Herbicide Injury on Tomatoes... A Gardeners Experiment

Jim and Elizabeth Curtis have been kind enough to share these great photographs with me. We had a few concerns that some compost they are using in their vegetable gardens might have contained herbicide residue. The first picture is of two tomato plants, one planted in regular potting soil and one planted in the compost used to amend their garden soil.


After about 2 months of the two plants receiving identical moisture and sunlight, this is how the two plants are looking. The tomato in the grey pot is the one with regular potting soil and the green pot is the one with the compost.


Here is a close up of the deformed tomato stems and leaves, common symptoms of herbicide injury.


If you need more information or help diagnosing a plant problem, be sure to contact your local Extension Office. Click here for a listing of NC County Offices.