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  • From: "William H Shoemaker" <wshoemak AT illinois.edu>
  • To: "'Market Farming'" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] pruning determinate tomatoes
  • Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2011 14:05:42 -0600

You're right Willi, there is a big difference between amine and ester forms
of 2,4-D. But I wouldn't encourage use of 2,4-D of either type around
sensitive crops. Even though amine forms are much less volatile, they can
still form volatiles under certain conditions (hot, humid) and put sensitive
crops at risk. I wouldn't call them safe at any rate.

I attended an informational meeting recently that was an effort to educate
ag Extension folks on the new formulations of 2,4-D and dicamba that are
being developed by BASF and Dow in anticipation of GMO resistant-crops
coming into the market in a couple of years. I'm convinced these products
will be less volatile than existing versions, however the vastly increased
use and risk of particle drift (applicator error) is going to be an issue
for anyone growing sensitive crops (most vegetables) nearby. I'm very
concerned about particle drift in tunnel systems. These products may not be
released for use in turf or right-of-way applications so volatile drift will
still be an issue from those sources.

Bill
William H. Shoemaker
Sr. Research Specialist, Food Crops
University of Illinois - Crop Sciences
St Charles Horticulture Research Center
535 Randall Road, St Charles, IL, 60174
630-584-7254, FAX-584-4610
wshoemak AT illinois.edu


-----Original Message-----
From: market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Willie
McKemie
Sent: Friday, February 11, 2011 3:06 PM
To: Market Farming
Subject: Re: [Market-farming] pruning determinate tomatoes

On Fri, Feb 11, 2011 at 12:58:41PM -0600, William H Shoemaker wrote:
> I?ve grown Celebrity lots of times. I?ve grown them pruned and unpruned.
I?ve
> not seen anything like what you described, UNLESS they have been exposed
to
> herbicide drift. It sounds like 2,4-D drift to me. Often, the drift is
> volatiles from an application somewhere nearby, floating on air movement
to
> your site, sometimes more than a mile away. Tomatoes are very sensitive to
it
> and the results are similar to your description. 2,4-D is in many turf
> herbicides, agronomic herbicides and roadway or right-of-way herbicides.
You
> may want to consider whether that happened and where it may have come
from.

You should distinguish between formulations of 24D. "Ester" is the
dangerous formulation. In still conditions, I many times use 24D Amine
between tomato rows with no ill effects. In light wind, I find around
100' up wind and just a few feet down wind is safe enough.

I fear inaccuracy will encourage the banning of amine along with ester.
I hear many reports along the line: "They are going to ban the use of
24D within miles of a fruit or vegetable crop because of the drift
hazard".

--
Willie, ONWARD! Through the fog!
http://counter.li.org Linux registered user #228836 since 1995
Debian3.1/GNU/Linux system uptime 152 days 12 hours 01 minutes
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