaten, or used as mulch or compost. 🙂👍🌱🌱🌱

[@beesandseeds]

Yes!

[@rc1952]

Yeah and where does the corn go after that?

[@yLeprechaun]

Well that was a simple test. Feel kind of simple that I haven't thought of this on my own. Thank you!!

[@beesandseeds]

Glad it was helpful!

[@L_Martin]

I have a question which is probably very foolish. I have a bed that I was hoping to grow potatoes in, the seed potatoes (second earlies) are currently chitting. It's my first time trying to grow any vegetables, I am a novice at gardening. I was trying to do No Dig, so I laid cardboard on the bed, then I heard potatoes like to grow in manure. I mentioned this to my Dad and he lives on a farm and have horse-y friends. Dad brought me a bunch of horse manure and I was so glad because I'd been worried about the expense of having enough compost to put on my cardboard (I only have a cold compost bin going and no compost out of it yet). I dumped the horse manure onto the cardboard. Now I am thinking I have really messed up already, and I've only just begun. The manure is fresh, not composted. I did not realise it needed to be composted. I also did not realise horses have only 1 stomach vs. cows, and so this fresh manure has weeds in it. Ok... I read that what I could do is dig into the manure where I plan to sew the seed potatoes, and fill with some compost, plant the seed potato in that and so potato is not in direct contact with the horse manure to start out with. But NOW there's this problem. Horse manure can contain weed killer? And destroy your garden? OMG it's so stressful. It's like every move I make, I am making 5 mistakes. I will try your tea method immediately - have not planted the potatoes yet, they will chit for another 2-4 weeks?? I think. Going by the size of their chits currently. I am in the UK. Oh goodness I feel so stressed out lol Do you think it will be ok to plant into the fresh horse manure (if it turns out to be ok from the tea test)?

[@beesandseeds]

Do you have somewhere else you can plant them? I’d save the horse manure bed for fall and grow garlic or onions overwinter in it. That will give it time to age. I’ve never grown anything in just horse manure. I’m not sure how potatoes will do. I love to grow potatoes in bags or large pots. That could be a possibility. Check and see if your community has a free compost yard. Maybe you can get enough fill bags to grow them in or make a new space and grow them in the compost.

[@BayouSavant]

My neighbor has horses. I wanted to manure my garden, so I got 6 dippers from a pile in the woods and laid it on thick, over a freshly forked bed- later, the vegetables planted as sets- the tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, are doing fine- the Squash and Zucchini are luxuriant. The cantalopes planted in virgin soil germinated well, emerged strongly and continue to grow well. Another row, planted in the garden soil, and mixed well with manure, (it was an organic heirloom seed) barely germinated, came up and died. I replanted after a rain, with commercial seed (iroquios) and less than 5% came up, and never progressed. Long story short, I believe the manure was contaminated with some sort of pre-emergence herbicide. I had noted that the only thing that was coming up was stunted morning glory vines, and any thing growing in the manure had a squiggly distorted root. I had to remove all the manure, with a shovel, and 1 " of the top soil. What a Pain in the Ass. I am still sore, it took all of one day, and I hope I didn't damage my garden for years to come. I believe it is not the manure, but the hay bedding that is the problem- How the eff can it be permissible to have a herbicide persist in the environment for this long? anyway- American Agriculture, in addition to patented Hybrid seeds, and GMO, has now found a way to screw up even manure. God help us.

[@beesandseeds]

Exactly! Should not be allowable. Sorry you experienced this. It’s not fun

[@BayouSavant]

​@@beesandseeds Yeah- if anyone wants to look at why Monarch butterflies and bees are having a hard time- they only have to look at the herbicide practices destroying all habitat- and long lasting pesticides as well- In the 50's 60's and 70's , active mechanical cultivation to remove weeds was the norm- now you just spray the whole damn field- Well I'm ok with use on your field but it should never be persistent enough to migrate off your land- That stuff is licensed for a particular use and killing my garden isn't one of them.

[@ThisisSeeLifeHomesteading]

So wise to be careful!

[@beesandseeds]

Learned the hard way 😊. Thanks for stopping by!

[@davidhenry1581]

i have sold manure man and boy since 1974 ! i test manure twice a month with beans !

