So I’m having a little trouble wrapping my head around what I should be doing with blighted plant material, rotting/ infected fruits and veggies.
Part of me really wants to cut it all out and like burn it, so that the fungus and disease is destroyed and then really only compost stuff that’s “healthy”.
One farmer I worked for never put vegetable compost back into his fields. It was used to fertilize another field where commercial corn was grown. The vegetable fields only had synthetic or manure on them. But doing some gardening now… it’s not like I have another field. I’ve gotten in the habit of throwing stuff on the lawn, where the grass doesn’t care or the mower just chips it up. Kinda gross but at least it’s not going into my compost. I plow the normal compost back into the garden in the spring.
Should I be worrying about this so much? What other solutions am I not thinking of?
Do you guys keep compost separated by plant type, kind of like compost crop rotation?
You should be fine and are overthinking it. If you are concerned about contaminated compost from a static pile, then use thermophilic composting. Mix nitrogen and carbon to create a heated pile, then "turn" the pile once or twice a month with a shovel or rake. The core of the pile will get hot enough to consume any negative bacterias and fungus.
Thats the correct answer. Its called aerobic composting as opposed to anaerobic, read up on it. You do need the pile to be large enough to insulate the reaction, but the end product is clean and healthy. You can even mix in other contaminated soil and compost and it will come out clean.
@valley @keeppoal4fags @itsokay2barian thanks for the tips on this. I kept hearing like ratios of browns to green and stuff, but I didn’t realize I would have to add like 2 kg cardboard/wood for 1kg of vegetable/greens. That’s way more than what I have going on, I would probably need a significantly bigger pile! Well now I know what to build for next year.
Its best to do these big piles in the fall when there is an abundance of dry leaves everywhere. Drive through town with a trailer and snatch ppls leaf bags. Getting enough "browns" is always the challenge. At other times of year poultry and horse farms offer nice used hay/wood shavings that are great browns. Who knows what kinda other crap is coming with the cardboard.
How much blighted plant material, rotting/ infected fruits and veggies do you produce? I put that in the worm bin and turn it into worm castings.
They do have a consumption rate though. You can only put in as much as they eat. If you overfill the worm bin, you get a rotting stinking mess. Any excess can go to the compost pile, or to your rotatable compost container.
You're probably overthinking the fungus and disease aspect, since that came from the air in the first place. A well-operated compost pile will not be a problem. I don't know what people where it freezes do with worm bins in the winter, but that would be a good solution for your tasty rotting stuff. The worms (red wigglers) will love it.
[ - ] CHIRO 1 point 8 monthsAug 18, 2023 12:18:42 ago (+1/-0)
I am far from an expert gardener, but I'm just approaching this logically.
The fungus and bacteria responsible for blight require living plant tissue to survive. After sufficient time, there is no living plant tissue in a compost heap. So, the offending organisms die. I wouldn't think that good, properly broken down compost would threaten recontamination.
[ + ] ItsOk2bArian
[ - ] ItsOk2bArian 6 points 8 monthsAug 18, 2023 12:40:59 ago (+6/-0)
If you are concerned about contaminated compost from a static pile, then use thermophilic composting. Mix nitrogen and carbon to create a heated pile, then "turn" the pile once or twice a month with a shovel or rake. The core of the pile will get hot enough to consume any negative bacterias and fungus.
[ + ] KeepPoal4fags
[ - ] KeepPoal4fags 2 points 8 monthsAug 18, 2023 15:13:49 ago (+2/-0)*
You can even mix in other contaminated soil and compost and it will come out clean.
[ + ] deleted
[ - ] deleted 1 point 8 monthsAug 18, 2023 14:19:45 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] SUV_dindu_nuffin
[ - ] SUV_dindu_nuffin [op] 0 points 8 monthsAug 18, 2023 23:50:41 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] KeepPoal4fags
[ - ] KeepPoal4fags 0 points 8 monthsAug 20, 2023 17:58:19 ago (+0/-0)
At other times of year poultry and horse farms offer nice used hay/wood shavings that are great browns.
Who knows what kinda other crap is coming with the cardboard.
[ + ] Sector7
[ - ] Sector7 2 points 8 monthsAug 18, 2023 13:20:30 ago (+2/-0)
They do have a consumption rate though. You can only put in as much as they eat. If you overfill the worm bin, you get a rotting stinking mess. Any excess can go to the compost pile, or to your rotatable compost container.
You're probably overthinking the fungus and disease aspect, since that came from the air in the first place. A well-operated compost pile will not be a problem. I don't know what people where it freezes do with worm bins in the winter, but that would be a good solution for your tasty rotting stuff. The worms (red wigglers) will love it.
[ + ] SUV_dindu_nuffin
[ - ] SUV_dindu_nuffin [op] 0 points 8 monthsAug 18, 2023 23:52:00 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ] CHIRO
[ - ] CHIRO 1 point 8 monthsAug 18, 2023 12:18:42 ago (+1/-0)
The fungus and bacteria responsible for blight require living plant tissue to survive. After sufficient time, there is no living plant tissue in a compost heap. So, the offending organisms die. I wouldn't think that good, properly broken down compost would threaten recontamination.
[ + ] MrPancake
[ - ] MrPancake 1 point 8 monthsAug 18, 2023 12:16:31 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ]deleted
[ - ] deleted 1 point 8 monthsAug 18, 2023 10:50:37 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] MaryXmas
[ - ] MaryXmas 0 points 8 monthsAug 18, 2023 14:06:11 ago (+0/-0)
I throw meat and anything organic in my compost.
[ + ] SUV_dindu_nuffin
[ - ] SUV_dindu_nuffin [op] 0 points 8 monthsAug 18, 2023 23:53:13 ago (+0/-0)
[ + ]deleted
[ - ] deleted -1 points 8 monthsAug 18, 2023 11:26:42 ago (+0/-1)