Topic: What to do with blighted earth in pots?

[earlypea]

Tomatoes in pots in garden went down badly suddenly - I've tightly bagged and binned the plants for landfill, but what should I do with the earth in the pots?  They're lurking under a hedge at the moment - they're full of roots and very heavy.  We're not allowed fires.

What to do?  Thanks...

[lincsyokel2]

put it in a big pile somewhere unused and leave it about 4-8  years.

[elvis2003]

landfill? noooooooooooooooooooooooooo :'(  :'(

[goodlife]

You can make good use out of it by digging it into soil for crops like brassicas or beans and peas....any really as long as it is not potatoes or toms.
Or even better..as blight don't effect much of other crops you could still used it for others...just add some fish, blood and bone meal, mix it in and top the pots up with fresh compost, so  that your next crops have some nutrients..maybe some salad crops in pots..or carrots..?

[PAULW]

Blight is airbourne once it hits the target Toms and Spuds thats it job done just like Roundup it breaks down in the soil with no harm, I take all the old compost up to my allotment and spread it on the ground and have been doing so for many years without any problems.

[cornykev]

As said spread it anywhere apart from areas your growing your next toms and spuds.    ???    ;D ;D ;D

[cleo]

Blight spores do not survive in the soil,only in living tissue so you can use the soil as you wish-the compost bin being favourite

[caroline7758]

Glad you asked that question as I intend to empty out my growbags tomorrow. Are there any tomato diseases that would be transported in the soil?

[elvis2003]

earlypea can you talk to your committee and ask why you are  not allowed fires?

[chriscross1966]

Glad you asked that question as I intend to empty out my growbags tomorrow. Are there any tomato diseases that would be transported in the soil?

Sort of yes and sort of no.....

There's a whole load of things that technically could, but they're all pretty exotic, and even the ones that will won't survice very long if they don't find something to grow on.... the assorted mosaic viruses and eelworks that tomatoes are able to get are only goping to live if they find a potato next to them. Dig through the potato bed again and scatter your ex tomato compost there, lime it if it needs it when you plant out brassicas in that bed next year.... Blight's only an issue if it gets to overwinter in living tissue, so pull out volunteer spuds as they appear (or keep an eye on them for anythign that looks like blight).

I'm ho-hum about using chemical control. IN a bad year I would use Dithane but you can't get it now, I tend to give the spuds and toms a quick dose of bordeaux mix before I go to Glastonbury cos it should prevent anything too disastrous during the ten days I'll be onsite getting lighting up and down if the weather is manky, but after that.... well we didn't get a blight report locally until the end of August where I am, by then most of the potatoes are packing up anyway..... I'm not a fan of spraying cos it's Tuesday the 20th, I'll use it if I have to but not unless I see a need

chrisc

[earlypea]

earlypea can you talk to your committee and ask why you are  not allowed fires?

We're allowed them on the plot if the wind is blowing away from houses and two hours before sunset and if we put them out with lots of water before we leave.

It's at home we're not allowed.

[earlypea]

landfill? noooooooooooooooooooooooooo :'(  :'(

You could be right there!  I was thinking how can I seal them so that the spores don't blow into the conservatory or onto my next door neighbours, who also grow tomatoes.

BUT, now you got me thinking......They scrunch the landfill up as it goes onto the lorry and maybe blight spores are blowing all over the neighbourhood as they drive away  :o  What am I doing.  (I don't think they're going to take a lot of landfill space up if that was your concern)

But really, if I can't burn them, composting isn't necessarily going to heat up and kill them, then in the short term bagging them seems like a good idea?  I could empty the bags onto compost after they're dead?

Thanks for all the replies BTW.

[elvis2003]

earlypea can you talk to your committee and ask why you are  not allowed fires?

We're allowed them on the plot if the wind is blowing away from houses and two hours before sunset and if we put them out with lots of water before we leave.

It's at home we're not allowed.

why not take them to the plot and burn them there? i dont understand why you would even consider the landfill option?

[chriscross1966]

Blighth does not survive in dead tissue for more than a couple of weeks. I burn blighted foliage early in the year (if I need to ) but at this time of year there's not going to be anything to cross infect that can carry the infection to next year except in a greenhouse. I'll be composting my tomato foliage from now, though I can see a little evidence of blight (there is some). THe tomato [plants will be dead in the darlek by Christmas if not a lot earlier, the blight dies with them.

It's different if it's the back end of June and you're finding blight cos you need to protect the other plants nearby that might be susceptible.... Last year I had to burn all my outdoor tomatoes at the start of July (IIRC), but by doing so I didn't get any blight on my potatoes until too close to harvest to matter....

chrisc