[monty9]

My local council have asked a weed control company to treat the plot next to mine. The plot is covered knee high in Horse Tail .The company intend to use 2 4 D and MCPA to treat it.
They intend to spray in the next week and also spray twice next year.
The plot holder has been told that the plot will be unusable for eighteen months.
The problem is that I am currently growing sweetcorn and I also have winter leeks in the bed next to the other plot and they are less than two feet away from the affected area.
Due to the nature of the site water runs off the plot and onto mine.
The sweetcorn probably need a few more weeks to be harvestable and the leeks are not due until the Spring.
Will my vegetables still be edible if they have had these chemicals sprayed so close to them?

[Madame Cholet]

I wouldn't be happy

[monty9]

The council had not bothered telling me that they were going to do this. I only found out from another plot holder and I subsequently contacted the council .
The council employee has passed me onto the weed control company and I have received different stories from them as to what chemicals are going to be used. Last week it was going to be round up , but this has now changed to 2 4 d and mcpa. The chap was quite irritable on the phone that I was asking him for a written statement as to what he is actually going to do.
The council have been useless in responding to my questions and all I have recived is an email stating that the work will take place and to contact the weed control company.
I am considering digging up my plot closest to where the weed killing is going to take place and covering  the ground for at least a year....
What  would forum members recommend I do?

[mumofstig]

I would write to the company and ask how they intend to ensure that your crops/plot are not contaminated. Threaten to get the local paper involved if you get no reply..........

They won't like any bad publicity

[Alastair-I]

What  would forum members recommend I do?

Stop speaking to the Allotments Officer at the Council and start talking to the Environmental Health Protection Officer.  Mention that you're growing crops for personal human consumption and that the Council officers you have spoken to who have arranged the spraying have not been able to provide you with definite details on the chemicals to be used nor provide a plan of the controls required of the contractor to preven contamination of your crops.

[rowan57]

The sprayer in question should be knapsack qualified (PA6), their equipment should be in good condition and spray on a day where the wind is very low so there is no risk of spray drift.

Given this, there is very very low risk to your plot.


Edit: Re: Water runoff. This is a bit more tricky, but given the fact that you should only spray where there is a guarantee there is to be no rain for 6-12 hours after, and at least Glyphosate essentially becomes inactive when it comes in contact with the soil (I would have to look at other other 2 in more detail), I think there would still be little risk.

[arugula]

Glyphosate essentially becomes inactive when it comes in contact with the soil (I would have to look at other other 2 in more detail), I think there would still be little risk.

But the OP is not asking about glyphosate, as apparently round up is not going to be used.

MCPA is an agricultural weedkiller used in cereal crops and agricultural grassland to control broad leaved weeds. It is only to be used on land not intended for vegetation. For the purposes of this discussion, I would interpret that as vegetables or plants in a garden or plot.

I am less familiar with 24D as a herbicide, but again it is an agricultural chemical for use in killing broad leaved weeds in cereal crops.

I feel that neither may harm your sweetcorn, but drifting spray and the possibility of water run off might affect your leeks.

[Goosegirl]

They would need a VERY still day to spray and, if the day is a warm one, the spray will migrate on the warm air. The efficacy of the spray to kill mares'tail also needs to be established before use. If all else fails, find out when they intend to come (a DEFINITE date) and can you get a cheap covering for your plants? Those thin, plastic sheets you can get when painting indoors comes to mind.

[arugula]

The efficacy of the spray to kill mares'tail also needs to be established before use.

I also wondered if a different chemical might not be better on marestail, but you would like to believe that the professionls know what they are doing.

[rowan57]

But the OP is not asking about glyphosate, as apparently round up is not going to be used.

MCPA is an agricultural weedkiller used in cereal crops and agricultural grassland to control broad leaved weeds. It is only to be used on land not intended for vegetation. For the purposes of this discussion, I would interpret that as vegetables or plants in a garden or plot.

I am less familiar with 24D as a herbicide, but again it is an agricultural chemical for use in killing broad leaved weeds in cereal crops.

I feel that neither may harm your sweetcorn, but drifting spray and the possibility of water run off might affect your leeks.

I was just addressing all the options mentioned, don't get your knickers in a twist.

I could not find an approval for MCPA that you could apply to an allotment type situation. The vast majority of approvals that exist for MCPA are for Lawn / Amenity Turf use (And as Arugula said, Cereals). The same would apply to 24D.

Thus, it would most likely be illegal for any company to use either chemical mentioned on an allotment.

I would actually suggest that an Amenity concentration of Glyphosate (1-2 applications depending on the efficacy of the initial application) would have the desired impact with minimal risk to adjoining plots.

[Ice]

I was just addressing all the options mentioned, don't get your knickers in a twist.

That's no way to reply to a longstanding and respected forum member and moderator.  Keep it friendly and don't forget to add smileys as it can make a difference to how your reply is perceived.

[Aunt Sally]

The company intend to use 2 4 D and MCPA to treat it.
They intend to spray in the next week and also spray twice next year.

I'm not certain that will be an effective treatment against mare's tail as they both target broad-leaved weeds.

They really need to use Kurtail.

[monty9]

Thank you for all of your replies and now I am more concerned than I was before I started the topic.
The weed if you haven't ever seen it has small green waxy buds. You have to break the wax coating and then apply a spray to treat it. This is probably why this plant has been around for thousands of years! The chemicals that are intended for use are for broad leaved plants and not suitable for the weed.
My local council have behaved appallingly. I was not officially told of the spraying and when I queried it with them they gave me the name of a weed control company. The problem was that the council had not even contacted the company to ask them for a price for the treatment and they knew nothing about it when I contacted them.
The local franchisee  of the weed control started off by telling me that he was going to use Round up and that he would send me a copy of his tender to the council with the chemicals to be used and the dates of spraying.I sent him an email asking him for a copy of the tender and he phoned me a few days ago , in the late evening ,quite irate that I had asked him for this. He told me that all the council had asked him for was a price. They had not even bothered to ask what he was going to do and which chemicals he was going to use.
I keep asking the council for something in writing and they refuse to do this. Their only response it to say tat they are not qualified to comment and I should contact the weed control company.This is obviously far from satisfactory.
I waited almost eleven years for this plot and have had it for just over a year.I did not wish to become involved in a major conflict when I took it on but this seems to be where I am heading! I do not believe that the chemicals are suitable and the council are obviously going for the cheapest option.I am sure that the plot will be still full of the weed in eighteen months time and due to the neglect of the plot holder will soon revert to the way it is now.
It is such a shame as there are currently forty names on the waiting list for a plot on this allotment and th plot holder really does not deserve to have it. I also have the weed on my plot but I spend a lot of time keeping on top of it and it is not a problem, apart from the effort to control it.

I agree with aunt Sally,Kurtail is the only product on the market that seems effective in dealing with this weed.

Rowan 57 can you please provide a link to the approvals for 24 d and mcpa please. I feel as though I am going to need a lot of evidence.

[Yorkie]

MCPA 25%

MCPA 50

2,4-D

KurTail

[monty9]

Thank you Yorkie.