[@lynnhopping2162]

I think you may have missed the probability of the resultant high nitrogen depletion in the soil when breaking down horse manure especially if it’s mixed with sawdust like a stable. Many vegetable hate horse manure. And it takes a year before the soil is balanced again… but it will be better off then before. This is more likely the problem then herbicide

[@beesandseeds]

Excellent point. I only add composted manure (besides rabbit) into the garden. The manure my dad brought over had been piled up for over a year. If it hasn’t we wouldn’t have even tested it at that time. I turned out to be just fine. I tested multiple times throughout the season

[@rc1952]

I only read about the uptake of nitrogen by manure enriched soils today if the manure has wood chop in it or shavings. It drains your soil if needed nitrogen to grow vegies. So you have to find out how much wood chips and shavings was in the manure. Plants need nitrogen. It is partly supplied in rainfall but not enough. All round I think using manure is not useful and takes far greater expertise, time and risk…

[@TeresaV]

Glad I saw this video. My husband saw a fb post about getting compost from a local stockyard. I asked the people if they used it on their vegetable garden immediately. They say yes and had amazing results. I'm still leary, though. If aged humanure compost can't be used if a person is on medications, then what about any medications that livestock animals are on?

[@beesandseeds]

We have an organic dairy that sells composted manure. It’s fantastic. Good quality manure is very good for your garden. If they can verify it’s safe to use, that’s great. A lot of people aren’t aware of the herbicides used on hay fields that can still damage broad leaf plants once digested.

[@reneebrown2968]

Thanks for the heads up. I've been wondering if there was a test I could do to find out if manure is safe. Right now only using my rabbit poop, because I know what they ate. Thank you again

[@beesandseeds]

Thank you for stopping by! Rabbit manure it so good because you can use it right away. If it were always summer, I’d get rabbits. I do not like caring for the chickens in the rain all winter so I know I don’t want to add more animals. They do have the best poo though 😁

[@bart9409]

Instead of growing the radish, you can simply put the water over some broadleaf weeds on your property. It skips a step. I’m curious as to how long you have done this and how often is it a problem. I called the people who sell the coastal and asked if they know if their source uses these chemicals. If they don’t know , ask them to find out or take your business elsewhere. As clever as this method is, it’s a real pain!

[@beesandseeds]

Thanks that’s such a great idea! I’ll definitely do that in the future 😃 I try not to use any manure that I don’t know the source. My dad does tractor work for people and us given loads sometimes. We have a local organic dairy that sells it but it’s si expensive ti but it from them. I’ve only had one time that it was a problem and not I’m just very careful and concerned that it’ll happen again. It’s very smart of you to make sure you know the source!

[@beesandseeds]

It’s so obvious to just use it on weeds! I can’t believe that didn’t occur to me 😄

[@rc1952]

Growing the radish is fast, separate container and easy to see your separated clear test results. Putting it on weeds is not a separate test so I don’t think it’s the way to go.

[@twinbrookacres]

Great video and advice. Thanks for sharing! - Rick

[@beesandseeds]

Thank you for stopping by!

[@LifeHomeandGardenwithAnaRica]

Thanks for sharing very useful tips!

[@beesandseeds]

Thank you for stopping by 😊

[@offgridgrandma2766]

I recently learned that dewormer can be an issue as well.

[@beesandseeds]

Ohhhh man. I’ll have to look into that. Thank you for sharing!

[@pdxbk]

Is the issue killing beneficial worms/crawlers in the soil or something else?

[@nickthegardener.1120]

Charles Dowding says it doesn’t effect brassicas! So your radish might not be susceptible to the weed killer, try on peas or beans.👍🏻 I hope you had no problems.👍🏻

[@beesandseeds]

Thank you. I’ve had it affect brassicas at the school in the past. The only thing not harmed were the onions. I wonder if he was referring to a diferent herbicide. There are some designed to kill grasses and they don’t affect brassicas. The broad leaf killers do affect them from my experience. I’m sad we even have to worry about it. So far the manures I got last year have been okay but I think I’m going to just stick to my chickens manure for the garden. I know it’s safe. 😁

[@nickthegardener.1120]

@@beesandseeds true, it was aminopyralid 👍🏻

[@scottburgle4889]

Just amazes me that the herbicide doesn’t harm the horses(or any animals). I’m very skeptical, call me pessimistic.

[@beesandseeds]

Im skeptical also. I’ll be surprised with time if it does to prove to be harmless

[@jeremyreeves8940]

Ok, I got free horse dung fur my yard. If it’s contaminated will it effect my grass? I’m guessing no the herbicides does not effect grass? Pls answer.

[@beesandseeds]

No it’s won’t affect your grass! It’s made to affect broadleaf weeds but not grasses. Your in good shape 😊

[@raymond-wk2gp]

I recently brought some black cow, I'm concerned about using it, I have some plants that have to be planted. I have a bunch of grow bags that I'm going to put it in. That way if things go bad it won't be in my garden beds. I emailed black cow and they said that they have never found grazon or other herbicides in their manure. I find that statement to be a corporate answer and excuse me if I think it's about sales and not facts. I was born but not yesterday

[@beesandseeds]

It’s hard to trust any product. I don’t know how they couldn’t ever have grazon in their manure being such a large company. Using it in grow bags is a good plan.

