Hi garden friends! we hired a service from our landscaper without really knowing what it was, and before we knew it he was spreading casoron all over the yard. i managed to stop him before he spread it over an area we were planning to plant tomatoes this year, but it is there only a few feet away.... do we have any hope of growing tomatoes now? even if they do grow, would we want to eat them? will they 'absorb' the pesticide? should we put them in containers?

Casoron has very low toxicity. It is used primarily to eliminate grass and sprouting weed seeds in landscaped areas. Unless you were planning to plant your tomatos in an area casoron was applied to, I think you have little to worry about. It is not going to travel sideways several feet to get into your tomatos. Any tiny amount that might make its way into your mature tomatos would surely be so miniscule as not to be worth a second thought. This chemical is used massively by landscapers and home gardeners, and would simply not be permitted if it constituted a significant threat to anyone's health.

Kreemoweet, I am not familiar with this product and am not disputing your assessment of its toxicity, but this

kreemoweet said: . . . This chemical is used massively by landscapers and home gardeners, and would simply not be permitted if it constituted a significant threat to anyone's health.

is magical thinking.

NMoasis said: this is magical thinking.

I did a search...
https://ask2.extension.org/kb/...

According to extension, casoron is a class III acute toxicity pesticide and is considered a possible human carcinogen.

Not really anything I'd want in my garden...

Apparently the poison is used as a pre-emergent herbicide... preventing seeds from germinating, but doesn't kill growing plants.

So... I guess that you'd be taking your chances... The tomatoes shouldn't be killed by this stuff... but whether you would feel safe eating them... whole nother question.

Time to send the landscape crew packing... Nobody needs a "perfect" stand of turf... We all need safe food.