I personally would put the moss in the green bin not my compost. How big are your tomato plants right now?

I agree with Mg, moss doesn't rot down very well, so let the council worry about it, and I would have thought that if your toms are already in 5" pots then when they need repotting, they could go straight into their final pots, or better still into the greenhouse border, Derek.

Hi M,D, i'll do as you say and bin them ( not the compost bin of course !).
And the toms are about 6 ins tall.

AND - my knowledgeable daughter in San Diego told me to empty my 3 x 3 x3 ft compost bin out, mix it, replace it, then water it well for best results.
I did as I was told but wonder it it was really necessary ?

All I can say is we don't.

Oh dear, all that digging probably for nothing. I'm just too easily lead.

Hank,
(1) your daughter is correct ref the airing and watering of the compost bin,
Compost should be turned so the humus can get at the fresher stuff and the bottom compost will help heat up the now turned heap.

(2) Toms,
Toms are root feeders (look at the size of the roots in a grow bag and the size of a grow bag = and you'll understand why you re-pot to a bigger size before the final planting, you dont want the plant to start getting pot bound, if you have a load of roots going round in a circle when you take the plant out of its pot,!!!! you've got a root system that wont provide good size toms because the roots are not going to feed correctly,
The roots need tobe able to spread and not be a tangled mess.
Thats why all the growers and all the tomato infor books tell you to pot up a size pre final possition and why grow bags are so long in shape.

Sooooo relieved I did the right thing with the digging Dyngy. You just made my day !
And thanks for the info re- tomatoes.

Monty Don advocates mixing the lawn thatch with brown material such as shredded paper and then putting it into the compost bin. Green materials rots down better when mixed with the brown stuff.
As for Toms, I move mine as little as possible, sowing into modest sized pots (next year I shall use toilet rolls to avoid root disturbance) and then planting the seedlings (when they are ready to produce side shoots) straight into the bottomless pots sunk into grobags. As Dungy says, a good root system is important, so the less disturbance the better, in my opinion.

Thanks, Kela. I put a thin layer shredded paper fairly close to the bottom of my 3ft compost bin a year ago, and dug ir all out recently to turn it. The paper was in clumps, hardly altered whilst the rest was nicely decomposing.
No more shredded paper for me.

Zela, lawn thatch is old grass clippings that have not beeneither collected by the mower, or raked up, moss is a plant in its own right, but it does not rot down easily, so I would send it to the council recycling bin, Derek.

Derek is correct Xela in his description of 'lawn thatch' be place moss is the recycling bin. MG

I think Monty's grass may be like mine, the build up of dead grass matter contributes to the moss growth and both are raked out after the spring weed & feed treatment. It goes into my compost bin and rots down well enough, it is in there for a good six months before being used. However, I am sure moss alone is more difficult to break down.
Hank, the green and brown material decompose well when they are mixed together ... too much brown material on its own will clump and green material on its own will go slimy, yuk.

Xela we don't put any brown material in our compost and it has never yet gone slimy... I think it possibly depends on what green material you are composting.

Thanks Derek, I've only just noticed your reply about my toms. I'll do it this afternoon.