Your Compost May Be KILLING Your Garden…Here's How to Fix It

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the telltale curling of my young tomato plants... Turns out the compost I thought was nurturing my soil is actually damaging my vegetable plants. Here's the scoop on a phenomenon that's way more common than you think AND how you can combat it!
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[@theprairiehomestead]

Thanks for watching! Here's the blog post telling the story of the first time we dealt with this issue... www.theprairiehomestead.com/2016/08/curled-tomato-leaves.html

[@Hammer4999]

The recipe I saw for mushroom compost is a mixture of hay and manure, so it could have the same issue.

[@Hammer4999]

@The Pervy Prepper Gotcha.

[@thesilentone4024]

Well unless we can make them tell us if the poop is organic🤦‍♂️. Its sade I need to say this but if a cow eats chemicals its not organic anymore why does no stores that sell cow crap not tell use wtf is in it I've looked and tried theres no label on wtf is all in the bag of poop and we all know lots of it has wood mixed in why its sapost to be 100% poop god. We need to change the market so we don't poison areselfs or are plants bugs anything even the soil we need these labels.

[@thesilentone4024]

@The Pervy Prepper ya thats the problem I'm in vages don't have those only have box stores and they dont have it its really weird and annoying 😑

[@allisonjsmith6443]

I started a serious garden this year and I have heard about this issue. I was so worried about all the chemicals in products, I decided only to use my own compost from kitchen and garden scraps, native grass, and spiky arid plant clippings. We don't have trees, so I have had to source raw tree mulch (to get enough brown) which gets aged with the rest in a big pile. I have also planted things to increase my green and brown mulch in the future: trees, clover, etc. It is going slow, but great!

[@theblacksheepgardener]

I have had this come into my garden twice now. first, in 2019 in a bag of steer manure, and now this year in compost from residential yard waste. It's absolutely devastating. I have learned so much about it though. I've learned that it can remain active in the soil in smaller amounts than can be tested for in a lab. I've learned that multiple different compounds can cause these affects and that they are known as Plant Growth Inhibitors(PGIs). Different PGIs affect different plants differently and have different half lives. Some compounds can last up to a decade. Corteva is the sole manufacturer, however, and also conveniently in charge of documenting cases of contamination. It is recommended that those experiencing this issue contact them so it can be recorded. Though it sounds as if many people's experience is that either they will not get back to you or they will say it is caused by something different, which can range from temperature, to mineral deficiencies, to ants. I would recommend contacting your governing bodies as well. These compounds are completely unnecessary, are not properly labeled, and should not be available for sale. The bio hazard effect of these compounds is far more damaging and long lasting than any weed it is used to eradicate.

[@BracesandBoots1]

I learned a trick from one of the guys at Living Web Farm, that is just for this purpose. He keeps cheap dried peas around the seed start table and plants a few peas with each tray of starts. Peas sprout very quickly and are even more of a canary than tomatoes. They will come up, but show distress right away. I think you could even throw a handful of winter peas in a new pile of compost, before you even start to use it. See what happens before it’s incorporated into your beds.

[@isaacwillson8617]

I’ve done this but my question is- with the peas how long should it take before you see a result in the peas? Because if it’s a seed starting tray how long does it take and what signs am I looking for? Twisted leaves is one- but if this is a growth inhibitor chemical - then I’m wondering if the peas could look healthy otherwise and just have stunted growth?

[@desmondcicero9994]

Happened to me this year. Thanks to your video i now know what happened

[@SerialSpinner-ss]

I have twisted tomatoes this year (along with some damage on tomatillos, ground cherries, beans and peppers) but the peas all look perfect. Go figure....

[@BracesandBoots1]

@@isaacwillson8617 I don’t personally have a good answer other than this. If we were to actually plant peas with every tray you started, I think we’d get pretty good at judging the health of pea starts. Even if they were healthy but just stunted, I think we’d pick up on it after awhile.

[@BracesandBoots1]

@@SerialSpinner-ss I don’t know. It’s something new all the time. Maybe it’s not chemical. Virus or nematodes that are specific to tomatoes.

[@girlintheblueridge6529]

I bought two large truckloads of horse manure with sawdust. I asked about the chemical and they said the manure was from race horses and that they didnt think they would feed the horses anything bad. It sounded good so i was convinced and bought it. That was fall of 2023. I had never heard of grazon poisoning. I planted 6 trees with this compost mixed 50/50 with my red clay. The compost looked so good! Like black gold! Come this spring my fig tree started to leaf out and the leaves were curled. I gave it 3 weeks and then i realized i had a problem. I found out curling leaves was the telltale sign of grazon poisoning. I repotted the fig tree and satsuma and think they are gonna be okay. I pulled my guava and persimmon out of the ground and kiwi. . They dont show signs of life but could have been from cold winter. Im in VA. Will never know for sure. But yes, about $800 down the drain. I saw that it can happen with Black Cow too. Thanks for ur vid. That stuff should be outlawed.

[@gordonsloan4090]

Great discussion on aminopyralids. I was hit with them a couple of years ago. Tilling and watering also hastens the breakdown of this herbicide. Just want to add that an additional problem for small lot gardeners is that if you get manure from a local farmer, he may honestly tell you that he has applied no herbicide. But that farmer may well be doing some contract haying for others (that happens a lot where we are) and may take part of his payment in hay from their farms. He has no idea if that farmer has used aminopyralids and, if so, it goes right through his livestock and into the manure that he and you thought was clean! It's a tough cycle to beat.

[@rossaff6238]

Thanks for this. Just FYI, I did have the same issue using bagged manure/compost from Home Depot in my raised beds. All of my tomatoes curled up after I applied the compost/manure early mid-season as a top dressing --except the 2 in large gro bags that I didn't top-dress. Up until that point, my plants were doing just fine. Eventually, the plants recovered somewhat and did put out some new unaffected growth late season, but production was severely limited. Very frustrating. This year, everything looks fine and extremely healthy. Lots of tomatoes on the vines and no damage in site. So, it took 1 year for my raised bed soil to wash out or break down the herbicide.

[@annebiedenstein395]

I test EVERYTHING before it goes on my garden for this very reason. A farmer friend of mine lost almost 3 acres of productive land due to contaminated compost. Five years later she's still seeing the effects. I buy cheap bean seeds and plant them in any compost/mulch I use. If I see any damage, the load gets dumped.

[@leslienichols5268]

I was so happy to receive horse manure from an "organic" horse farm. Immediately began seeing leaf curling. Realized that although the farm itself didn't spray, and bought what they thought was organic hay, that there is no way to control the whole supply chain. Fortunately, was able to break the soil up and spread around thinly, and the next season had no problem. Now I make all my own compost and am just happy with the smaller quantity .

