Planting Bare Root Seedlings in Area Errantly Sprayed with 2,4-d

tzonehunter · May 3, 2015

Hi,

A new guy was doing an application in a wildlife area and grabbed the wrong jug. We were using glyphosate, and he sprayed 2,4-d amine (40% concentration).... a lot of it. Luckily I caught it right away, and it was only applied to about a 1/3 acre area. It was applied at a rate of 3.5 cups / acre. The customer is supposed to plant bare root tree seedlings (tamarack, white pine, swamp white oak, and bur oak) in this area in two weeks. I have informed the customer, but I need to get back to him with more guidance as to what to do.

Thanks,
C

kyle1! · May 4, 2015

The instructions that came with the 2 4 D or found online should be able tell you how long you have to wait before planting. I would think 2 weeks is enough tme between the application and planting to not cause a problem. When in doubt read the instruction. Usually if I post incorrectly people here will quickly correct me.

MCW · May 6, 2015

Hi mate.
I was asked to comment here by somebody on a different page. The longest plantback period on 2,4-D labels is 14 days on any crop. These plantback periods are for field crops but field crops do tend to be far more susceptible to herbicide residues from a plant back point of view than tree crops. The plantback times given on 2,4-D labels are also a worst case scenario so you can be confident that the "actual" plant back periods are far less than 14 days. My day job is as a technical agronomist and I'm involved in a lot of herbicide trial work. I've have also been involved unfortunately with off target lawsuits from 2,4-D spray drift into horticultural crops.
Unless something out of the ordinary has occurred you'll have no issues planting bare rooted trees back on that ground in 14 days after the 2,4-D was accidentally applied.
All the best,
Matt

tzonehunter · May 7, 2015

MCW

Thank you! I spoke with a Wisconsin DNR Nursery Tech, and he said the same thing. I'll let them know that they should be good to go to plant the seedlings!

Thanks again.
C

tzonehunter · Jul 6, 2015

Just wanted to post an update on this. The customer did plant the trees in the area errantly sprayed with 2,4-D on May 16, about 2 weeks after the 2,4-d was applied. Thus far, the trees appear to be unaffected. The customer planted oaks, cedar, and white pine in this area. All appear to be unaffected by any 2,4-D residual in the soil. This was the foliar, aquatic label 2,4-D (the amine).