Daily gardening tip · Southern hemisphere · Sunday 30 August 2026 · late winter
Keep Plant Diseases Out of Your Compost
As you clear out old garden beds for spring, tossing the wrong debris into your compost pile can ruin next season's harvest.
15 minuteseasycompost
Inspect the old plants and debris you are clearing from your garden beds today.
Identify any stems, leaves, or roots that show signs of mold, black spots, or rot.
Look for weeds that have already formed seed heads or have persistent, creeping root systems.
Bag these diseased plants and weeds separately to put in your household trash or council green waste bin.
Add only healthy, disease-free plant material to your home compost pile.
Why it works
Most backyard compost piles do not get hot enough to kill off plant pathogens or weed seeds. If you put diseased material into your pile now, the fungi and bacteria will survive the winter and infect your new crops when you spread the compost in spring.
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