Our local waste transfer has a compost program that gives away free compost. They do say it is fine for lawns, turf, and landscape mulch but:

"The compost is not recommended for use in vegetable or flower gardens. Trace residues of broadleaf herbicide may be present and potentially affect sensitive plants".

In years past they've brought up compost from a neighboring county that is okay to use in gardens for $25 or so a yard, but they didn't offer it this year and I don't know if they will ever again have it.

I am on a very tight budget (we are both retired and on disability) so "free" is a good thing. I do make my own compost, but I only have a couple of composters and I don't get a lot, just enough to refresh most of the containers I grow tomatoes in.

Is there any way I can treat the free compost to mitigate the possible pesticide contamination? I'm looking at adding several more raised beds for my vegetable garden and building up my flower bed, so I will need a lot of compost over the next couple of years.

Jean
It's a terrible situation. With the increased residential and commercial use of potent herbicides that remain active in plant matter and even after passing through livestock digestive systems, there is risk of contamination from compost and manure of unknown origin that can't be predicted or mitigated. Entire organic farms have lost their crops and organic certifications because of this problem. Time seems to be the only remedy, sometimes up to three years.

I applaud your local waste service for posting that warning. Certain crops, especially tomatoes, peppers and curcubits (squash, melons, etc) have proven especially sensitive to these chemicals.

I wish I had a low-budget solution to suggest but I don't. There are some private landscape soil companies that would likely guarantee the safety of their products, but no idea what they charge. Hope you find a good source.

Fribble. I guess I will keep my fingers crossed that they get the stuff from Lewiston again. If they don't I will have to give up on plans to expand my garden next year

I would get a load of the stuff, take a wide sampling of the material and use that to plant a variety of the most sensitive plants in it. If they turn out to be fine, I would then slowly use the material in a small area of the garden as a test. If that did fine I would slowly expand the use of the material in the garden. Just make sure enough time if given for any bad effects to show at each stage. If it is found the material is toxic, just let it sit water it often and time will till when it is ready for the garden. Just repeat the tests the next year.

JeanC38 said:Is there any way I can treat the free compost to mitigate the possible pesticide contamination? I'm looking at adding several more raised beds for my vegetable garden and building up my flower bed, so I will need a lot of compost over the next couple of years.

Over on another forum, somebody thought they had a virus on the tomatoes.
We eventually ruled the virus out as not present in GA...
and recognized those persistent herbicides as most likely candidates causing problems.

Eventually those plants grew out of the problem and the tomatoes were consumed...
https://www.survivalistboards....

From the information that I've been able to track down... there's little that we can do to hurry the process of breaking these chemicals down... as they say... time takes time.

Still...
free...
Seems worth the risk... spread over new beds... and maybe plant a green manure crop to till under...

Perhaps not useful in your case, but growing gourds and pumpkins will take a lot of the pesticides and such out of the soil. But you should use those gourds and pumpkins for display only, not for eating.

cwhitt said: growing gourds and pumpkins will take a lot of the pesticides and such out of the soil.

Reminds me of the post about cannabis and phytoremediation.

This thread isn't really about pesticides, but about herbicides...

While there are a number of plants that can be used as hyperaccumulators to remove metal toxins from the soil, is there any that remove or break down picloram, aminopyralid, & dicamba?

I googled it... Found this article:
https://www.pesticides.montana...

So... Biochar?

algae?
That could be a use for the scummy pond water after an algae bloom!

The most successful methods in this study utilized methods which add nutrients to the soil with the intention of increasing microbial breakdown of herbicides, as well as support the health of the plants.

They say it's "not recommended for vegetable or flower yards"....Then what the F is there left to apply it to!? Shrubs and trees?

I'd without a doubt pass on that offer, no matter what. They don't specify which herbicides and they might still contaminate nearby herbacious plants.
Treat is nigh impossible to do yourself, so don't bother. Go look somewhere else. Or if it's for an ornamental garden only, give ChipDrop a chance. It's free, but might take a while....

Jean, have you thought about calling your local power company about dumping their loads on your property? It's free! All you have to do is give them a place to dump their truck and they will bring you all the tree trimmings you need. It takes a year to compost. If you have the space and time, it's a good way to get some good rich compost. I had about 30 loads dumped on our property and the next spring I had such good compost for a top dressing on my garden. I also wore out 2 pitchforks. Note that you have to keep moving the pile of trimmings back so the trucks can dump and they will stop delivering when you call them and say 'Enough already'.

The place is covering their butts, it may, or probably is just fine but, IF, one person's plants go pffft, the compost will be blamed so now no one can blame them if they have a problem.

The only compound for weed control that can be a truly serious problem is what is used for total vegetation kill, that can take several years to cease to function.

stone said:

I googled it... Found this article:
https://www.pesticides.montana...
So... Biochar?

Good article. I am a fan of biochar. That article says biochar will bind herbicides and make them inactive. That sounds like a good solution.

Well yeah, biochar is basically just activated coal; the same stuff they use in water purifiers and to rinse people's stomachs after overdosing.

But how d'you know how much you need? There's a limit to what coal can take up and it aint cheap. Skip that. Unless you like to gamble ofcourse....

Arico said: Well yeah, biochar is basically just activated coal;

Not coal... Don't use coal! It's extremely toxic.
Bio char is charcoal, like what you get after lighting a brush pile and smothering it before it's reduced to ash.
Don't use the charcoal you buy at the store for grilling, that stuff often has toxic stuff added to encourage burning...

If you read the entire link I posted... looked like algae was better than bio char...
The goal apparently is microbial degradation of the residual herbicides...

We live in a toxic world... seems to be ever more be difficult to find 100% non-toxic amendments, our best chance of growing anything is to know what to do when there's been accidental contamination.

And...
The original question was:

Is there any way I can treat the free compost to mitigate the possible pesticide contamination?

I just take the charcoal out of my fireplace after having a fire. Hands get a little messy, but it washes off very easily. Then I usually just dump it into my compost bin. As far as how much to use, I have read that you can use as much as 30% to you soil volume.

stone said: Not coal... Don't use coal! It's extremely toxic.

I didn't just say 'coal' , but ACTIVATED. Thats different still, though akin to...They don't tell you at the ER "Here, suck on this brisquette for a while"

Shouldn't that actually be activated charcoal?

Seedfork said: Shouldn't that actually be activated charcoal?

Coal, charcoal....potato potAto....I'm not a native, cut me some slack please.

I vote with those who said worth a try, the utility is just covering their butts, it may be totally fine, they just don't know day to day, week to week.

Arico said: Coal, charcoal....potato potAto....I'm not a native, cut me some slack please.

For the English speakers the difference is important.
Still some people who remember burning coal for heat...

Ooooooo, I wish, but I live in a mobile home park. If I had my own property I love to do that. I've read about it in other places and it is a really cool idea.

slowcala said: Jean, have you thought about calling your local power company about dumping their loads on your property? It's free! All you have to do is give them a place to dump their truck and they will bring you all the tree trimmings you need. It takes a year to compost. If you have the space and time, it's a good way to get some good rich compost. I had about 30 loads dumped on our property and the next spring I had such good compost for a top dressing on my garden. I also wore out 2 pitchforks. Note that you have to keep moving the pile of trimmings back so the trucks can dump and they will stop delivering when you call them and say 'Enough already'.