Mulch & Herbicides | Glyphosate

[Ruuben van den Heuvel]

Thinking through mulch options and wondering whether Organic Sugar Cane (eg https://rockypoint.com.au/products/sugarcanemulch) could contain Glyphosate and/or anything else nasty that might leach through to the veges?

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

I would think that if they label themselves as Organic, that they *shouldn't* have used any chemicals.

Quite refreshing to see another Dutch name on here!

 

[Ruuben van den Heuvel]

Thanks Mandy. I called Rocky Point today and they confirmed same. Between your name being "Underwater" and mine being "From The Hill" it seems we're covering quite a bit of the environment together. Thanks again.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Glad they were such great help. It's always better to be safe rather than sorry.

Very true, haha

 

[Ruuben van den Heuvel]

 

[Vera]

HI, as i use sugar cane mulch and nothing else as its really hard for me to get anything else not sure if there are affordable alternatives will try to make my own some time
Found some info here https://www.organicgardener.com.au/blogs/herbicide-alert not mentioning sugar cane mulch though BUT i think the word organic is being abused and im not sure that sugar cane mulch does not contain some hopefully only minimal residue Rocky Point would not really know unless they tested their mulch
Im afraid any thing we source from agriculture is being treated with something and i believe it is impossible to avoid it unless you make your own mulch if you read what is used on growing sugar cane id say there would very likely be some residue. Hopefully not much.
As for the word ORGANIC being abused , a number of years ago the US found residues of herbicides in Heinz baby cereal and other baby foods products made from US soy beans which were heavily sprayed with glysophate BUT still being classed under an organic rating.
I think the only way to help the soil if concerned is plant sunflowers/or other crops that remove contamination in the soil to be used as vegetable growing beds ,then you remove and destroy them when mature dont use seeds for eating in this case , Sunflowers were used to remove contamination on soils in the Chernobyl outer fallout areas for just that purpose look online amazing reading about this just some info some brassicas also do the same ,probably many other plants .

Cleaning up Chernobyl with Sunflowers – Athens Science Observer

athensscienceobserver.com

Why Scientists Plant Sunflowers After Nuclear Disasters

Why Scientists Plant Sunflowers After Nuclear Disasters

www.iflscience.com

 

[Grandmother Goose]

Glyphosate isn't the chemical you should be worried about on your garden mulch. Leave it in the sun for a few weeks to break down, bye-bye glyphosate. There are other much longer lasting and more dangerous herbicides that can cause problems however, and which ones exist and are used in your pocket of the world is what you might want to try to find out, because that could be a real problem.

Everyone freaks about glyphosate simply because that's the trigger word everyone has heard of. Organic farmers are allowed to use pesticides and herbicides and many do, and some are highly toxic not just to plants but animals and people as well. The difference is they have to be natural chemicals, not synthetic ones. What no one likes to admit is that all of the most dangerous toxins to have ever existed were not created by mankind, they're all 100% perfectly natural. Natural and organic tells us nothing about how safe something is, again, they're simply trigger words, and in most cases, their only real meaning is "buy this product, it's better because it puts money in my pocket instead of the other guy".

Now as for your sugarcane, what country does it come from? If the answer is Australia, New Zealand, or pretty much anywhere in Europe, then don't go worrying about harmful chemicals on it hurting your plants, it won't happen, the regulations on genuinely dangerous herbicide use are too tight for anyone to get away with that sort of shenanigans for any length of time. Anywhere else, I'd probably be asking questions about it, but more so because I just don't know the answer rather than because I'd be afraid that there's any real risk.

 

[JP 1983]

As I said [HERE], your facts on glyphosate are very far off the mark, @Grandmother Goose .

As for the OP, the only way to know for sure if your organic sugar cane mulch has absorbed glyphosate is to pay a lab to test for it.

 

[Ruuben van den Heuvel]

HI, as i use sugar cane mulch and nothing else as its really hard for me to get anything else not sure if there are affordable alternatives will try to make my own some time
Found some info here https://www.organicgardener.com.au/blogs/herbicide-alert not mentioning sugar cane mulch though BUT i think the word organic is being abused and im not sure that sugar cane mulch does not contain some hopefully only minimal residue Rocky Point would not really know unless they tested their mulch
Im afraid any thing we source from agriculture is being treated with something and i believe it is impossible to avoid it unless you make your own mulch if you read what is used on growing sugar cane id say there would very likely be some residue. Hopefully not much.
As for the word ORGANIC being abused , a number of years ago the US found residues of herbicides in Heinz baby cereal and other baby foods products made from US soy beans which were heavily sprayed with glysophate BUT still being classed under an organic rating.
I think the only way to help the soil if concerned is plant sunflowers/or other crops that remove contamination in the soil to be used as vegetable growing beds ,then you remove and destroy them when mature dont use seeds for eating in this case , Sunflowers were used to remove contamination on soils in the Chernobyl outer fallout areas for just that purpose look online amazing reading about this just some info some brassicas also do the same ,probably many other plants .

