Compost

Question

Hi,
When I was clearing my compost to sieve I found 3 cigarette butts at the bottom of the pile. These came down along with the dry leaves I got from the building maintenance guys for the compost. They were not broken down at all. But it got me worried. It was wet compost. What should I do? I’ve thrown the cigarette butts away but worried about the rest of the compost.
Thanks,
Poojitha
PS: I don’t have photos.

Answer 1

This is a concern. It isn't very likely, but it is possible to contaminate the pile with tobacco mosaic virus. Many plants can be affected by this. As long as the pile was correctly maintained, and the temperatures stayed warm in the pile then any bad bacteria will have been killed off.

I would test it on one plant before I used it for more than that.