Composting potato and tomato plants

[KathParticipant]

Hi everyone

I have harvested the last of my tomatoes and potatoes, and have been taking the plants to the allotment to put in my compost bins (I don’t have one at home anymore). However, one of the ‘old timers’ told me this morning that I shouldn’t compost them “something to do with poison” he said.

I have already put quite a few in the bins. Is he correct, do I need to remove them?

[Don FoleyParticipant]

Hi Kath,
I suspect he may have been talking about Blight? Tomatoes and Potatoes are members of the same family and are attacked by Blight (apologies if I’m being patronising).
If that is what he was talking about then he is incorrect. Blight only survives on living tissue so it is quiet safe to put these plants on your compost pile.
It is, as Charles will no doubt confirm, a common misconception that you cannot/should not put blighted material on a compost pile.
Don.

[KathParticipant]

Thanks for your reply Don.
Glad to hear that I don’t have to go digging them all out, especially as I have chopped some of them into little bits..

[charlesModerator]

Hi Kath and thanks for your comment Don.
‘Old timers’ have a lot to answer for, when they say things without giving any reasons.
There is a lot of unfounded fear of blight, yes it’s fine to compost, and the spores do not live in soil.

[KathParticipant]

Great, thanks for the confirmation Charles.
I will put the rest of the plants in my bins, rather than the council’s green waste collection bin which he suggested.

[kippers gardenParticipant]

‘Garden Organic’ said that blighted foliage is fine to put on the compost heap but not the actual tomatoes ( the fruit) as seeds are still ‘live’, but ive just read in Charles book on gardening myths that the seeds can be composted when the fruit has blight”……… so now i am comfused🤔…

[Don FoleyParticipant]

Hi Kippers,
Blight wont survive on seeds. It needs living tissue.
The other thing to remember when composting anything with seeds is that you need your compost to be at a high temperature in order to kill off these seeds.
Don.

[charlesModerator]

Yes I struggle to see how blight spores could survive on seed, maybe in theory but my experience suggests otherwise.
Plus I find the risk of blight is overstated.
Blight appears whenever conditions are right for it, however clean your garden is.
If conditions are not right (too dry or cold) it won’t develop because it cannot, whether or not there are a few spores in your garden.

[kippers gardenParticipant]

Thank you Don & Charles. I think they said it remains in the seeds as the seeds are still ‘living’…..but as you said Charles, you need the right conditions for blight anyway….so i will ignore their advice from now on

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