I have a number of rotten and over ripe tomatoes in the garden now, Should I put them in the compost pile, or should I let them just sit on the ground or should I throw them away.
I know I shouldnt put the tomatoe plants themselves in the compost pile, but not sure about the tomatoes themselves.
My compost pile wont be getting hot enough to kill anything either for many months now.
Thanks
Compost or pitch them would be my choice of the answers above. If you know how to build a hot compost pile, I'd toss in the tomatoes, tomato plants, and other fall debris and cook it well... even if it means starting another pile in the spring.
Kay
There will be random tomato seedlings in the spring. Oh well. If you own the right weeding tools, it won't matter.
This gardening thing is getting complicated. I didn't know one needed a special weeding tool to remove tomato seedlings. I just pull them up with my hands. Are these the wrong tools?
Why not? Straight question. Anything shredded small enough can go in, no?
but not sure about the tomatoes themselves.
Hmmm...I see we belong to the Dan Quayle school of orthography
Why not? If you want it to get hot, there are "starters" than can do help. How to heat up a compost pile:
Considering the preponderance of lazy people looking for "duh no work" solutions, I wasn't thinking of hands because it's so rare to hear them mentioned. :-)
Every year we get our absolute best tomatoes from (guess where), The Compost Pile.
If you're doing it properly, things should heat up enough to kill off the seeds -- but we don't do it properly and stuff around the edges of the pile doesn't decompose enough or produce enough heat to kill off the seeds.
I don't mind. It's where our best tomatoes grow!
If you leave the tomatoes on the ground, yes, there will probably be seedling tomatoes. If you compost the tomatoes now, hot, there won't be. If you let the pile go cold this winter, you can compost everything, including seedlings, next spring, hot.
Right weeding tools? Like a hoe? Or thumb and forefinger?
Kay
Anything. My suggestion was aimed at some visitors here who imagine that "gardening the right way" means they'll never have to grovel in the soil and get their knees dirty.
What's the fun of not getting dirty? 8-)
Kay
I agree. Why should kids be the only ones with sandboxes? :-)
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