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Show Choose Carefully In Composting Not all organic material should go into your compost pile. Sherm Thomson, extension exten-sion plant pathologist, Utah State University, advises that you destroy plant material infected in-fected with the rose black spot, aspen leaf spot, or white mold and not put in in the compost. GENERALLY, rose black spot has not been a problem in Utah. Floribunda type roses have not been infected this year, but Thomson said the problem has been fairly extensive exten-sive in the wild rose types. He advises raking up the leaves and getting rid of them. He suggests the same for aspen leaf spot that has been defoliating a lot of aspen trees this year. As the leaves fall, get them out from under the trees and destroy them. Use a recommended re-commended chemical spray on the trees if the infection appears next spring. THOMSON observed that while mold has been surprisingly surpris-ingly common this year in the zinnias, marigolds, snapdragons snapdra-gons and petunias, and in vegetables such as beans, squash and pumpkins. Some people may not have recognized recog-nized the disease. Usually gardeners gar-deners notice it when the plants suddenly wilt and die. Squash that gets the white mold on it, rots quickly, Thomson Thom-son pointed out. He warns not to leave the white mold plant material in the garden not to put it in the compost. The sclerotia, tiny black, hard bodies of fungus, will survivie winter freezing in the garden and the heat of the compost pile. "IF YOU think you might have had white mold .k, justification for not putlin l' plant material in the c post," he said. c' However, Thomson 0,. that the organisms caiR,"' most other plant disea " affecting the garden, and ho-landscape ho-landscape will be destroyed the high temperatures J' 160 degrees F generated , ' compost pile that is mana J properly. He said this doe meanjustapile or organic bris left unattended TO GET GOOD compc, ing, he says it helps to add-, inch or so of soil for each of compost. Keep the maten moist and turn the mater" each month when weather remits. re-mits. Fast composting thatj. composes the organic maten' within six weeks, can accomplished by turning . compost every fewy days l |