Used tomato plant compost

angeladyson7

This year a lot of my tomato plants contracted a grey mould of some sort which thankfully didn't spread to the tomatoes but most certainly affected the leaves and stems. I grew them in pots and now have lots of left over compost. Should I ditch the compost at the council recycling unit for sterilising or is there any chance I could use it as a mulch without it effecting other plants?

Grateful for any sound advice from anyone with experience of this sort of thing.

Thanks.
Angela

BobTheGardener

It will be absolutely fine for use as a mulch.  Grey mould spores are everywhere but it is the conditions inside the greenhouse which encourage it to grow in such a damaging way, on what are quite disease-prone plants anyway.  I use my ex-tomato compost mixed 50/50 with sharp sand to grow carrots in containers and the rest goes on the borders and veg plot, regardless of whether any plants went mouldy or not.

The best way to keep botrytis at bay under glass is to improve ventilation (eg more side and roof vents) and only water the soil, keeping it off of the leaves.