Tomatoes and fall garden clean-up.

[TC_Manhattan]

I understand the safest route is to burn all residual plant stems, fruit, and debris.

What about the roots? Is it okay to lop the stem off at its base and leave roots behind like you can do with bean plants? Or will that propagate more fungi and bad stuff?

What's the best way to pull out the root mass, if that's what I need to do?

I want to make this thorough as needed, yet simple. Your thoughts are most welcome!

[ContainerTed]

Make "Green tomato relish" or "Chow Chow" out of the remaining fruit. Burn or otherwise destroy the rest. I usually wait until mid winter to burn. That allows the roots to rot away and become mostly compost in the soil.

My brother even takes the vines with the fruit still attached and hangs them up in his unfinished basement. They slowly ripen and are consumed.

[bower]

I have a compost pile designated for tomato waste, where I put any prunings, bad leaves etc all season long along with layers of kitchen scraps and other random clippings, and the tomato plants when they come down will also go into the same pile, with any luck topped off with a layer of kelp.

Next year this compost pile is designated for something other than tomatoes to grow in, just in case.

I've never had a problem with composting tomato plants. In fact, they are such a producer of biomass, which decomposes entirely in one year, the soil produced from the plant matter is a bonus as well for growing them. Peppers are trickier, the stems are too woody to rot quickly.

The only tomato material I would burn is if it was virus infected. But in that case you also need to dispose of the soil, or stop growing tomatoes there. Fungal diseases survive on plant material, but once it is rotted away, they're also gone. I'm not sure about bacterial pathogens, whether they can persist when the plant is gone? But I'm thinking, not. Virus is the one that survives in the soil without plant matter.

If you find the root ball tricky to pull, cut them off and wait a week, they will come away easily.

[Gardeneer]

I will let the roots stay and will clean up the tops and have the trash company take them away.
I don't want to compost anything even there is a small risk. Most tomato diseases around here is airborne, affecting the foliage. No soil borne problems.

Green tomatoes make the best pickle, event better than cucumbers, I think.
Other uses can be relish, salsa or fried green tomatoes.

[Worth1]

I pile mine up in the bar ditch and run over them with the lawn mower several times after they have dried out.
Roots can stay where they are.

Worth

[Ed of Somis]

Yea, we kind of had a similar chat in the container forum. It seems to me you could drive yourself nuts if you are whacked out about every germ, spore, micro-organism, and whatever. I try to cleanup somewhat at season's end...and let nature sort out the rest. We live in a germy world! Of course, I am not against better living (tomato growing) through chemicals.

[Cole_Robbie]

Originally Posted by Worth1

I pile mine up in the bar ditch and run over them with the lawn mower several times after they have dried out.

I did the same thing. It was a big pile. A couple months later I had some fun destroying the pile with the mower.

Disease problems are based on climate and are different for everyone. I tend to get blight and septoria, but rainfall is the real culprit. If it rains a lot, I have to spray. Plants laying on the ground get it the worst. Friends and neighbors who till their gardens and then have rainfall splash soil up on the plant get blight much worse than me.

[Gardeneer]

Originally Posted by Worth1

I pile mine up in the bar ditch and run over them with the lawn mower several times after they have dried out.
Roots can stay where they are.

Worth

If I did that they wont get dry til next August.
Gardeneer

[ContainerTed]

Ed, you have captured my very thoughts. I have always thought that if the critters and diseases are taking some of my plantings, then I just add a few more plants. I'm all about getting what I need for the year. I try to use a system of minimum chemicals, but I'm not shy about spraying with the compound that will surely get the job done with minimum effort.

I think we can get really paranoid about some of this stuff. Hey, work with Mother Nature and just take what you really need. If she wants a bigger cut in any particular year, then plant a few more seedlings.

I'm not into the perfect tomato. I'm into the best tomato juice.

[joseph]

At the end of the season I till the remaining tomato plants and fruits back into the field. I don't worry about phyto-sanitation at all. If I do crop rotation it's random. The more germs the better. That way I have more opportunities to select for plants next year that are resistant to my local germs.

[Zenbaas]

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

I did the same thing. It was a big pile. A couple months later I had some fun destroying the pile with the mower.

Disease problems are based on climate and are different for everyone. I tend to get blight and septoria, but rainfall is the real culprit. If it rains a lot, I have to spray. Plants laying on the ground get it the worst. Friends and neighbors who till their gardens and then have rainfall splash soil up on the plant get blight much worse than me.

Would plastic mulch not help for the spray back from the rain..? (just curious)

[Cole_Robbie]

Originally Posted by Zenbaas

Would plastic mulch not help for the spray back from the rain..? (just curious)

Yes, absolutely. I put everything on black plastic. It also helps maintain soil that is light in texture and doesn't require tilling. I planted all my plants with my fingers last spring. I didn't need a tool to dig into the ground.

[Gerardo]

I do containers and my downtime is only about 2-3 months. By the end of the long stretch practically all of the organic matter is gone. A fair amount of perlite, coir (practically intact), peat (not so much), some wood chips and stray mulch pieces are the leftovers. I pile the root balls at the base of a lemon and orange tree and let my dogs do the dirty work. A few contain worms, so I give 'em a few days to migrate.

Some gets destined to other crops/ornamentals, some gets set out under the sun for a month or thereabouts and is then recycled. Haven't noticed a discernible impact EB-wise...yet.

Growbags tossed. Rootpots washed, scrubbed, folded. Sticks/Poles/Trellises/Supports, washed/scrubbed. Concrete Mesh Cages/Running Support, nothing.

I like the clean-up, it's a chance to gather important info.

[AlittleSalt]

I pull the roots out with the plants and burn them in a pile a few hundred feet away. The green tomatoes go into a single layer in plastic aerated baskets. Then put them in a lower cool place to let them gradually ripen.

[Worth1]

I'm surprised people haven't asked me what a bar ditch was, I get that question all of the time.
Worth