Dead Bed - Too Much Herbicide

by kathy
(los gatos)

Nothing grows in my designated vegetable garden. Not even weeds. Before thinking organic I sprayed the area with too concentrated weed killer. Then I added a massive amount of mushroom compost. Now the bed is dead. What do I do?

Doug says that depends on what you sprayed it with. Look at the label. Find the "active ingredient". Put it's name in this database

Look for "persistency" data. That tells you how long it lasts in the soil

That's how long you get to wait - again depending on what you used and what you intend to grow.

When you get close - you can do two things to help move the chemical out of the soil.

Mix copious amounts of peat moss into the soil. I'm thinking lay an inch or more on top and dig it in as deeply as possible.

Microbes in the peat moss have been shown to thrive and live on all manner of chemical residues. It is a material of choice for spreading on all kinds of spills. They'll eat up the microbes and help degrade the chemical.

Some people recommend spreading a 1/4 inch layer of activated charcoal (you can get large bags from water-treatment companies) on the soil and mixing that in as well.

But once that soil is treated - depending on what you used and how much you used - you could be in for a good long wait.

In the meantime- get a new location for vegetables. I'm not sure you want to grow something you want to eat on this ground for some time (even if you can).

Interesting lesson you learned. ;-)