Used metaldehyde slug baits in vegetable garden

[Ribka]

I asked my husband to put some metaldehyde slug baits around the rose bushes and dahlia plants and he put them in the entire garden including vegetable patch

Do I need to pull out all the vegetables??? Or can we safely eat them. It would be heartbreaking to lose all our produce: it's late spring here in South Africa and the tomatoes, herbs, lettuce, spinach are all growing beautifully. I'm seeing conflicting things on the internet about the safety of metaldehyde in vegetable gardens. This page suggests it may be ok: https://www.fdacs.gov/content/download/ ... q-2022.pdf

This was my first time using slug baits and didn't realize that metaldehyde can be toxic to pets/dogs/wildlife. I definitely won't be using it again.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[applestar]

I’ve been using metaldehyde-free Sluggo (for the most part) and Sluggo+ (with some misgivings when pillbugs and sow bugs population gets to be too much) for so long that I don’t remember the specific nature of its toxicity. I feel like it had mostly to do with pets (dogs) and toddlers, and possibly cumulative effects.

But in any case, if in doubt, I suppose the immediate thing to do would be to see if removal is possible to reduce on-going leaching into the soil?

If might be possible to sweep from hard surfaces and packed soil, or take shallow scoops of soil or rake/hoe, and then sift them out with a riddle if you have one, or a frame stretched with wire mesh, or even a cheap colander…. When sifting out for specific size, use a 2-step method with holes that are larger to exclude stuff that are larger, then holes smaller to eliminate smaller materials.

If removal was successful then — flushing/flooding the immediate area may help to dilute what is already there.

I think if you are worried about toxicity, then give up on direct contact/immediate use crops like lettuce but maybe feel safer about later fruiting above-ground crops like tomatoes which would be harvested later….

But I’m pretty much a die-hard and try to stay within organic practices as much as possible, even don’t use much stuff that are considered “safe” because of concerns that they may affect non-intended target organisms.

You will likely hear more even-headed response from others.