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  • Rabbit bedding

    Hi there growers

    I have been adding Timothy hay bedding from my child's 2 pet rabbits hutch into my compost bins but I have read that this can contain herbicides?

    What does this mean for any future crops I grow in association with this compost?

    Thanks

  • #2
    No mention of herbicides that I could find, is it UK grown grass? Is there anything on the packaging to give you an idea as to what might have been used?

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    • #3
      No grass sprayed with lingering herbicides is allowed to be sold as animal bedding in the UK.
      Of course, sometimes stuff does slip through the net, but if you bought it from a reputable retailer then that's unlikely.

      If you're worried, compost it separately to start with, and once it has fully decomposed do a herbicide test on it by sowing some pea or broad bean seeds in a batch of it, and also a control batch sown in normal compost or garden soil. If the compost is contaminated, the seedlings will grow with twisted or cupped leaves. If the seedlings look the same in both batches, it is safe to say the compost, and therefore the hay, is clean, and can be composted with everything else in future.

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      • #4
        Are you concerned about Aminpyralid ?
        https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aminopyralid

        If you bought it specifically from a pet shop as bedding then there should be a producers contact details on the packaging. If you are using horse hay then you need to find out where the hay way bought, from whom and find out if that herbicide was used. It's still not illegal in the uk, so there is a possibility.

        Alternatively you could maybe soak some of the hay and droppings in water and use the water to water a few bean seeds indoors and see if the seedlings become distorted.

        I would prefer to follow the paper trail for 100% reassurance.

        Good to be concerned.
        "Nicos, Queen of Gooooogle" and... GYO's own Miss Marple

        Location....Normandy France

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