[@kirsten4896]

Horses are treated extensively with oral and topical chemicals. We avoid horse products too. So 😢.

[@MHines]

Your story sounds like mine. I just wanted to cry. I thought I was doing a great thing, buying a trailer load of horse manure. I worked so hard to grow my little seedlings, just to see this happen to them. My husband made some biochar that I'm going to rake into all of my beds and try to plant some flowers that can remediate the soil. I'm researching now which are the best. Thanks, Jill for the info.

[@49testsamiam49]

I test hay and straw by soaking it in water a few days and watering some sacrificial tomato or pea plants if they remain healthy for a time then I know the hay is ok

[@l.skipallen9080]

Thank you for that great tip !!!

[@hizzlemobizzle]

I use organic bales of alfalfa.

[@Dovey62]

@49tests. BRILLIANT!

[@wernerviehhauser94]

This will not work with contact agents, you would also have to spray some of it on leaves since they are not absorbed through the roots.

[@49testsamiam49]

@@wernerviehhauser94 interesting so if it never contacts leaves it will not hurt the plants?

[@shaydelady1508]

I work in produce at a grocery store and I just shake my head when I see so many people buying "Organic". The US Government allow the "Organic" label if 25% of a farmers product is NOT currently being sprayed. It will takes YEARS to get rid of all the pesticides out of the soil to be 100% truly organic. Not to mention that if farmer A wants to produce organic, but farmer B uses pesticides or whatever. That WILL blow across the fields or get into the shared water. So when your buying organic banana's, for example, the ONLY thing organic about them is they have NOT been sprayed this season. This does not mean there aren't pesticides in the ACTUAL soil the banana's are producing from. When I say pesticides I'm including chemicals such as "Round Up". Case in point, there was a farmer in Canada and the Round Up company sprayed the field next to his wheat, well that farmer had one hell of bumper crop that year, well, long story short, Round Up sued this farmer because it was their spray that had caused him to have such a great crop and they wanted money. Round Up WON that disgusting lawsuit! Round Up was sprayed and carried on the wind. Now anytime he plants in that field, he has to pay Round Up a %. It's gonna take years to get truly rid of the affects of pestcides.

[@shadytreez]

Roundup was proven to mess up our gut bacteria

[@michaelmoore7831]

How did Round Up help his crop??? I would have thought it would have killed his plants, not helped.

[@rivinius98]

I’ve been dealing with the same problem for the last two years. The compost we have made from our horse and chicken manure for the last five years is contaminated. I lost 65 tomatoes that I started on my own and 40 pepper plants. Thought I replaced enough of the soil with store-bought material and also lost some of the replacements that I bought from the nursery. So frustrating… Thanks for sharing!

[@freelivingtennessee]

I thought I had that problem in my new garden beds but it ended up being the compacted clay I worked too early in the season and it wasn’t drying out. In my research I’ve discovered fulvic and humic acid! That is a great way to add nutrients and encourage microbes to break down the organic matter you can safely use like your grass clippings. Back to the suspected herbacide carryover, I did the bioassay test when I had the suspicion. It was clean. But I am not ruling out the possibility of herbacide blowing into my yard from two neighbors that have perfectly manicured weed free. That makes me think herbacide drift can be grown through. But the soil carryover is way more difficult to overcome. Humic and fulvic acid in a raised bed that has tainted compost would prob help remediation due to encouragement of microbial action.

[@gcranch9913]

You need to check out some of those videos where Gardner’s bury a 5gallon bucket up to the lid in their garden. It is drilled with 1” holes all around and then kitchen stuff is put inside and the worms come in and eat it and leave their casings. Great but slow soil amendments. I use 5 buckets in my garden and it works great. I incorporate some newsprint and occasionally grass clippings and leaves into the buckets.

[@TheWaldHaven]

There is a similar method where by you place a plant pot ontop of another plant pot. You put your scraps/compost in the bottom pot and your plant growns in the top one. The vermin can't get to the scraps but the worms can and you can move the compost around as needed when complete. I've been trialing this with a box and basket combo but even the basket is heavy to lift. I think this could work really well with a small plant pot though.

[@countrybreezefarms]

I have the EXACT same problem. I had to spread it out and then we planted corn where we spread it. The corn stocks will pull the herbicide out of the soil and quicker. The corn I planted is Mandan Indian Maze corn and selling it as a fall decorative corn. We will then burn our stalks when finished this fall.

[@shadyman6346]

Thanks! Didn’t know that, but I heard you can use sunflowers the same way.

[@d.shermandesantos3570]

Will burning destroy it, or will the ash then be contaminated too?

[@mytech6779]

@@d.shermandesantos3570 Burning destroys it.

[@maggiescalf5312]

I first heard about this issue from gardening with Leon … when he mentioned it I did some research. I found a farm that doesn’t spray their straw (for chicken bedding) but now I don’t use manure compost from anyone bc I don’t know what the animals are eating. So sad. It really complicates things.

[@isaacwillson8617]

You have to now use worm castings- but it’s a real hassle - it’s very expensive and very time consuming to either make your own worm castings or buy them- worm castings are almost 20 times more expensive then Steer manure. It complicates farming in a big way- but it is what these demon possessed chemical manufacturers want so they can create a monopoly on the food supply. It’s pure evil- and the government is complicit- the government can put a man in the moon and monitor 60,000 phone calls per second through “intelligence agencies” but they can’t figure out how dangerous releasing a chemical like this into the environment can be? They want to make all the farmers unable to produce food so they can gain more control- if you can grow your own food you are completely independent- if you can’t grow your own food-you become the slave of whoever has food- it’s just the evil reality behind all of this. I’m now having to become a complete soil farmer and soil engineer and it is fun at times learning - but also exponentially frustrating and infuriating when my plants and vegetables have stunted growth or all these stupid little issues and I just can’t garden and grow vegetables like I used to. Everything is a much slower pace and I must be extra careful that I am not introducing chemicals into the soil- in fact - in this video she said she uses grass clippings from her yard because she believes they are safe-however grass is immune to these chemicals and even if she didn’t use chemicals on her grass- the grass can still be affected by herbicidal drift that can carry the smallest of particles - only 1 part per billion is needed to contaminate the soil- and herbicidal drift can happen from as far as a mile away. The general public has no idea the potential catastrophe that could happen that would be equivalent to a nuclear war. If all the food supply collapsed over night because no one was able to produce vegetables or plant based foods- it would have a rippling effect across the entire ecosystem and massive starvation and all of life on earth would be at risk of extinction. It’s just the facts.

