Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: lfcevans on June 06, 2021, 09:24
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Hi all
I sowed a lot of seed in 2 different manufacturers composts earlier in the year (I took what was available)
With a 98% success rate I thought both were really good composts. The plants all started growing really well until the last month
Now, 2 or 3 months on from sowing, some of them are not looking good at all. I have a suspicion that it might be that dreaded weedkiller beginning with a "P" that was in the compost
All the new growth looks distorted
I have attached pics of lettuce, chilli and coriander
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I would have thought Aminopyralid weedkiller damage would have shown up much earlier, have you checked thoroughly for aphids/spider mites etc?
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Hi. Thanks for your reply
Yes. I have checked for any pests, it was the first thing I checked for. I then checked online for another reason as to why its happened, (greenhouse to hot etc ). It has the looks of Aminopyralid (thank you for correct name) and wanted confirmation from someone with more experience of having suffered from it.
From what Ive read, one of the symptoms if you like, is that it doesn't show up straight away in the plants, it only rears its head when there are few leaves on the plant. Im not 100% on that though.
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I had this problem last year, plants started off well and then all failed.
This time I brought compost last year and have left it sit for 12 months. My hope is that any weed killer in it would have broken down. Not sure whether it will work...
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That third photo shows a large colony of green aphids which will cause the puckering. They are probably underneath the leaves on the others.
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I think you have a pest problem not a compost problem the third photo clearly shows a plant with an infestation of some sort. If you look closely you can see some sort of web silk.
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Third pic definitely looks like greenfly; they have been terrible this year. Greenfly often replicate on the underside of leaves causing the leaf to curl under protecting them from predators. If the plants are small then just squish them bearing in mind that the adults are canny critters and will jump out of harms way if they can >:(
If it is a larger problem I spray them with soapy water (3 teaspoonfuls in a litre). This kills them instantly but only if you get them wet.
With either technique watch out for ladybirds and their offspring.