what use in exchange for diseased leaves in compost

15 years ago

Help! Just moved into our house this fall excited to work with our very first real garden (aside from our "fire escape farm") only to discover that the yard and woodlot appear to be full of blight and fungal diseases (according to the neighbor the blight has been around for a few years). My supply of black & white newspaper is just about finished and I'm at a loss -- what can I use in place of leaves in my compost? I'm assuming blight will not be killed off by the composting process -- is that correct?

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Comments (6)

kiddo_1
15 years ago
Hi. I had found this some time ago when I was researching if a compost pile would destroy blight from my tomato plants. I'm not sure what kind of blight or fungus you are talking about, so don't know if this helps you or not. This link takes you to a compost discussion. Look under 'diseased plants'.
Kris

Here is a link that might be useful: compost & blight
Lloyd
15 years ago
Diseased leaves thread

Diseased plants thread

Alternatives to leaves:

Straw, cardboard, wood chips, sawdust

Lloyd

P.S. Feel free to ignore me. :-)
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can i put diseased leaves into compost
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It depends on what the eggs are. Different insects prefer different environmental conditions in order to survive. It also depends on exactly how how your compost really does get and if what you're trying to "kill" is actually getting heated up. I've measured my compost temp at 160 when I've gone out of my way to layer everything properly all at the same time. It's amazing how fast it cooks and sinks. You can see it sink every day at it's height. I have no problem throwing weed seeds into my pile because I know I have enough of a steady supply of carbon and nitrogen and can heat it up high enough to kill the seeds. I even throw in gumballs from the gumball tree if that gives you an idea. Whether you decide to compost your debris or remove it from the property, you should definitely remove it from your garden area so the pests and blight don't overwinter and come back in full force the next year.
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It would be difficult for some plants to come up through a layer of leaves that thick, while other plants would be just fine. Since you don't know what you have, I would rake the leaves out of the bed and then run them over with a lawnmower a few times. That will reduce the volume quite a bit and also help the leaves break down into compost much more quickly. Then you can return a nice thick layer back to that garden and any other areas that could do with a nice mulch. If you have more leaves than beds, then you could start a traditional compost pile, or put them on your lawn and run them over a few more times with the mower till they get chopped into tiny bits that can be left in place to break down and improve your lawn. A mulching mower or just installing a mulching blade on your existing mower would help accomplish this quickly. If nothing comes up you like in your shady side yard, allow me to recommend Japanese Painted Ferns. They do well in our heat as long as they are well shaded and in rich soil. Mine multiply and thrive.
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Composting is not rocket science as much as some purists would like the un-enlightened to believe. In my experience, it's extremely hard to do it wrong and my experience has been that one would have to work hard to cause ill effects. (Though if you believe that the natural way of disposing of used motor oil is to compost it along with your kitchen scraps and then spread it around your lettuce or if your boy friend is prone to dumping paint thinner anywhere he thinks the EPA won't find it, then you may be heading towards complications in your compost, your garden and your health.) Like life, composting is not a race and if it doesn't get super-hot, the material will still rot in time and be of as much use. I read endless posts here from those who worry far too much about "doing it wrong." Should I compost my coffee filters? Should I run my kitchen scraps through the blender? Oh, no, my compost has cooled down! I think my carbon/nitrogen ratio is off and how can I face my family after such a failure? Should I measure all woody material with a micrometer after chopping it up with surgical instruments? How do I measure the volume of air relative to the solid matter in my compost? And on and on and on (as Kurt Vonnegut was fond of saying.) If you only think that you may have introduced a few, and only possibly diseased plants into your compost, you probably have extremely little to worry about (as opposed to those who have had acre upon acre of crops wiped out by disease and then said, what the Hell? Let's throw all those disease-ridden plants into a pile, turn it once or twice and see if we can get lucky by spreading it around our new seedlings.) Nature constantly spreads a little disease all around our gardens and all around our bodies. For the most part, our gardens and our bodies build up natural immunities to all sorts of things that we would naturally be horrified to know about in detail and I'm sure there are websites where horror-stricken people write about all the god-awful things that put their lives in jeopardy: "Just today, on the bus ride home from work, there was a guy with a runny nose, and I'm sure that he sneezed in my direction. I've heard that there may be a new flu strain from Asia and this guy had a foreign look to him. In fact, I verified it with his seat mate when he left that he did, in fact, sneeze. Now I'm very prone to colds and I'm sure that...." And on and on and on. Not that I'm trying to belittle your concerns. Just that some here would have us believe that this esoteric, mystical art of composting is so much more than just piling up organic matter, adding a little moisture and mixing it now and then. Ma Nature, as far as I almost know, never calculates carbon/nitrogen ratios when composting leaves and brush on the forest floor, nor does she dispair when she doesn't achieve a "hot pile" with internal temps of 140 degrees or more, since everyone knows that a hot pile is critical to to the very survival of the species, yet she seems to have a pretty fair rate of success, at least since the last Ice Age. My advice: Don't worry; make compost. Wayne
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when did you get the house .. from the last pic.. the pruning cut.. makes me think its a brand new planting ... straight from the seller .. meaning.. a shipping cut ... if so ... we dont know if it was properly planted .. properly watered ... or anything ... it is rather surprising.. how a stressed tree .. is attacked by all kinds of problems... but unless you solve the stress .. then solving all the secondary problems is useless ... lets have a pic of the whole ... and then see what we can intuit ... it might be simpler.. and cheaper.. to be done with it ... i never understand.. spending 20.. 30.. 50 dollars on remedies.. for a tree not worth 20 bucks ... sometimes.. its just easier to start over.. if in fact you want a plum... which is subject to all kinds of problems.. like black know and gummosis ... on older trees .. i gave up on plum decades ago ... just a PIA tree ... also.. there is a very active fruit forum ... no reason not to try both forums ... ken
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duluthinbloomz4
15 years ago
What kind of trees in your wooded lot seem to be blighted? Maples? Oaks? Anthracnose is among the most common diseases seen on oak and maple. Usually, outbreaks of anthracnose are enhanced by warm temperatures and frequent rains.

