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Post by Devon on Jul 10, 2009 9:55:17 GMT -5
Hey everyone, I'm going to be sterilizing a lot of soil before I order my plants from Keehn's this July. I read in a book that to sterilize soil you can heat it up in the microwave... but that would take a long time becasue I have to much soil and there isn't very much space in there. So I was wondering if I could sterilize soil by freezing it? I don't know if it would work as well as heat, but could it work? Thanks,
Devon
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Post by lloyd on Jul 10, 2009 11:40:30 GMT -5
Freezing would certainly not sterilize the soil. Also you would have to really nuke it to sterilize it-probably would have to use a 15 psi pressure cooker to kill everything. Also the soil would be quickly colonized probably by more pathogenic microbes.
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Post by Devon on Jul 10, 2009 11:54:28 GMT -5
oh...
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Post by z on Jul 10, 2009 15:45:35 GMT -5
I never tried this myself, but can you boil your soil mixture with a lot of water? It would surely kill things like millipedes and whatnot.
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Post by Devon on Jul 10, 2009 17:03:55 GMT -5
oh yeah, good idea. I wonder if I could also put it in the oven.
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Post by petmantis on Jul 10, 2009 17:09:24 GMT -5
When you say soil, i presume you mean CP soil, such as Peat or something? But why would you need to sterilize it, if the soil comes in a bale all dried up, there's no need since there are probably no insects living in it.
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Post by Devon on Jul 10, 2009 17:18:50 GMT -5
But my mom told me to mix the soild out side, also, I just like being extra careful. and my mom also told me to keep the soil in the garage, so bugs might could live in it. And yes, I meant CP soil.
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Post by canadaone on Jul 10, 2009 18:08:05 GMT -5
Devon you can sterilize soil by roasting it in the oven, but it will stink up the whole house. I am sure your mom would not appreciate that.
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Post by Devon on Jul 10, 2009 18:10:25 GMT -5
rofl, k.
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Post by lloyd on Jul 10, 2009 22:12:26 GMT -5
The bales of peat are bug free. I've never seen a bug in them even when they're outside for years.
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Post by Devon on Jul 11, 2009 9:12:11 GMT -5
oh... I guess this thread was pointless then. oops. :/
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Post by renesis on Jul 11, 2009 12:58:29 GMT -5
Well, maybe not entirely pointless.
There are lots of fungal, moss, and algae spores that you might want to remove. However, if that's your intention - you would need to pressure cook it. Heat alone won't get rid of most spores. They are pretty much bug-free though.
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Post by Devon on Jul 11, 2009 14:39:43 GMT -5
oh, thankyou. well I have no clue how to pressure cook it, so I guees I won't really do anything. Thanks for you help.
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