[@lisapenneysilverman1213]

Very informative. Explains my one cucumber plant with stunted growth and twisted stems, and I'm very thankful that the whole garden (city garden in LA) did not suffer from my "box store" bag soil/compost purchase (happily I randomly purchased a few different brands and maybe did not mix thoroughly). As for the ants, I put coffee grinds around the entire perimeter of my 4' x 8' garden (yes, right in the middle of LA) and ants are gone (google idea). I also have basil plants, marigolds, "society garlic", chives, and nasturtiums (although the last plant is suffering as it is already too hot) as natural pest deterrents. Honestly, I only have a small clue at what I'm doing. Love all the information from Jill and the community!

[@donnapadgett7719]

Hi Jill. Thank you for this video. I am almost 80 and have never had this to happen until this year. My son thought it was that the plants got to hot but this blew me away that it is the dirt because I hauled in this dirt from out other farm. It is good cleanings from a barn that has set for several years. I am still so surprised that this is the reason my plants have curled leaves. I am so lucky because it is only to plants and I have them planted in lick tubs. Thank you again for this information.

[@feralfpv3768]

More like Agro-chemical industry is KILLING your garden.

[@Noidfpv]

Lol! Hey fellow fpv pilot!😎👋

[@feralfpv3768]

@@Noidfpv what up brother 🖖

[@Noidfpv]

@@feralfpv3768 doing good bro!.😎🖖

[@mytech6779]

Actually the source farm is using the product in an illegal manner, directly against its label restrictions. So no, agro-chem is not killing her garden.

[@buckleybaker9276]

The problem of contaminated compost can be avoided what cannot be is petro chemicals are killing insects not just bees nature put them on the earth for a purpose just because they may bug us does not give man a right to eradicate them karma is a real thing

[@kathystuart8571]

Mine came through mushroom compost. Upon researching they used horse manure in it's make up. The half of the garden I could afford to apply mushroom to that year was a twisted mess! That has been five years ago. There is one corner that still suffers. Only this year did I hear about using corn or other monocot to purge the soil. Now I plant a test seedling usually tomato in any soil I use.

[@ellejayn]

yeah I was under the impression that mushroom manure was animal manure that had been used to grow mushrooms, not made of mushroom...

[@joanies6778]

The organic mushroom compost I buy doesn't mention animal manure. I absolutely lo e the stuff and never saw anything but good results. It's pricey, but I trust it.

[@mytech6779]

@Lottie Lot No they are not grown in poop, at least not commercially, its been 100 years since there were enough horses around for mushroom cultivation. Commercial button mushrooms are grown on "synthetic manure" which is cereal straw(wheat rice barley...) mixed with some supplements to boost minerals and adjust nitrogen and pH then partially composted at a specific temperature. The "manure" is then spread in trays, inoculated with mushroom spawn and at some point after the spawn has grown they cap it with a thin layer of soil to stimulate the final mushroom formation. After the mushrooms have used up all the energy that they can the leftovers are sold as mushroom compost.(and yes it actually contains a fair proportion of mushroom tissues.)

[@mytech6779]

On the plus side many species of mushroom make enzymes that speed the breakdown of organic molecules like pesticides and petroleum. It comes from how they digest their food source, straw in this case which is made of lignin and cellulose polymers.(large molecules that need to be broken into small molecules)

[@debiscooking9770]

Thanks so much as we have had such a difficult time this year with our tomatoes and leaf curl. Between this and your blog you’ve answered all our questions! 👩‍🌾

[@animapulcra9205]

You are not alone getting herbicides into your garden this year. There's a lot of gardeners and homesteaders hit by herbicides through bought compost and cover material. I've experimented since April, discovering the problem last autumn damaging my winter gardening, with two insulated fully enclosed and covered raised garden bed as compost with added worms and fungus cultures degrading contaminated garden material. I haven't tried use the compost yet. Unfortunately I've got previous years covering and compost all over the garden. Conclusively a completely new location had to be arranged and the original part of my limited in town property is sort of in limbo for now. Thank you so much lifting this issue. 💪

[@UrbanGardeningWithD.A.Hanks14]

Good info, Jill. My first year composting, I was collecting grass from the side of the road in high end neighborhoods. Big mistake! They use Weed & Feed, and it does just this. Next year, I bought a bag for my mower and mulched my grass and leaves, and have been making several yards of beautiful and SAFE compost each year ever since. NEVER put ANYTHING into your compost that you don't know the entire history of, for like five years. Farmers, just say no to Grazon! Those affected plants need to burned or thrown away.

[@demitaylor8873]

This explains a lot!!! I used bags of manure/compost from walmart in my last garden and NOTHING but weeds and plants...no produce..I think YOU HAVE SOLVED my problems..before i start again I'll be SURE TO CHECK my sources!#!! Thanks SO MUCH!💪GARDNER

[@cherylpresleigh6403]

Thank you for sharing! I’ve had a feeling like something wasn’t right in the garden. I feel like we’re dealing with something in the dirt…bugs and toxic matter. New Gardner here so this is very helpful! Between the slugs and bugs it’s been frustrating to also see leaves curling. Thank you for this info.

[@robertbrown1439]

sometimes to much nitrogen will do same thing, curly leaves not always bad hay or straw, my garden had 2 toms curl leaves but rest of 8 plants were beautiful,

[@tammydayfl]

I have always used mushroom compost on my vegetable plants in my small home garden and it works wonders, I love it. My garden is small though so I can fill my truck bed full and I'm good for the summer planting season. Thanks for sharing all that you learn, it's been very helpful.

[@Gardentogriddle]

So… I am in the middle of cattle country. Northwest Arkansas. A product called Grazon is our most common spray used to kill thistles in the hayfield. Unfortunately it will sometimes drift onto gardens or compost and hay will have residue. From everything I have found out it takes two years for the soil to clear🙁

[@mytech6779]

Picloram is the ingredient in grazeon which remains active in soil/compost for a while.

[@lynnes3659]

Wow, thank goodness I have not run into this problem yet. I use mushroom compost along with my own compost. Thank you, Jill, for the info, hope your garden recovers and does great this year.

[@npmerrill]

Aminopyralids are sometimes present in mushroom compost, too. The only way to know is an expensive lab test or by doing the bioassay.

[@kelly-holisticallyrooted6569]

So glad you shared this! I lost many tomatoes this year & didn’t think it may be my compost! I’ve read great things about spraying soil with Digize oil. Haven’t tried it, but know farmers who’ve used it to clean soil from pesticides.

