Composting Poisonous Plants

Does anyone know if you can put poisonous plants in the compost? Or in the garden bin? I have an aconitum that I want to get rid of.

 

I'd put it in the council green bin if you have one as their 'hot' process would kill it stone dead.

Alternatively, you could drowse it in weed killer or just leave it in a receptacle to die down naturally, it should be okay then. It is adviseable of course not to touch the roots without gloves on.

 

Thank you @lizzie27. Isn't it still poisonous when it's dead?

 

Yes - you can put aconite into the compost bin.
Just be careful when doing it, and don't go poking around in the compost bin with bare hands for a few weeks.
The fungi, bacteria etc will break down the toxins into nutrients for your plants.
It will take longer in the winter to break down than in the summer as composting slows down in colder temps.
Or just put it in your green waste bin.

 

Lots of poisonous stuff goes into my compost bin.
When you think about it a good percentage of garden plants are considered toxic, but I'm pretty sure it breaks down in the composting process.
Laurel hedge cuttings and yew are two I get a lot of.
Laburnum prunings you name it I just put it in the compost.

 

My Aconitum stems get dumped in the compost heap every autumn and I'm still pretty much alive after a couple of decades. Wash hands after handling and done for next year.
After 6 to 12 months in the compost heap I doubt if I could find a recognisable piece of aconitum even if I wanted to; I wouldn't recommend eating the compost anyway.
Like Pete above; all sorts of poisonous plant bits go into my compost bin.
If you are concerned then the council greenwaste bin is the way to go.

 

Thank you all.

 

While I doubt that such compounds will survive, if you are concerned then why not have a seperate compost for 'nasties', or use the compost you create for non edible crops, mulch for shrubs. I use a seperate bin for evergreen prunings, persistent weeds, woody bits too large for shredding. It all breaks down eventually. Just sieve it out occasionally (biennially ), return larger bits for next time ....
On a happier note, ''2-5mg is a fatal dose, it is difficult to diagnose at postmortem, and rarely kills in Western society, as other causes of heart rhythm disorder are found.''

 

Nature doesnt make many chemicals that arent biodegradable, because eventually it would build up and something would evolve to eat it. This goes for most chemical poisons, though elemental poisons like arsenic can be problematic.

Plants filter chemicals into their body quite finely, but metals are sufficiently tiny traces can get absorbed by accident. Some plants do this more than others, and are actually being used to mine heavy metal contamination out of soils (by burning the crop after and burying the ashes below the bedrock).