[@reneebrown2968]

I've heard it stays in the ground for 2 years.

[@beesandseeds]

It can! Not good. I think it depends on the amount as to how long it affects the soil. I’ve heard some people have issues for months and others years.

[@gardeningperth]

There are some test kits that you can buy but they're expensive.

[@beesandseeds]

I had no idea. I’ll have to check them out and see if they’d be a good fit for me. Thanks for letting us know!

[@lt2866]

Can you please give website or name of test kits. Thxs.

[@beesandseeds]

@@lt2866 I haven’t checked into it yet. I’ll let you know when I finally do 😊Been so busy and my system of testing has been working well.

[@johnpruitt2516]

there are some herbicides like Grazon , that plants will grow up just fine and die later.

[@beesandseeds]

It’s awful stuff.

[@thestupidgardener4642]

Great tip!!

[@beesandseeds]

Thank you! I still love your channel name 😁

[@olsonlr]

Not a good enough test. I used it on orchard and perennials and it took a year or two to show the damage

[@beesandseeds]

Interesting. I’ve never heard of it taking years to show damage. Good to know. None of that batch tested damaged any plants here so far. The herbicides are really bad stuff. I wish they weren’t allowed

[@rumpoh8039]

GRAZONE FROM DUPONT DID IT.

[@Ace-wu4zm]

I know using manure that contains wood shavings does that to your plants

[@beesandseeds]

You do need to be sure it’s all composted before using. The pesticide is different. The plants grow oddly/twisted

[@curtissheppard1996]

Herbiside..thank you.

[@beesandseeds]

Welcome!

[@bitsandbobs4082]

Its the straw thats sprayed

[@beesandseeds]

Yes unfortunately

[@peopleschampiii584]

Maybe the manure was still hot or had a lot of nitrogen in it...

[@beesandseeds]

It was well broken down. I’ve never used fresh manures in my garden. Only the well composted stuff. That would Definitely damage it though. Thanks for mentioning it!

[@peopleschampiii584]

​@beesandseeds how do you know how well it was broken down of you didn't do the composting?

[@beesandseeds]

@@peopleschampiii584 the stalls are cleaned and contents piled up in diferent areas. They have you load up from the composted piles and not the fresh ones. Horse manure is clumpy and it’s mixed with the straw. When it’s composted it looks like dirt and has no manure smell.

[@robertjamesofwales]

I gather my horse shit from wherever i can get it.And the end of the day i would rather take my chances with the veg i grow than store bought, sometimes you just have to put caution to the wind ,

[@beesandseeds]

❤️ Maybe your country is a bit wiser than ours and doesn’t allow the horrible persistent herbicides we have here in the states. Tainted horns manure ruined my school garden for a couple seasons.

[@robertjamesofwales]

Its Time to get my socks out thanks for uploading

[@PavalonTech]

You could just grab some weeds and transplant it in the manure. If it continues to live... It's probably good.

[@beesandseeds]

Yes! I started making a liquid fertilizer with it and pouring some on broad leaf weeds. Not sure why I didn’t think of that on the first place lol

[@PavalonTech]

@@beesandseeds well we learn new things everyday with these gardens :) thanks for the content!

[@rc1952]

@@beesandseedswhat happened to the weeds? Did you see any distorted weeds growing? What were your results?

[@jimparker7778]

Herbicide is part of the problem with animal manure. A much bigger concern is pharmaceutical residues. Our dogs, cats, horses, pigs, chickens and cows are getting goosed with tons of antibiotic meds and these wastes end up on the ground, unlike with human waste, which ends up in sewage systems that will undergo treatment before being returned to the environment. This makes for a very persistent pharma residue in the streams, rivers and oceans. It is showing up in the flesh of harvest food fish.

[@beesandseeds]

That is so true. Even wastewater treatment doesn’t get all the pharmaceuticals out of human waste either. Thank you for pointing this out.

[@EssayonsFG]

We don't use animal manures in our garden, just for the reason you listed off with.

[@beesandseeds]

Yeah it’s scary.

[@johnpruitt2516]

The not harm the animal part they state is what I have a hard time believing.

[@beesandseeds]

I agree!

[@1yachtcarpenter]

Hello, thank you for the great video. I had no idea until today about herbcd. residue. Yesterday I got myself 400 pounds of poo from a nice horse ranch,,I was so happy.... My question is can I do this test with fresh poo?

[@beesandseeds]

Fresh can burn the plants too so I would wait until it has aged and is ready to use before testing it

[@1yachtcarpenter]

@@beesandseeds Thank you. I made some tea and put it on 3 very delicate plants and they seem fine.