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Vegetable Gardening Soil, Compost & Mulch

Composting Insect damaged plants

yolos - 8a Ga. Brooks

2 years ago

I have a couple of questions. In the past I never composted any diseased plants (powdery mildew) or plants damaged by insects (spider mites and cabbage loopers).

Question 1 - I grow peas every spring. Every year as the weather heats up, I get powdery mildew. I control it with milk. I have never composted the plants but I still get the mildew every year even though I rotate crops to different beds. So why shouldn't I just compost the plants if I am getting the same disease every year no matter what I do.

Question 2 - I get spider mites on my beans and cowpeas every year. I do not spray for them because I can get a good enough harvest before they are completely destroyed. I also rotate beds. This year was a new bed that had never been used before. I still got spider mites. So why shouldn't I just compost the plants if I am getting the same insect damage each year.

Question 3 - I get those caterpillars every year on my brassicas. I know I can use BT to control them or cover them with row cover. But some times I don't get around to taking care of them because I can get enough broccoli without spraying. So why shouldn't I just compost the plants if I am getting the same insect damage each year.

I know the literature says don't compost in these instances but based on my practices, I still get the disease or insect damage each year. I do not like to spray my veggies with anything if I can get a good enough harvest to satisfy myself. But it just breaks my heart not to be able to use all that material in my compost pile.

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Comments (3)

stevie
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
You can safely compost them if the pile gets hot enough, i personally wouldn't compost them if cold composting (building up the pile slowly over time rather than creating a large pile all at once). it could be far worse or the disease might progress sooner in the season if you provide the spores a safe place to overwinter.. It's true that if your plants are prone to getting dieases, almost count on it the following year..

The key to controlling plant diseases is to apply fungicides before disease onset. start spraying as soon as transplanting, or shortly after, and apply weekly, even if there are no signs of the disease. thoroughly spray top and underside of the leaves.

You could always grow greens that aren't susceptible to PM for composting if you have the room. i let my leafy greens continue to grow even after they bolt and flower, then chuck them in the bin (before they produce seed if its a cold pile)..

Milk may work, but there are better options for already infected plants, or as a preventive, one being potassium bicarbonate.

Good luck next year! :)
floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
2 years ago
Regarding Q3. ie caterpillars on Brassicas, i would have no hesitation composting those greens and I cold compost. Once way from the living plant the caterpillars or eggs won't survive.
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gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
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Ditto with the powdery mildew. It (in all its myriad forms) is almost exclusively an obligate parasite and so requires the living tissue of its host plant to survive. No living host plant - which would be highly unlikely once in the compost - no more viable PM.

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