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Post by Devon on Aug 29, 2011 17:10:51 GMT -5
Would baking soil get rid of any spores that could grow into molds and algae?
Just a thought.
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Post by Raymond on Aug 29, 2011 17:13:59 GMT -5
isn't it baking "SODA"
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Post by hal on Aug 29, 2011 17:27:47 GMT -5
I think Devon means actually baking the soil - putting it in the oven.
I imagine it would kill some spores and molds but there are so many of them in the air and on your plants that it would be pointless.
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Post by hackerberry on Aug 29, 2011 17:29:36 GMT -5
Totally agree with hal. Spores are everywhere unless to treat the soil like in TC, air tight.
hb
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Post by H2O on Aug 29, 2011 17:31:17 GMT -5
I thought about baking soil for slower growing seeds like dewy pines and Droser regia but decided it wasn't worth the trouble. If you do bake your soil let us know how it goes.
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Post by Devon on Aug 29, 2011 17:50:20 GMT -5
Hmm.
I'm going to give it a shot anyway, because I have some uncommon seeds that I don't want to take any chances with.
Thanks for the quick replies!
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Post by H2O on Aug 29, 2011 17:58:26 GMT -5
Out of curiosity what seeds are you doing this for?
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Post by Devon on Aug 29, 2011 18:10:52 GMT -5
Out of curiosity what seeds are you doing this for? D. camporupestris, D. ascendens, D. tomentosa, and D. sp. "floating". This is my first try with South Americans, and i think I need to make a new set up if I'm going to be successful.
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Post by lloyd on Aug 29, 2011 18:23:12 GMT -5
I once tried sterilizing medium. It ruined the peat and it grew weird ugly slimy stuff too. I think the heat destroyed the good soil organisms leaving an opening for bad stuff. Don't bother. Go with the beneficial fungi if you want. I still have a little bit left.
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Post by dvg on Aug 29, 2011 18:42:34 GMT -5
Baking soil is an effective way to rid the media of insects and their eggs and other noxious slithering scoundrels such as slugs, snails, fungus gnat larvae, and some harmful nematodes that enjoy nibbling on tender seedling roots.
Not to mention you'll also rid yourself the trouble of having to remove liverworts, grasses, and heather from your pots, since the baking should sterilize the seeds present in the soil.
For rare seeds, i think it's worth the extra effort to remove some of the potential hurdles in the beginning, to get off to a good clean start, at least.
dvg
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Post by Devon on Aug 29, 2011 18:51:55 GMT -5
I once tried sterilizing medium. It ruined the peat and it grew weird ugly slimy stuff too. I think the heat destroyed the good soil organisms leaving an opening for bad stuff. Don't bother. Go with the beneficial fungi if you want. I still have a little bit left. That doesn't sound good.... Maybe I should bake one batch of soil, and put it in pots in high humidity without seeds, and see how it does. If nothing forms, I will bake the rest of my soil. I'll store the seeds in the fridge for now. I'll update this thread in a month or so!
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Post by shoggoths on Aug 29, 2011 19:25:20 GMT -5
What I sometime do is boiling my soil (I put everything in the pan : sand, peat, perlite, etc.). I think that wash it in the same time. I cannot tell if it does good or wrong, I've never done a duplicate but I always sow seeds in non boiled soil too.
I've also done it with LFS. It has given me great result with cephalotus seeds preventing the sphagnum to grow much before the seeds sprouted.
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Post by robthered on Sept 8, 2011 16:48:30 GMT -5
dont cook it too much or it will break down the media and turn it into slim lol.
personally i just rise my media 3 times with distilled water. Works well.
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