[@kentaylor3319]

Hello Kelly 👋

[@52oldtimerocker]

This was the first year I ever had this problem. Really had me scratching my head because I used bagged compost and potting mix. Live in farming country so I know the fields have been sprayed with so much junk over the years I wouldn't use the hay. Like to use a mulch To keep the soil cool and moist but now don't know what to use.

[@alanclark6761]

I have been struggling with tomato plants twisting and curling for several years and now I know why. My first 2 years I composted left over hay and cow manure and couldn't grow a single tomato. The third year I mixed in bagged nitrogen and let it go and had a good deal of tomatoes. The fourth year I had the same problem with the twisting and curling & last year I ordered 7 yards of mushroom compost and have such a bounty that I am canning this year but I still have a few plants twisting and curling. I have been looking for an answer to this for years and you finally turned the light on. Thanks. No more compost from the pasture for me & I can wait out the herbicide to go away by tilling and keeping the microbes healthy. You are the best! Thanks.

[@The.Ghost.of.Tom.Joad.]

I had the same thing happen to my tomatoes and peppers: curled leaves when I put my starts in the ground. It was my first year here, so I wrote it off to bad soil and purchased plants, growing them in large self-watering containers. And being an organic grower who wanted to improve his soil, I added more manure. Then it happened again the next year. Luckily, this time I was smarter and grew twice the starts, figuring I'd give away those I didn't use, so saved paying the greenhouse for starts. Luckily, I bought some damaged plants to my local Ohio State Extension office, and they set me right. They recommended using peas or beans as a canary in a coal mine crop. Beans failed in early autumn of the second year, but peas sprouted and grew fine the next spring, so the herbicide had gone. Interesting thing: corn, cabbages, kale, mustard, etc. grew great, unaffected... though I thank The Ohio State Extension agent for giving me the heads up there. It may have been the specific herbicide the big-box manure was contaminated with, though, so your mileage may vary. Still, utilize your local extension office if you have one near. They're great.

[@kristydechant7120]

First year gardening on our property after we were married... my potatoes were so stunted! My tomatoes were bushy green and curl leafed. They wouldn't fruit properly. The soil eventually killed them from the root up. We changed how we create compost. It's more spread out but in a dug out section of garden. I now include layers of healthy soil into my compost to ensure good microbes are there from day 1. It takes a bit longer and I have to watch the moisture levels to make sure it doesn't dry out, we're in central AZ. Used the first batch to start our squash and tomatoes and they're gorgeous! Well, what the lizards didn't devour that is.

[@RDLASLB]

When the wildlife eats it happily & voraciously you know the food is in good soil. My grandfather used to plant 2 plots. A small one for the deer (not fenced in) and a much larger one for family (fenced in). The plots weren't very close to each other either.

[@kristydechant7120]

@@RDLASLB I have 2 lots as well. Sadly the normal doesn't apply to desert lizards. They eat Everything no matter the soil! We finally made a hardware cloth fence for the the trees, plants, raised beds, and containers. A pain to access but I am finally getting to keep my garden.

[@rogerbeck5704]

Very good information, thank you! I started making all of my compost from grass clippings and leaves from my yard. So far this year I've made 3 yards of compost and have started putting it around my citrus and fruit trees. The worms love it and when fill my bucket and find one I just put it back in the pile.

[@lynnbetts4332]

Systemic herbicides, like Grazon Next, Millstone, etc, are commonly used on pastures and hayfields. If you look at their fact sheets, it says at least 18 months to degrade. And it also says not to be used off farm without supplemental labeling. But I have found no hay dealers in my area that tell their clients of the herbicide used. I had to specifically ask, and they acted dumb to the required labeling notice. Herbicides containing 2, 4D are contact herbicides, and do not act the same. They break down in a matter of a couple of weeks. My father made the mistake of scraping up the cow manure around his bale feeders one spring and put that on his garden. He had used Grazon on the hay pasture. His garden was stunted for 2 years. Alfalfa hay is different, as the systemics would kill it.

[@floraledet6973]

I have this situation on many of my tomato plants this year but its a hit and miss and I have some not effected at all. I never seen this before in my 20 years of gardening. Thanks for sharing this information…as you said on a homestead you have to experiment and learn. Knowledge Is Power!! God Bless

[@davidclark6517]

I have experienced this a number of years ago but didn’t realize until watching some videos like yours that I had a problem. Thanks for your input.

[@emilyacevedo4746]

David the Good has some good management ideas for herbicide poisoning. I think I remember him saying in a blogpost that someone put charcoal in with the effected plants and they were able to come back! Good luck! I read your original post about this problem and David’s awhile ago and hopefully I’ll be able to avoid this. Get loud! Complain! This can be a huge problem and it needs to be addressed at the source.

[@kentaylor3319]

Hello Emily 👋

[@sallyboothe911]

Thanks for sharing this. I used store bought seed starting soil when I planted all my seed. They did great. Then I used organic potting soil when I up potted. I lost about five trays of tomatoes. Strange thing they were maybe three or four varieties, the others weren’t bothered. Now that I have planted them in the garden I have a hand full that are beginning to look like the one you showed. It’s frustrating when you can’t trust anything. Oh and I did put rabbit manure from my neighbor all over my garden in the fall/winter and also added some saw dust from a local tree company. I’m just glad the biggest part of my garden is doing great.

[@spacecase0]

I had no idea this was happening until I saw this video. It explains my last 2 years of problems. It was commercially bought potting soil

[@lynnburgess5862]

Yikes I just used the brand of soil you showed on my garden but it was the yellow bag. I feel like you really can't trust any soil purchased. Here where we live I bought a yard of soil from a composting company here in Texas. And many people use soil from the county's composting pile where people can bring their plant cuttings etc... to be composted however so many people use chemicals in their yards and on their plants that don't break down. Where the soil company gets their waste to compost I'm sure has unwanted stuff in it as well since it mainly comes from roadside trimming etc... where they are always spraying. I planted tomatoes in a pot last year with store bought soil and that is what happened to them. It really makes you think if there is anything untouched by herbicides, pesticides etc... any more.

