[snow white]

 
Couldn't understand why new growth was curly.  Looked it up and it is the manure I placed in my potato bed. It must contain aminopyralid, a herbicide that doesn't break down at all in any way for about six years.     harmless to animals but kills pots,toms.beans.  Thats my allotment wasted then.

[Beetroot queen]

I am sure i have read about this before, so hold tight for some wise advice.

There must be something that can be done

[Nikkithefoot]

Thats awfully bad luck

You are right broad leaved plants don't do at all well with this, however plants related to grasses (albeit loosely) such as alliums and sweet corn should do ok.

There is some limited evidence to suggest that continuous digging (mixing and agitation) of the contaminated soil will speed up the breakdown process of the contaminants.

Is it spread over the whole plot or just the spud bed?

[mrsbean]

so sorry you have bad manure. go to growing FAQ,S. we all had it about 4yrs ago just been able this year to grow lettuce, courgetts were we let the manure rot down. tomato plant is still not growing as it should.

[A Reyt Tayty]

Could some compost be guilty of this? My toms seem to have excessively curly leaf fronds (not just individual leaves) and I haven't used manure at all this year.

[allot2learn]

Couldn't understand why new growth was curly.  Looked it up and it is the manure I placed in my potato bed. It must contain aminopyralid, a herbicide that doesn't break down at all in any way for about six years.     harmless to animals but kills pots,toms.beans.  Thats my allotment wasted then.

To check your manure for weedkiller, try the bean test.

Mix 50% manure with 50% potting compost and sow a couple of bean seeds in it. (Any bean).
If they germinate, then there is nothing wrong with the manure.

[DD.]

If they germinate, then there is nothing wrong with the manure.

That's incorrect. The bean will germinate, (provided it's viable in the first place), but subsequent growth will be distorted. You have to look beyond just germination.

[mumofstig]

If you keep digging or rotovating it's sposed to be ok to plant in next year.

Could some compost be guilty of this? My toms seem to have excessively curly leaf fronds (not just individual leaves) and I haven't used manure at all this year.

That's the worry - if people use weed n feed on their lawns and then put it out as green waste it gets composted and sold to the people who make our bags of compost

That said some varieties of tomatoes can grow with ferny looking leaves and go on to produce good crops, so it's not cut and dried in that instance. My Purple Ukraine look ferny wherever I grow them 

[snow white]

Well its either that or the straw I am growing them in.  Will have to do the straw test as well.   Will let you know.

[pdblake]

Have you got a photo of the curly growth? It might not necessarily be contamination.

[Salmo]

Yes, lets have some photos. Manure may not be the problem at all.

There was a problem with this type of chemical a few yeas ago but its use is now restricted so that manure is unlikely to be contaminated.

[aelf]

leaves curl for several reasons - It may just be down to the cooler weather over the last week.