Compost Question
 

Does anyone here make their own compost i.e. kitchen waste, garden waste, etc? I was just wondering if you put tomato plants in your compost bin?

I've started composting this year and I seem to remember reading somewhere that you can't put tomato plants in your compost bin, but I wanted to check on other people's real experiences. I'm not ready to chop down my tomato plants yet, but when I do, it will be a shame to just dump them in the waste bin and not the compost bin.

Any experienced composters out there? ;)

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i started composting at the beginning of the year TM, i dont know about the tomato plant thing BUT what i have been told is that if you compost the compost that you have used from growing spuds or tomato's (they come from the same family) you CAN NOT use the compost again for growing spuds or tomato's, David1 will tell you all the in's and outs of it, he's very good with growing things and the do's and donts of composting

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Thanks Flashy. I'll wait for him to come along :)

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I've been composting for over 40 years, and never put potato or Tomato stems or leaves in the composters.

Potato blight & other diseases, also affects tomato plants and any spores don't seem to die.

If you look at Tomato stems after all the Toms have been picked the will appear brown, dusty and rotten. I sterilise the greenhouse and all the pots with Jeyes fluid every spring, and never use the same growing medium again for spuds or tomato's

Burn them.

Retlaw.

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Welcome

I get my info from here, personally i would, we compost allsorts and it always turns out great, although we don`t use it for growing veg in, just mulching in winter and mix a bit in with our plants in spring, i still buy compost its just that it saves all that waste food going to landfill and it really all adds up.

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Fruit & veg waste, egg shells, tea bags, coffee grinds, bits of paper & cardboard, wood based cat litter, leaves and a little grass and hedge trimmings.............all goes in the compost bin , mix it up and come spring/summer we have some very rich looking compost.:D loke i said i don`t use it for growing veg but it works for me,

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Thanks for the input. What Retlaw says backs up what I read and makes perfect sense. If you compost diseased plants the chances are your compost will carry the disease too.

I do compost most other things on your list PF, but I'll give the tomato plants a miss. :)

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I compost all uncooked kitchen fruit and vegetable waste, teabags, crushed eggshells and torn up uncoloured cardboard (toilet roll middles, egg boxes etc.). From the garden, I use grass cuttings and weeds but I've never composted tomato plants because they can be toxic to other plants. I don't put woody clippings in my compost bin, either, but they go in my Green Bin - Warrington B C has shredders, I don't.

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To make good compost you need five things.

1) a good compost bin, preferably with a door at the bottom.
2) a spade full of good soil to start it off, full of friendly bacteria.
3) worms, they are what really make the compost.
4) small quantity of garden lime every two or three layers.
5) uncooked kitchen waste, loads of it.

All worms I find in the garden are put in the composters, the more the merrier.
Don't put twiggy clippings in, or the stems from Brussel sprouts, they take ages to compost, not worth the trouble, leaves and grass cutting have very little goodness in them, and are in a separate composter.

Retlaw.

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There's one other ingredient that makes excellent compost - human urine - it adds moisture and it contains nitrogen. What's more, it costs nothing and there's always a plentiful supply. ;)

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I put potato peelings in mine and tomatoes are fine. It's just the plants they grow on that aren't so good for the heap.

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It is best to leave potatoes and tomatoes out of the heap , Retlaw is correct , it will pass on deseases to other plants.

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Will make sure I don't do it again, seemed a good idea at the time :rolleyes:

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The potato and the tomato, as roots/fruits, will not do any harm, it's the plants they grow on that should be avoided. You may eat and enjoy a potato or a tomato and come to no harm. Eat a potato or tomato plant and, if you don't snuff it, you won't be very well. The toxicity is in the plant, not the fruit.

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Common garden worms are not really suited to compost, its tiger worms you need, you can buy them online or in fishing shops.

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I`m so glad you mentioned that `magic` ingredient first............it really does speed up the process.......................:D;)

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:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

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when i pulled all mi spuds up t'other month i put all the compost in the composter as well as the plants, i knew about it before i did it and didnt intend on using the compost from the bin for mi spuds next year, got a lot more in mind for it than spuds :D WHEN it composts that is :D

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It will compost quicker as soon as you have pee`d on it........;)

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i wont be doing that in a hurry mate lol

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Just a quick tip.................use a jug......you get less spillage......;)

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ewwwwwww shup

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how do i start up i really want to but dont have a compost bin
were do i get one of them from

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here ya go Kath, this is where i got mine from, FREE


http://www.recyclenow.com/home_compo...your_area.html

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I thought WE were talking about the plant and not the fruit .???

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just ordered myself another one n'all

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thanks flashy
bit of green stuff coming your way

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its soooo easy to order as well

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it doesnt take long for them to arrive either, your only up the road from me so we'll probably get them on the same day lol


its really worth doing though, i find i have a hell of a lot more room in my red bin now that i recycle everything i can and compost the rest, i dont even put any garden waste out for the council anymore, it all goes in my compost bin

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I got my compost bin from them. I waited 2 months and nothing arrived so I rang them. They said they "hadn't seen" the email request - so, obviously, weren't looking. It cost me £10 too. It's obviously a postcode thing. :mad:

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do you mean us in Blackburn actually get something out of this postcode lottery thats going on? chuffin ell, aint we lucky ;)

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They see a Cheshire postcode - they think M U footballers' wags. :rolleyes:

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I think i`ll give a wormery a go as well............the kids will love it.....:D

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Where do you get those big tub things that you put your compost heap in from?
Want to start one and need to get hold of one!
Thanks for any help!

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http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/corpora...ageid=7748&e=e
This is where i got mine from...........and cost nowt.......

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No, because if you leave it for at least a year it will compost itself. My bin has a hatch to shovel out the botton compost. I haven't touched it for over 12 months and I won't until this time next year.

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LOZ look further back and find the link that i put up, i got mine FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! hmmm mine and pipples links seem to be the same, how strange hmmmmm

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Thanks for the info everybody will get that sorted asap!::D

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Welcome to Compost Corner.................Should we have a Gardening Advice area on Accyweb then....?:rolleyes:

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would be a good idea

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just got my new composter delivered today and i have a question for you


my pansies have now seen better days, can i put them and the compost from them in my composter?

i have 2 compost bins now, one that is nearly ready which i will use next year for my peas, sprouts, radish and flowers etc

and this new one i will be soley using for my spuds and maybe tomato's sometime in the future, i have got this new one because the one thats already composting has got potato compost in it so i cant use it for next years spuds

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was going to have a go at this, however I am heard that the bins can attract rats and mice... so I am not going to bother....

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Who told you that...a rat or a mouse?...Lol.......never had any problems myself, compost is`nt really what rats & mice go for.......:rolleyes:

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I've been home-composting for about 20 years and I've never had rats or mice in my compost. I once, when I had an open compost heap, found a hedgehog asleep in it and I've heard of one or two snakes getting in (usually harmless grass snakes) but all I get in my bin is worms, tiny fruit flies and, in the old bin after about 5 years, a colony of ants.

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Worms, worms & more worms....oh and yes, the tiny fruit flies............but SNAKES..........i think i may prefer the rats & mice.....LOL:eek:

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Oh I've never found one myself, just heard about them. Forgot to say, though, I get the odd toad, but I like toads. :)

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We get a lot of frogs in the garden from time to time so no doubt they may be hiding out in there.........:), nowt wrong with a frog or two

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Rodents

yes there loads of sites on the net saying that they do:

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Although there's link between compost bins and rodents, they tend to be in ones where the owner has put cooked food waste in to the bin. A big no-no!!

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Correct..............:)