[@sherryk30]

I bought that brand, too, and it's expensive! I thought oh no!! She said at the end that she hadn't had any issues with bagged products so that was a little confusing

[@allenuic]

Thanks for the great information. I had the same issue with my tomato plants earlier this season, and I'm now dealing with wilting leaves on my eggplants. I had been very puzzled until I watched your video. In the past, I had been using home made compost and expensive organic composts from big box stores. This year, I had 3 cubic yard of compost delivered to my driveway back in April (much cheaper than big box). Lesson learned, I guess I won't do that again, LOL

[@rainklepper2472]

Best way to test purchased compost or soil is to grow some bean plants...test in a small 6 pack, etc. The leaf curl and diminished growth shows immediately

[@kathystuart8571]

Oh. Good idea. Much faster than tomato seedlings.

[@centraltexashomestead-mike4956]

Great job Jill for getting to the root cause! We are very careful where we source anything to add to our garden. We make our own compost as well. Great Video!

[@meb3153]

Had manure from a neighbor that was 7+ years old that was severely contaminated. Had to move 3 truckloads of contaminated soil. Manufacturers should be liable.

[@DavisFamilyLife]

Found myself going 'ohhh' a whole lot watching this. Learnt a lot. Thank you. 😊😊😊

[@user-cc6zd3kf6z]

I have been searching high and low for pictures and videos about this tomato illness. Thank you for making this video! Up until now I haven't seen any tomatoes that look like mine. I think my story is going to throw a monkey wrench into the mix. Over the winter I planted about 60 tomato plants in Solo cups using sterile popular purchased seed-starting dirt. (Miracle Grow, etc). I am at a rental property so I put about 50 of those plants in pots and 10 of them in the ground. In the 50 pots I added my own homemade compost which was made of leaves from the fall, pine needles, leftover garden debris from last year, paper, cardboard, green scraps, etc. I also went to my town depository to pick up free compost. Each fabric pot and or plastic pot was a mixture of last year's soil combined with my own homemade compost combined with the town's compost. Approximately 10 of them I planted into the ground in three different spots. The first month or so everything was amazing! I had flowers and fruit growing. Almost all of them simultaneously turn into that gnarly tomato that you featured on the video. I was devastated to lose the entire crop so I just left most of them planted. While I was mourning their loss, I realized that they were still growing sideways and producing flowers even though the branches were thin and rubbery. Now this is where it gets so darn confusing! About three or four of the pots were very large, so I planted a new tomato in the same exact spot next to the gnarly tomato. And in every case the gnarly ones stayed gnarly and rubbery and anemic and the new plants grew well and never adopted any of the same disease process even though they were in the same exact pot, with the same exact dirt that theoretically affected the first plant. The new plants seem to have been unaffected! And grew normally. Now to further confuse everyone, the 10 plants that I put in the ground I put in three separate spots. One spot the tomatoes are normal and stayed normal. 1 spot I put three plants next to each other and two turned gnarly and sickly and one did fine. The third patch same problem. One would be perfectly healthy and the one right next to it would be gnarly. Now the ones that were in the ground, I did not add any of the towns compost or any of my compost. It was all so random the way it happened!! Something else that is confusing to me is I have planted zucchini, summer squash and cucumbers in the same large pots with the gnarly dying tomatoes, with the same dirts, and the vegetables are doing amazing!, right next to the gnarly, skinny, rubbery, tomatoes in the same pot. Help.😢. Cures for a small Gardner like me? I remembered that I first noticed this problem after I bought a organic Miracle-Gro sprayer attachment. I sprayed all my tomatoes in within one week 85% of them show this gnarly destructive spindly stems outcome. I didn't want to blame the fertilizer. So I waited approximately 3 weeks and I applied Jack's tomato fertilizer to the same 100 plants. Within one week a good 75% of them showed again more increased rubbery, gnarly, retracted rubbery leaves. How ironic that they got worse two times after applying to different fertilizers.

[@jackalopewright5343]

My daughter has two guinea pigs. The decline of our garden was really noticeable when I started taking their poop and hay from cleaning the cage and putting it in the garden. A friend with a much larger garden had a multi-year decline in output from his garden after he used composted grass clippings from a golf course.

[@phyllislucia]

Thank you for this. I had wondered why occasionally I would have a stunted tomato plant that never grew or bore fruit.

[@beebop9808]

Dang...... I have that very thing happening to a few plants right now. You're a pearl Jill Winger. Glad I ran across your video. Thanks!

[@hollybishop2095]

Thank you! I am going through this right now and this explained a lot!

[@garymcmullin2292]

you are learning a ton and paying for it. Herbicide residues are a reality, but fortunately I am inclined to believe that the vast majority of commercial/retail bagged compost has been produced without the offending herbicides. The sellers of these materials have foreseen the problem. The bioassay approach is the best method of assuring your compost safety. In the past I have seen treatment efforts with activated carbon to absorb various herbicides in soil where crop phytotoxicity was evident but it usually was with mixed to poor results and there is the cost and difficulty of application. You do great videos with MUCH information and entertainment.

[@Katydidit]

I tried that, with mixed results. I have heavy soil, alot of clay, when the herbicide hits the deadpan it just sits there. Difficult to get the activated product down 2 feet under the surface. It takes alot of time. I also added biochar.

[@garymcmullin2292]

@@Katydidit yeah soil in situ is a lost cause to try and treat. Herbicide residues tend to find a place somewhere in the soil layer and concentrate there, not breaking down as you would hope. I have seen ground applied herbicides persist for many years this way, they just do not completely break down and go away even though you see gradual half life reduction of concentrations. However...with a compost pile you have opportunity to MIX the material with carbon or zeolite. And where you might be using a relatively small quantity of compost for starter mix it may be feasable to do a process of mixing the compost with the absorbent in a cement mixer. Would be nice to have a compost turner like is available for large scale compost production. Kind of set up a renovation where you develop a new pile of treated compost. The tainted pile will be VERY slow to rectify the herbicide situation. It pretty much needs to be mixed because down deep the biological activity can really slow down. The bacteria doing the degradation need nitrogen, moisture and the right temperature range...very hard to do with a big stationary pile of compost.

[@joelhar1]

I've been gardening for a few decades and I've only saw this about 30 years ago., I order a lot of my stuff online now, I'll test by watering some sacrificial plants from now on.I keep my local nursery busy with deliveries. I'll ask on the phone next time. Thank you for this video!

[@paulhutson5632]

This information was SO timely for me. I've planted green beans and corn THREE TIMES this year, and have gotten zero germination on the corn and only spotty germination on the beans. I've also noted curling tomato leaves on some plants. This must be why. It's been about 18 months since we spread the manure, so hopefully, next year will be better. In the meantime, I will plant in pots. :(

[@unapologeticvegan]

Omg thank you! This answers my question about what happened to my tomatoes this year!

[@kristihicks3170]

I've read growing corn in the compost then dispose of stalks. Corn is a grass and won't be effected but will pull chemical out of soil.

