Allotments 4 All
Allotment Stuff => The Basics => Topic started by: lezelle on August 07, 2021, 14:25:58
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Hi Ya, I noticed that a friend of mine is composting potato haulms. He said he only composts green leaves. I read a piece in a magazine that said you can compost blighted leaves as the spores need living material is required for the spores to survive. A well known organic gardener also agreed with this. I leave my compost at least 12 months before using and wondered if it is safe as I have just noticed brown patches on my tattie leaves and with a spit of rain and humid conditions ideal conditions. I was wondering if anyone composts blighted leaves. I think if they were to far blighted I may put them in the council compost bin but if I can reuse the goodness they provide to refresh my own soil then I would be happy. Any experience or advice would be welcome. It does confuse me as some say no deceased material should be added yet others say it's fine. Thanks all.
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This from the RHS may help you: https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=217.
The most significant source of infection is spores blown in from infected crops elsewhere, (so composting can be seen as a less significant risk) BUT there is a possibility that evolving blight strains can now infect the soil, so the RHS advises disposing of infected material through council schemes.
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the RHS advises disposing of infected material through council schemes
.......often resulting in the poor quality of some composts that are on the market today.
Nuff said!
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Mmmm, interesting, thanks for the web site contact Paulh. The RHS is one of the groups I saw somewhere else saying yes to composting at home. I can get my compost to hit temps of 50+ degsC at times. I save material and in fact have some saved up materials now and are moving to compost today, rain permitting, I have only just noticed the blight but talking to someone further up the site who says its worse up there. I think I will give composting a go and measure temps. I am or was a member of a blight watch warning web but have heard nothing from them for a good while now. Still fingers crossed and my main crop has a good resistance against the blight. Good luck all and happy gardening.