[Grubbypaws]

Hi, does anyone have an opinion on whether I should put broad bean plants covered in rust on my compost heap? RHS says no but others say that this is a myth. What do folk on here think/do?

[Candide]

The old boy on plot next door sez, "You're meant to burn em".  So I'll be interested to see other opinions

[New shoot]

I compost stuff like that.  My reasoning is that I am on an allotment site where people invariably leave blighted, rusty or mildewed foliage either still planted in the ground or just dumped on an open compost heap.  Spores must be everywhere anyway, just waiting for the weather to be in their favour.

My bins are always covered with split open compost or mulch bags weighted down with planks and bricks.  They probably don’t get anywhere near hot enough to kill off fungal spores, but they rot any green waste quickly.

We are not allowed bonfires at present, so burning is not an option.  We have a new draft tenancy agreement that comes into force next April saying we can have bonfires over winter, but it would still stacking and storing diseased foliage for several months before burning. 

[Subversive_plot]

I'd bin them. Why risk it?
Bean rust is a fungal disease.

[Odders]

Rust, blight, couch grass, nettle & other pernicious weed roots, dead rats, you name it, I'll compost it & I've never had a problem.
Mind you, my compost bays are 1.2m cubes & generally stay over 60ºC for at least a couple of weeks in each layer, often over 70ºC for several days.

[New shoot]

I compost most things.  At the moment I always have a small pile of bindweed and other pernicious weeds drying out on a piece of weed membrane.  Once dead and crispy, I chuck them in.  In the cooler months, I tend to leave them in a bucket of water.

As well as the no bonfire rule, we don’t have a green waste collection service from our allotment site.  If I take stuff home I then have to book an appointment to take it to the local dump or pay a lot for a green bin that the council may or may not empty.  A couple of my neighbours have them and are always moaning that the scheduled bin run just hasn’t happened again.

As you say Odders, you just have to make sure your compost is heating up and actually rotting.  It takes a bit more organisation, but is less faff than the alternatives.

[Odders]

I compost most things.  At the moment I always have a small pile of bindweed and other pernicious weeds drying out on a piece of weed membrane.  Once dead and crispy, I chuck them in.  In the cooler months, I tend to leave them in a bucket of water.

As well as the no bonfire rule, we don’t have a green waste collection service from our allotment site.  If I take stuff home I then have to book an appointment to take it to the local dump or pay a lot for a green bin that the council may or may not empty.  A couple of my neighbours have them and are always moaning that the scheduled bin run just hasn’t happened again.

As you say Odders, you just have to make sure your compost is heating up and actually rotting.  It takes a bit more organisation, but is less faff than the alternatives.

I now have three other plot holders informed to throw anything they can't or don't want to compost into my active bay & once a week, one of the pigeon guys drops of a bag of pigeon poop/nesting material/uneaten seeds, which gets spread in a thin layer then covered in grass/cardboard mix.
That reminds me; I need to get down on the shore for a load of seaweed.