Farm and Home

Now that we have had a killing frost and it is time to put the garden to bed, I have had several questions about composting plant debris with disease infections.
Several people have asked me if diseased plant material such as leaves with powdery mildew, black spot, anthracnose or fire blight should or could be placed into a compost pile and decomposed enough that the disease won’t re-infect next year.
And, of course, the answer is that it depends.  

By Elizabeth Creed
elizabeth.creed@uky.edu