Cleaning up Chernobyl with Sunflowers – Athens Science Observer

athensscienceobserver.com

Why Scientists Plant Sunflowers After Nuclear Disasters

Why Scientists Plant Sunflowers After Nuclear Disasters

www.iflscience.com

Thank you Vera, for taking the time. Really interesting perspective. The embedded articles equally so. Will take all these things into consideration whilst being inspired to learn more. Trying very hard to keep our food source as clean as possible, which seems like it might not be as straight forward as first thought. As an aside, interesting to see glyphosate and nuclear fallout could be considered in the same sentence... but here we are I guess. Will also re-consider my consumption of sunflower seeds in the future. ;-) Thank you again

 

[Ruuben van den Heuvel]

Glyphosate isn't the chemical you should be worried about on your garden mulch. Leave it in the sun for a few weeks to break down, bye-bye glyphosate. There are other much longer lasting and more dangerous herbicides that can cause problems however, and which ones exist and are used in your pocket of the world is what you might want to try to find out, because that could be a real problem.

Everyone freaks about glyphosate simply because that's the trigger word everyone has heard of. Organic farmers are allowed to use pesticides and herbicides and many do, and some are highly toxic not just to plants but animals and people as well. The difference is they have to be natural chemicals, not synthetic ones. What no one likes to admit is that all of the most dangerous toxins to have ever existed were not created by mankind, they're all 100% perfectly natural. Natural and organic tells us nothing about how safe something is, again, they're simply trigger words, and in most cases, their only real meaning is "buy this product, it's better because it puts money in my pocket instead of the other guy".

Now as for your sugarcane, what country does it come from? If the answer is Australia, New Zealand, or pretty much anywhere in Europe, then don't go worrying about harmful chemicals on it hurting your plants, it won't happen, the regulations on genuinely dangerous herbicide use are too tight for anyone to get away with that sort of shenanigans for any length of time. Anywhere else, I'd probably be asking questions about it, but more so because I just don't know the answer rather than because I'd be afraid that there's any real risk.

Thanks GG. Very well thought out perspective. Fortunately I live in Australia, which seems to be the lesser of the evils by your analysis. Thanks again.

 

[daveb]

Round up was one of the largest sources of Glyphosate the bases of it is an enzyme blocker in plants their claims of disipation as exposed to sun and rain is far fetched as it has been found deep in soil layers in many heavy crop producing areas years after it was allowed to go fallow for extended amount of time. 288 million pounds was used in USA alone in year 2019 and major user was corn and soybean growers, but bayer is phasing it out , USA roundup for residential use was stopped by bayer in 2023 but still available for agriculture but the push is on for total ban , UK is planned total ban by 2025 and germany and numerous other coutries have banned or have plans in place over for total bans in the next few years

But one other little thing many do not realise produce shipped across borders and even within some states or provinces of a same country area are subject to laws mandating spraying of so called Organically grow produce with fugicides and insecticides to negate transmission of any surface or plant bourne problems. Yes maybe some stuff is labeled "organically grown" but it's end use treatment and handling is far from organic and even those farms that may be certified organic do not insure their source of water is free from contaminations and no regulations are in place in many areas as how organically grown is handled after harvest . Glyphosate is one such chemical that leaches into water sources not to mention untolds thousands of tons annually of spent pharmaceutical that is passed through to water sources from farm and cities theat dont get absorbs by people/animals.


organically grown means
No synthetic fertilizers
Zero synthetic pesticides, fungicides or herbicides
No GMOs
Purchase and use only organic, untreated seeds
but doesnt rule out naturally occuring compounds and even then some natural compounds have to be separated by proccessing of some type.
haber-bosche process mimics natures process of combining nitorgen from air with natural gas form ammonia > nitrites > nitrates but on a faster level so where does the line get drawn lol

 

[Ruuben van den Heuvel]

Thanks Dave B. Where does the line get drawn, indeed. Is there any alternative means to mulch that distances from herbicides and pesticides? It seems like all the effort to grow organically and herbicide/pesticide free can so easily be unknowingly hijacked by using conventional forms of mulch (Hay, straw, sugarcane, etc)

 

[daveb]

Sadly the sourcing is very grey area, unless you have a source from neighbors grass clippings leafs and vegetables, a lumber mill that shred bark and scrap wood not just to chips but to fine crushed shredded fibers to make your own mix of clipping leafs and shread wood fiber to make own cover mulch
i run my mower with a bagger it all gets put into black plastic containers and some waters sprayed in to start cooking to kill off seeds and odd stuff. that gets spread in thick cover over ground between rows and plants. and i hate to be blunt i ran OTR with friends and the so call " organically grown " is a joke, and like i said there are interstate regulation on many areas and country to coutry the produce is sprayed with chemicals to control pest, fungus and deseases from moving area to area yet is sold as an organic produce