Tomatoes are an easy one. They are compostable. They’re mostly water and they break down fairly quickly. So the answer to can you compost tomatoes is yes, but there are few things to be careful of when composting tomatoes.
The three areas we want to be careful of when we add tomatoes to compost include
- Potential for Disease
- Volunteer Tomato Plants
- Vines
Tomato Seeds Can Be A Hassle in Compost – Unwanted Volunteers
Without an easy way to remove them, tomato seeds in your compost could lead to tomato plants growing in your garden or lawn where you add the compost to your soil.
This happens because the seeds will often survive the composting process and they’ll germinate in the rich compost. These plants are called volunteers.
It’s usually not a big deal, just pull up the tomato plants like you would a weed. You can even add the plant to your compost like you would weeds.
Some people don’t like this and find it a hassle, so just know it’s a risk.
Composting Tomato Plants After the Season
Once the season is over and you have your old tomato plants, you may want to compost them. You can do this, but there are some things to consider first.
Beware the Vines
The tomato plant vines can take a while to break down, especially if you just toss them into your compost pile. Add to that, they get tangled up with other compost material and the tools used to turn your pile. They can be a real pain.
So, you want to ensure that you cut them up into smaller pieces first.
Make Sure There Are No Diseases on Your Tomatoes
Tomatoes are a great addition to your garden. They can be grown easily and are a great fruit for a number of recipes. This is why they are very popular in home gardens.
Unfortunately, they are also prone to disease. If you think a tomato has a disease on it, you don’t want to put it into your compost. The disease can spread to your compost and back to your garden. You’re better off just throwing the tomato out and not continuing a disease that could make someone sick, hurt your compost or hurt your garden plants.
One exception to this is in a hot compost pile often used in commercial composting. As we have seen with other composting challenges, hot composting usually kills off these diseases. Most home composting systems don’t get warm enough to ensure that the disease-causing organisms are killed off.
How to Compost Tomatoes
Composting tomatoes, in general, is pretty easy. Like other materials, you are best off if you cut them up into smaller pieces. This helps the composting process and speeds it up. That said, the tomato will still break down if you just throw it whole into your compost pile.
Smaller cherry tomatoes can just be added whole to your compost. They will often just break down and burst. That and they are often a hassle to cut up, especially if they are soft because they are overripe and starting to go bad.
Like citrus fruit, tomatoes are acidic. Too much acidity can hurt your compost or your soil when you add the compost to it. In general, this shouldn’t be a problem unless you add too many acidic items. A few tomatoes or oranges shouldn’t hurt things. If you are concerned about the acidity or have a problem, you can add lye to your compost.
Vines are another story, though. You don’t want to add whole vines into your compost. It can create a real hassle, getting tangled up in your compost and taking a long time to break down.
To avoid these issues, you want to cut the vines into smaller pieces before adding them to your compost.
Can I Compost Tomatoes?
Yes, you can compost tomatoes. You want to be careful of disease and ensure you don’t mind volunteering plants later on from the seeds. Vines require a bit more work if you want to compost them.