North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["gorgon zolla" <lazolla@hotmail.com>]

<< Not only do you have to worry about herbicides in snarf leaves, but you 
have
to consider that leaves and grass clippings that have been subjected to the
clorpyralid class of herbicides will destroy your fruit crops.  Anecdotal
information and some early studies reveal that cloryralids will inhibit
fruit formation for at least one season in stone fruits and pomes.
Washington state orchards suffered drift from this herbicide used by road
maintenance crew destroying roadside growth.  The orchards' apples, pears
and peaches did not fruit the next season.  Annuals died and perennials
didn't flower either.  So....know your leaves and clippings.  Ask about
their upbringing! >>

The residentail uses for Confront have been deleted from the product labels 
since mid-2002 (see http://www.dowagro.com/newsroom/news/072602.htm).  
Confront was the only clopyralid formulation labelled for use on residential 
lawns.  Since Confront was only ever sold through commercial channels, not 
to homeowners, I doubt if there is any residential-labelled confront left 
today.  The commercial uses that are still listed (mainly golf courses) 
require clippings to be kept out of any municipal compost flow.

Spray drifts containing clopyralid products will cause severe injury to 
trees if permitted to contact the foliage, like any of the phenoxy or 
pyridine families of herbicides.  In fact, triclopyr, the other active 
ingredient in Confront, has far more potential for damaging drift (to trees) 
than the clopyralid, from what I have seen through using the each of the two 
chemicals alone.

However, because clopyralid is not mobile in the soil, mulch contaminated 
with clopyralid is unlikely to damage trees.

The reported injury with compost has mainly involved beans and other 
legumes, and tomatoes and other nightshades, both families that are 
unusually susceptible to clopyralid; also, it has involved situations where 
the roots of the plant penetrated the compost, or where the tender green 
growth has been in contact with the mulch, as with strawberries.

Steve Dunlop
Nerstrand, MN

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