Sevin

Question

Recently I was away on vacation and my neighbor decided to help me out with my garden. He had seen that several of my plants had holes in the leaves. He put the product Sevin on them. The day he put it on it rained washing it off the plant
Before this I basically had an organic garden. I do not use chemicals on it. Will the food (cauliflower, broccoli, strawberries, blackberries, and potatoes) be safe to consume? Since it rained, the chemical Sevin is now in the soil and it is contaminated. How long does it take to get rid of the effects of Sevin? Should I plant a garden next year or skip it?

Answer 1

Well, it could be worse I suppose. Nice to have neighbors looking out for us but when it comes to spraying things on our gardens or lawns, that is No No Land. The good news is that Sevin typically has a short life span and the fact that it rained helped disperse it. The veggies should be fine and the product is listed for use on veggie crops. The label on the product states that after application, the wait time to harvest should be at least 3 days for things like cabbage and cauliflower,broccoli. I would say 5 to 7 is more on the safe side for me. Thank goodness it was just one spraying and again good that it rained. There should be no problem planting the garden next year either. Just add in some good compost and till it in nicely. The soils microbes will break things down and disperse it, the compost will help strengthen them too. I would sprinkle the entire garden area with kelp meal and work it in after this years garden is done. Letting that over winter will go a long way to building the soils home up for next years garden. Oh, and if you have not already, you might want to mention to your neighbor that you have an organic garden. Or perhaps make up some nice looking garden signs that say you have a No Spray Organic Garden to deliver the message.