[@kennithompson2398]

Wow! Thanks for the words of warning! We got a huge trailer full of manure from a local dairy and spread it all over the garden. I have never seen so much pig weed in my life!!! After seeing what you have gone through, I count us as very lucky! I wish we could use our grass clippings as mulch. I did do exactly that. And now I grow the most fabulous stand of Bermuda grass you have ever seen. Another lesson learned. However, I refuse to give up and will make sure to check with the farmer about his use of sprays.

[@zaria5785]

Wow- so glad I came across your channel. Thank you for sharing your experience. I thankfully couldn’t afford hay so I opted for the next best thing: leaf mulch- mainly pine needles that I painstakingly cut into thirds with pruning shears. Come to think of it....I do have this issue with my corn. Its only one corn stalk (about 12 inches tall) It’s the only crop I put in the ground over where I had mulched with cardboard, coffee grounds, horse manure and woodchips from a landscaping company last year- so there’s plenty of earth worms I noticed. I put quite a couple of bags - like 3 cubic yards total (reused bags from store bought potting soil) of the composted horse manure into my compost bin to cover some branches I cut off last year and this year I put that finished compost plus my homemade potting mix into all of my containers and raised beds: potatoes, tomatoes, flowers, but haven’t seen any strange deformities. It’s been at least a month and everything is growing fine. So perhaps it’s already been taken care of by the soil micro-organisms in my compost bin....or the issue lies in the woodchips from landscaping company. Hmm 🤔 I think this chemical may be why one of my corn plants has a leaf that’s curled - noticed that yesterday - looks like it’s scrunched up. I noticed it with my fig tree as well. A few of the leaves looked wonky and stunted. I cut those off thinking it was diseased and threw them away- (not into the compost). But a few of the figs are smaller than the rest and look a bit deformed. I actually ate a couple of those deformed figs that were ripe. No difference in taste, but definitely deformed - instead of the tear drop shape, the figs look like one side of it is bent over and smaller in size. We did get at least 10 that dropped fruit on its own and was super small. We are also in a drought here in Northern California so recently I have been supplementing it with water since it hasn’t received a continuous supply of rain this past winter or spring. Also noticed a couple of my leaves on my orange tree are curled. I don’t know what to make of it. I haven’t let it fruit yet as it’s still rather young. I think I’ll dig it out and plant it in a 15 gallon container and see how it performs. It is pushing new growth so I’m also curious to see what those leaves will look like. Meanwhile the micro-organisms can help continue to break down this chemical. Thank you so much for making a video about this. 💕✌🏼Also sending prayers for your compost heap to break down this chemical sooner rather than later.

[@ali88881]

Corn is a grass and pyralids don’t affect grasses so it will not affect your corn. Must be something else

[@CPLBSS88]

Awesome info, Thanks! Also, would love to hear more info on that greenhouse... i looked but dont see a vid from you about it? Looking for any tips, brand recs, etc...

[@luzvigerminal558]

Thank you it’s really very informative. I’ve only used once a straw and luckily they are ok. I’ve preferred to used grass clippings, autumn leaves and chop & drop. Also be careful with grass clippings because if isn’t from your yard, it can have herbicide too. My friend years ago collected a grass clippings from neighbours and unfortunately one neighbour had sprayed herbicide and her plant did not survive.

[@barbarabrand190]

I have had this happen, but did not know why. I live in the dessert by Vegas. I was buying hay from a local feed store and composting the manure. In fact I composted it a full year. Planted my garden it was great! The next year I used the compost i had been saving and bam no production in the garden to speak of. I have moved to a 3 acre homestead, I have more animals, and source my hay directly from the growers who don't use herbicides or pesticides. They were an accidental find through a friend. You shoukd see my garden! I have not mulched as this is the first year I'm growing here, and the front yard is an acre of pasture grass I rotate my 4 cows and 18 goats through. The back was planted but did not do well as we are in a 20 year drought here. I did water religiously and used droughtvtolerant grass species. So I'm wondering if all the composted manure was contaminated. Thank you for posting this.

[@lisam5744]

We used goat poop/old hay to fertilize and mulch our garden. And we've had the same problem with our tomato plants since. We container garden, so changing the dirt won't be too bad for the tomatoes. And I'll not use the goat manure again. Fortunately this hasn't affected anything else in the garden. And I did let the tomato plants go just to see what would happen. About five little tomatoes from 15 plants. Thanks for solving my mystery.

[@oliviamaxwell7123]

I was able to get a ton (literally) of discarded rabbit feed that I mixed all into my compost that I put everywhere in my garden. I thought it would be awesome to have all the great biomass! I had no idea of aminopyralid and that it is sprayed so freely over hay and straw. I have cried at all my potatoes and tomatoes looking like trolls. I learned what it was far too late to replant. Keeping my fingers crossed maybe I will get something? So frustrating that this stuff can even be used!

[@d.shermandesantos3570]

Glad I'm not the only one that was driven to tears by this, but not glad that others went through this too. Anyone starts a movement to do something about this I'll happily help; it cost me dearly.

[@msavina9129]

Aaah crap. This comment is sealing in my fate. Ive been using my guinea pig’s soiled bedding for compost. He eats the same hay that rabbits eat, plus his pellets are made from the hay. I had this issue last year with a few of my tomato plants. Last year was the first time I started composting, and first time it ever happened to me. I feel disgusted Ive been feeding him that toxin.

[@d.shermandesantos3570]

@@msavina9129 Sigh, that's just so not fair. There has to be something we can do about this. There just has to be. I've been a human rights activist for years - I think I'm going to start branching out and see what can be done to help the people who are trying to handle this. This is something that is going to require coordinated effort. Actually, if you think about it, this is a human rights issue.

[@msavina9129]

@@d.shermandesantos3570 That would be a great start. The word definitely needs to get out that we are tired of it landing on nearly every plate.

[@juliocbp9389]

Your greenhouse walls look as if you're in a video game, and the exterior is still rendering.

[@janr5212]

I had a problem with my tomatoes last year. We just finished new garden beds, 12' x 4' x 28". Bought organic dirt and plant mulch mix. Everything looked really good. The tomatoes grew into beautiful plants, but the tomatoes were small balls of liquid. What the hell? Everything else in the beds grew and produced very well. Never did figure out what the issue was.

