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Can I compost pea plants with powdery mildew?

Liz113Liz113 Posts: 7
in Problem solving
I've seen wildly conflicting advice on this, from "Absolutely not, destroy all traces", to "Relax, sling it in the compost and no harm will come".
Does anyone out there actually know the answer?
Thanks!

Posts

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 86,151
    The spores of powdery mildew are all around us ... and there are many different types, each one specific to just a few plants ... refraining from composting the pea haulms won't protect anything from powdery mildew next year.

    Bung it on the compost heap and let them rot down ... there's few enough 'greens' around this summer ... don't waste what there is  :)

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 14,375
    In a word, yes.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,391
    Some bacteria in the compost will almost certainly eat the fungal spores anyway.  If you want to research this, keywords are "Bacterial mycophagy" but it's heavy going as human knowledge of soil science is still pretty much at the toddler stage. :)
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • Liz113Liz113 Posts: 7
    Thanks everyone - practical and reassuring advice.
    Liz
  • Liz113Liz113 Posts: 7
    I think the stuff I was looking at online probably fell into two categories - US-based advice tending to be more uptight and cautious than the UK-based sites. Do you think that's generally the case?
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