tomato compost.

[brownfingers]

Do old tommy plants make good compost?

[Alison]

Not on their own (best compost is made by a good mix of ingredients) but they'll compost down nicely in the heap.

[Bigmallly]

I wouldn't compost any manky Toms as you'll end up with rogue plants everywhere.

[alldigging]

Mine have gone in the bottom of the heap.
Mainly cos I've emptied the beautiful compost out and it's empty.

I have scrapped in the top layer of the full stack next to it too though.

[SusieG]

Well I've chopped mine up and thrown them onto my compost heap along with the compost they were growing in. Not had any problems doing this before (although any dubious plants go into the 'rubbish' bin)

[dilettante]

I can't speak to composting them exactly, but I've generally done a bit of chop and drop, with my tomatoes, or buried them in one of my empty beds to rot over winter. I knowsome people say don't because of blight, but so far I've been fine. If in doubt, you could burn them and use the ash on your soil or compost pile, I guess.

[Potstubsdustbins]

I compost the plant but make sure all tomatoes are off, threw them in their entirety one year next year I had toms sprouting every where.

[Penellype]

I chop mine up and put them in the hotbin, but even so, some of the seeds survive.

[bramble]

Never put them in the compost bin just in case of blight.
I put them and the haulms from potatoes in the rubbish bin.

[Penellype]

Blight will only survive on live plant material. I have composted severely blighted tomatoes in a cold compost bin (before I knew it was blight) and I didn't have any unusual problems with blight the following year. The only thing I wouldn't try to compost is blighted potato tubers, as these could stay alive in the compost bin and then the blight would probably survive.

[Scoot]

I compost the plant but make sure all tomatoes are off, threw them in their entirety one year next year I had toms sprouting every where.

I've got a load of knackered tomatoes that i threw in my compost bin with everything else. I'll be emptying the contents out of the bin to where i am starting my new compost heap, if any tomatoes do pop up, I'll try and grow a couple of them wherever they sprout haha. I'll pull mos of them out though and just hoy them back on the compost heap. It'll be an experiment mind so god knows how they will end up lol

[Alison]

Don't mind tomato seeds sprouting as they're so easy to pull up and it's quicker to pull them up than sort through stuff for the heap

[Scoot]

Don't mind tomato seeds sprouting as they're so easy to pull up and it's quicker to pull them up than sort through stuff for the heap

That was what's was thinking too and like I said I may even leave a couple to grow and see how good the compost heap really is lol.

[Potstubsdustbins]

I agree but growing in containers is slightly different I have to maximise space.

At one time the best place to pick free toms round here was from the banks of the Stoke Bardolph out flow stream. Providing you could stand the smell of course.