[@jeil5676]

I have had this happen before and suspected aminopyralids, but with so many factors, I felt it too difficult to really pin down the true problem. I'm hoping you could do a small trial by planting some seeds directly in your compost just to really make sure that its the real cause, and not a virus, pest, or overfeeding or something else. In my situation I'm really not sure how I could have introduced them to my garden. It's possible it could have been in bagged storebought manure but other than that I'm at a loss. It doesnt seem to be an issue now and that was 2-3 years ago. Please do a mini trial with something easy like beans or squash. Thanx.

[@isaacwillson8617]

You can also get this from herbicidal drift and you only need 1 part per billion to affect your garden or farm.

[@WholesomeRoots]

I have had this happen from hay or straw and from Black Kow bagged compost. There are other reasons for leaf curl besides herbicide. To test your soil fast use bean seeds to germinate in soil for fast reaction. Your plants had healthy growth on the bottom and leaf curl on top. That indicates that the herbicide was a recent addition and not from the seedlings soil mix. You should check your beds for contamination using beans or consider a different problem than herbicides.

[@nygardenguru]

I’m tested my compost with beans first this year

[@aspenram3885]

Thanks for making gardening content!

[@Engrish4me]

I totally agree. I bought some bagged compost for my raised beds last year and it really messed them up. Still recovering this year. Not getting squat out of the cucumbers. They are just not setting fruit. By the way, I grew up in Sheridan.

[@michaelmoore7831]

Thank you so much for that warning.

[@spoonnwithsunshinehomestead]

Very good information. Thanks for sharing 😊

[@elanasigrist5185]

I have used bagged compost for years and never had a problem but I think I will be rethinking using them. I had a lawn company accidentally spray my yard this year. After waiting a couple months I started putting some of those grass clippings in my compost pile. Now I am concerned about that decision and may just toss that compost. I didn't think about that when I started using it. That company has caused me nothing but grief this year.

[@vincei4252]

I have alfalfa in my field, however, I did buy bags of manure from HomeCheapo and several yards of manure from a local garden center which I used to fill all the beds in fall last year. Almost everything I planted this year has either been stunted or bolted really fast. I have some okra growing on my deck and decided to transplant some of the seedlings into the beds with the compost. The okra in the compost beds have essentially stopped growing and the ones on the deck are 10 times the size. This years growing has been a massive bust for me after expecting a bumper harvest. Thanks for this, I had been wondering what was going on. sucks. I hope that by next spring this stuff has started to breakdown so that my garden can fulfil the dream that I had.

[@CoyleHexthief]

i use ground up leaves with mower, i use green grass from lawn, i never bring in outside elements, maybe some Lactose Bacillis but milk and rice water is no harm.. my tomatoes provided plenty, Cucumbers went wild, and my sweet potatoes are still in progress. Small garden for small family....

[@suburbanhomesteadliving9212]

Great info! Thanks doll! Keep up the great work!

[@bryanroye1112]

I think you just saved my garden and greenhouse. Thank you

[@heavystricker]

I had the same issue. I picked up composted bedding from horse stables here in GA. I tilled it into the soil and my potatoes grew the same curly leaves. The stables advertised it as great compost. I made sure to grab some from the bottom of what was a 12ft hill sitting there for many years. I ended up doing the Corn on that patch with limited silking. This year I planted corn, squash and beans. great corn, squash is fine but some of the beans must be finding pockets of still contaminated medium as the occasional plant has these very straight thick edges on the leaves. We will have to see if its gone by year two. It's been outlawed in the EU, cant wait for the same to be passed here in the USA so we can start to use heat-treated manure again safely.

[@lesliejacobs1439]

Had this happen with Lander WY city dump…Composted..yard waste..people’s grass and weeds..in 2006..beans sprouted and curled..everything died.. Lander no longer composts yard waste..also had this happen mulching with grass hay in 2012..no longer do that..I only use my grass clippings and bagged fall leaves..Lander is less windy than most of WY..we have trees and the leaves don’t blow to Nebraska…like when I lived in Casper WY.

[@ttb1513]

Great video. My tomatoes that were grown with hot, unfinished compost had new leaves (after transplanting) curl horribly. They did look just like the herbicide damage you had though. If it only happens to some of the plants, it could be instead from disease carried and introduced by leaf hoppers. I learned a lot (but I knew the hot compost was a possible problem after it was delivered).

[@TheMistyk1111]

I have been greatly discouraged watching my organic seedlings thrive then later wilt and burn. I’m in a quandary, I used organic Colorado compost for my raised and elevated beds, and used organic raised bed mix and sheep’s peat, for my green house tomatoes. All 10 shriveled and one remains on life support. The only plants doing well are the seeds I planted directly into my no till dirt. Thank you for your video, helps a lot.

[@friendo6257]

I’ve had tomatoes with curled leaves bounce back and produce a ton of tomatoes. Tomato leaves curl for dozens of reasons

[@bobwilliams5506]

Totally different reason. If you experience it, you will know the difference.

[@gregre052]

Yeah, like too hot, too dry, leaf curl, black spot, just a few.

[@PavelSTL]

@Sam Miller did you do anything about it? I'm having my container tomatoes to start curling and twisting one by one. I watched pretty much every video (this is how I ended up here) and I ruled out every reason... not curly top virus, tried less water, more water, less / more fertilizer... I used Miracle Gro potting mix with Compost. Maybe they have compost contaminated (if it's the reason according to this video) but not all plants are affected. I'm debating whether to pull them out but looks like one is starting to bounce back with healthy looking off shoots... which is why your comment caught my attention.

[@friendo6257]

@@PavelSTL I think the main reason it happened to me was over watering or soil that retained too much water. Mine were in pots too. Once I transferred them to bigger bags with better soil the curling stopped. also it was just with some varieties. Other did well in the same soil.

[@dirtyoarcatfishing7927]

Exactly, literally thousands of reasons could cause this...my suspension is the cation ratio in the Coco coir

[@crazyplantlady2403]

Deep South Homestead, said that you can still use it if you grow things like corn (he listed some others, but that's the only one that stuck in my head). I ask around before I decide where the manure is going to go.