Anthracnose is best controlled by raking up the previous year's fallen leaves before the trees leaf-out in the spring and either discarding or composting them. The composting process will take care of the blighted leaves.

Only a possible guess though with the details (or lack thereof) in your post.
digdirt2
15 years ago
As kiddo said, it depends on specifically what "blight" or "fungus" you are talking about. Those are very broad labels. ;)

Most all fungi are normal to the composting process and pose no problems. I have been composting all my leaves for many years with no problems and here in the woods it is nigh onto impossible to find a leaf without some sort of "something" growing on it.

But if you aren't comfortable with using them - its a sad waste - then many other sources of carbon are available. In addition to the ones listed by Lloyd there are many others listed in the FAQs here as well as many past discussions on them. Check out the link below.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: What are you using for browns?
soilguy
15 years ago
organic_gordie -
Do not be alarmed (yet).

Very good chance that what you may be seeing above ground is not a bad issue for compost or soil.

Blight refers to a specific symptom affecting plants in response to infection by a pathogenic organism. It is simply a rapid and complete CHLOROSIS (yellowing of leaves) browning, then death of plant tissues such as leaves, branches, twigs, or floral organs.

So you are saying that there are plants DYING in your yard?

And the answer to your compost process question is:
Depends on how good of a composter you are. IF you can get the pile up to at least 131F, then turn the outside material into the inside of the next pile - and get that 2nd pile to heat up to at least 131F - then 'yes'. Otherwise, my opinion is 'no'.

But then, depending on what pathogen it is, it is very likely that you could get a few shovels full of very healthy soil from a local nursery (that makes its own compost), which will likely have the 'good' bacteria in it that will kill the bad blight bacteria or fungus.
If you don't kill the 'good guys' with compost heat.
So add a few shovels full of the 'good dirt' into the compost AFTER it has heated also.

There is ONLY one best way to tell that I know of:
Take a sample of what you call "blight" AND each of the fungi - (no larger than the palm of your hand); put each sample into a separate ziplock bag, write your name, phone number and date on each bag.
Do not take 'things' into an agricultural office that are not enclosed safely in ziplocks.

Then take all the bags with you and drop them off at your County Agricultural Extention Agent's office for identification by a certified Master Gardener. You will need to fill out a form that goes with each ziplock. Fill out one form and have copies made. This service is FREE.

Should only take a few days to get QUALIFIED answers.
MOST fungus is a GOOD thing in the compost pile.
Fungi and bacteria are what break compost down.
You need them. They are your FRIENDS.

The question to ask the Master Gardener:
Does this fungus belong in my compost pile, and/or soil, and if not, why not?

You should be provided with the SCIENTIFIC names of each of the ziplocked samples, which you can then look up on the Internet for more information, and bring that information back to this forum and let us share your new knowledge.

I'm a Certified Master Gardener also, but I cannot see the growths to which you refer, so cannot help you. But MG's in your 'neck of the woods' can.

I would be surprised for there to be fugus growths you can see with the 'naked eye', that would be bad to compost, or be bad in your soil.
Don't get me wrong. There ARE some - and they kill even mature trees and other plants. Blight is a bad thing too.
However, I'm not sure that what you generically call "blight" - actually is - but you should have answers soon...Let us know.

Robert
Kimmsr
15 years ago
You can compost your diseased plant material and during the process the bacteria ar work digesting that material will develop immunities to those diseases and, eventually, as the soil in your yard and garden becomes healthy the diseases will diminish and not be a problem.

what use in exchange for diseased leaves in compost

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kiddo_1

Lloyd

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