[@giverny28]

I am dealing with this on a wide scale here. All my potatoes, tomatoes, Peppers. These I grew in mass this year. I thought it was a virus, then it hit me, herbicide contamination. I mainly use horse manure that is 5+ years old. But composted in heaps & not turned. I place chickens & pigs on in ground plots over the winter and prefer the Ruth Stout method. This harsh reality was devastating! It took me a full week to just feel sorry for myself before I put down my ice cream, got off the couch and got back to work. I have chosen to plant corn as a rescue crop. Next year, all affected plots will be brassicas, corn, or grains. Those crops can also be used to feed our pigs. If I feel iffy about eating them. A fast growing cover crop like Sudan grass has also been a consideration. I will also be looking at not rotating my animals as much since their manure is the issue. All my animals that eat hay or high volumes of oats or corn can only be used on pasture. But I will be unable to seed Clover on our land. My faith in the honesty, integrity or trust that hay dealers will know, tell, or believe that spraying their fields can and will affect my animals and land is almost ZERO. If it's house quality... it's been sprayed! Imo. Not to be a downer. I'm just at that point right now. Trusting others to know what they are selling has cost my family more than we can recover from. It is really a harsh wake up call and a real restriction on how and how much I garden. But... I'm not stopping. Charles Downing has some great anecdotal research, but like all things gardening, there are a million factors that make any fact true from one garden to the next. All any of us can do is roll the dice and pray.

[@janpeterson21]

Thanks for this! I almost added cut grass from the landscaper in my condo unit to my compost bin. But he had sprayed for weeds a few weeks ago and that suddenly dawned on me so I didn’t add it. Now I have a big bag of grass on my patio that I can’t compost! Lol

[@carolberridge6102]

Thank you so much! So helpful. All the best to you guys.

[@paulsherrod1365]

First I have heard of this.Thanks for the heads up.

[@beerbuzz62]

Great video Jill thanks for the useful information

[@johnwhitton9977]

Similar situation in many Australian gardens last season.

[@kkeungi5955]

I'm so sorry, but glad that you found out what was going on. The soil in my area is terrible, so I have to rely on bought mixes. I recently bought some chicken manure and I noticed the seedlings I'd started indoors with JUST the potting mix are thriving, but the plants where I mixed in the chicken manure into the potting mix just aren't developing as well as the seedlings that started in only potting mix. Most of the seeds also didn't germinate when directly sown into the beds with the manure, but that could honestly just be the seeds being dead/non-viable from that seller. I'll definitely do some more digging into what the issue might be. Thank you so much for sharing.

[@mikhailkalashnikov4599]

We had an issue a couple years ago and I never found out why- UNTIL I JUST WATCHED THIS VIDEO 💡! It was where I had dumped a bunch of straw from my chicken coup and all of the tomatoes in that area had the curled leaves and didn't produce squat! Now I have another reason to not use straw in my coop (I shoulda listened to the Chicken Chick). ☹Thanks for this valuable lesson. 👍

[@centraltexashomestead-mike4956]

Bone meal and blood meal, Seaweed and horticultural molasses. Here in Central Texas it's very hot and the seaweed helps.

[@moone924]

Had a rental house in n Littleton Colorado we use to have epic gardens at. Had the house as a rental for a few years and we were never able to recreate the gardens we use to have. Only to find out the renters sprayed the garden area heavily.

[@dianerathe5049]

Last year I added many new garden beds. All four rows of tomatoes were looking just like yours. I had hauled in "compost" from a local small company in Springfield, MO when I first made the beds. So some of the beds I dug out all the compost and replaced with compost from the municipal leaf dump. Problem solved. It was a huge problem/job but this year my tomatoes look great! Frustrating that you can't trust what you're buying anymore.

[@gardenerpete5232]

Thank you for this information!! Bought a load of compost last year from a garden center. Lastyear, Side dressed young plants with compost... Month or two later, some of my plants s"topped growing, looked sick, and easly got diseased. I wanted to blame it on the squirrls because they were stealing all my tomatoes. :( I was confused about the plant problem, but never suspected the compost. Last fall, after the last harvest and clening up, I put about 2" inches of compost on top and raked it into the top 2 or 3 inches. My thought was that it would be best to let the compost mellow for the winter, and I wouldn't have to do the work in spring, when the rush is on. This year, 2021, I started suspecting the compost when some seeds didn't germinate, a few tomatoes in one area of the garden had wierd growth. Some had the twisted, knarley branches, but set fruit. One type never set fruit. It would flower, then the flower would die and fall off in the stem area. You've confirmed my suspicions. Thank you. Quick note: I have 4 x 20 foot raised beds + 2 x 8 raised foot beds. I grow 20 different types of tomatoes (10/bed on string trellis), the ones that display problems are grown for the first time, and didn't know if it those are typical characteristics. I now have some testing to do!!

[@paintingtracey]

I had this last year, I think, from bagged compost. I added some activated charcol this year to my beds and I think things are way better. I put in new beds this year and purchased bulk organic soil. I found some of my tomatoes started getting this gnarley growth about a month in. Early growth is fine so I assumed it was something else, like a disease. I was careful not to add any bagged. I pulled a few plants, but left most and they still seem to be growing and, I think, producing. We shall see.

[@thomasstone3719]

Hey Jill got compost from a horse farm within 36 hrs. Tomatoes where crooked not just leaves never saw this before. Also i never take compost from the county. people treat there yards and in the fall if the leaves are on the ground when they treat bad news.

[@fishnlady]

I have had the same problem with our county landfill place. They sell compost. Every place I put it the leaves curled. So mad right now because I don't know how to fix the problem.

[@corymiller9854]

Hello good vid. I did have something like this happen last year. Unsure what was in the compost but it was hot and steamed when put on the top of the soil. I switched this year to compost tea bacteria dominated mixed with rain water collected from my eaves. I also chop and drop much more often now using anything I have weeds extra leaves and pruned limbs. I believe I am feeding the worms and the soil life better with the constant chop and drop. Very good results and best garden I have grown. One Garden Love:]

[@hiker56781]

Triangle of power did not go unnoticed

[@DeborahBrown-tj7wx]

I make a small hole in a compost bag I've purchased and plant a couple of bean seeds. They sprout fairly quickly and I can see if there's an issue with that product. So far, so good. I have used Black Kow for several years and although I've heard there may be an issue with it also, I have not had any issues with that product. However, I garden on a small scale so it may not be cost effective for those with larger gardens. I also buy a product called "EZ Straw" for mulching which is just chopped straw and I have had no issues with that either. But, there again, it may not be cost effective for larger gardens. I've read that planting cover crops with this bad soil and/or compost helps remove the chemicals.

[@tinawagener7942]

Thank you so much for sharing!

[@wardcollins9574]

Just a note, Alfalfa is a deep root plant that should pull minerals up< I know the roots will go down 8 foot or more during the dry season, asi used to bury rocks for a farmer and he went down in to the hole I dug and was amazed at how deep the Alfalfa roots were here in Iowa.

[@saintmichael3879]

No kidding. I thought it would make a nice side shrub around the base of my cherry trees. It got too aggressive, so I decided to take it up. The roots kept going and going.