Another way to sterilize is to boil it in a steel drum. There are 30 gallon drums in addition to the larger 55s available. One can even use electric heat that way, but an insulated jacket might be appropriate in cooler areas.
Why on earth would anyone want to sterilize compost ? The whole purpose of composting is to have the nutrients/worms and beneficial bacteria for your plants ! Sterilizing kills it ! Might as well just buy some cheap potting soil ! Composting creates its own heat if properly done ! Should not need more !
The pathogenic fungal spores and naughty bacteria and viruses injected by insects into plants as they feasted last season do not need to be coddled. They need to die. But there they are in that soon to be composted pile. It is a real stretch to even think the relatively small piles homeowner use can be sterilized. The outsides just do not get hot enough and once it get mixed up with the center the contamination re-occurs. Even so, there is a big difference between a highly contaminated pile and one of greatly reduced pathogenic activity whereby natural mycoparasitism from something like trichoderma and a plants own defenses can help normalized pathogenic risks. The good mycorrhiza you were referring to comes after the waves of heat, as the "bloom" of desireable activity is actually a feeding frenzy on the dead biology that was party to creating the higher temps in the first place. Worms and higher life forms also come to eat the bacteria and arrive later. Its all there in the soil already, so as a food source it is also easy enough to just put out sterilized organic matter. It is desirable to increase mycology in the soil, because all that pooping and eating is breaking down nutrients into plant usable forms. Still, the plants handle it pretty well on their own, since the mycology already exists in the dirt. The plant just puts out some carbon (sugars) from the roots in exchange for some fungal help to get moisture or nutrients. If it has access to nutrients and moisture already and a plant does not need the help, it wont waste the energy feeding the soil biology to have the symbiotic relationships with endo and ectomycorhizzae that we read about all the time.
@mart I was talking about sterilizing compost for starting seeds INDOORS. Otherwise I of course apply compost directly to my beds, outside pots etc. Do you take outside soil indoors to start your seeds? Or to repot your indoor plants? I have never tried that. I have trouble just putting my indoor plants out for the summer. Invariably after I bring them indoors in the fall, I have to combat various kinds of bugs....mealybugs, red spider mites, etc.
@Dirtmechanic you obviously know a lot about soil. Do you think it advisible to use outside garden soil for starting seeds indoors? Isn't that likely to cause damping off?
Oxygen content and moist rather than wet soil are a couple of reasons folks do not recommend the heavier soil for seed starting. It is certainly possible to use it, but it creates conditions that are more favorable to the fungi that cause the damping off. I was reading about someone using chicken grit and something like perlite on the surface to create an inhospitable surface for fungal spores after the seedlings broke surface. The surface area of dirt allows for more water holding that that of a seed starting mix. And those spaces then hold less air. Other forms of damping off might show up as toxicity that blunts root tip formation, so non-fertilized mediums with light and airy conditions in a soil get recommended. Those situations can occur in a garden soil since it may or may not come with fertilizer or some random minerals like an aluminum heavy clay.
I do not sterilize anything ! On the occasion that I start seeds I just use whatever I can find outside ! And thats where they are started,,outside if 60 degrees or above ! Have never had a bug problem or a damping off problem ! If you think you may have damping off just flush the soil with a betadine solution , wait a day or so then plant as usual ! That will kill any of the fungus that cause damping off ! The worst thing you can do is to stress the seedlings with temperature changes ! At least that is my theory ! Seeds will adjust to whatever conditions they are started in ! My parents never had a damping off problem nor did my grandparents,,I am 69 and have been gardening all my life ! Something I am doing must be working !
@mart that betadine tip is one of the best I have ever heard! Everybody should remember it! Betadine - Antiseptic Povidone-Iodine Solution is a 10% povidone/iodine aqueous solution that is a fast acting, broad spectrum antiseptic. Betadine kills bacteria and antibiotic resistant organisms as well as fungi, yeasts, viruses, and protozoa. It is extremely effective for disinfecting skin, mucous membranes, and wounds. Can also be used as a preoperative patient skin preparation.
Well, I have never heard of using betadine on plants. I am interested. I always have a small bottle of betadine in the first-aid box in the lottie....for there are regularly injuries. I tell my Bride that when i am treating a wound on her that a wound that has been irrigated and flushed with betadine will not become infected. This adage holds true so far...except when there is a deep splinter. Sometimes that can indeed become infected.
I promise I am going to turn some plants orange this summer. No doubt someone will inquire, and I am going to call it Marticide! I suspect I might thin it considerably at first , by a factor of 10, or even 100, and come up from there.
For a simple fungal problem I use about a tablespoon or a bit more per quart of water but I rarely measure ! I have used it on my fruit trees and in my garden as well as on my livestock for years ! That includes for rain rot on horses and any fungal problems on plants or soil ! Also used to disinfect tools when pruning or trimming garden plants ! And to treat scratches or minor cuts on you or your animals ! Just mix what you need for each application !
You are a precious treasure! I see it does not cure ! LOL forgive me I feel I have found a magic potion!
No,, It does not cure ! But it does create an acceptable environment for the plant to thrive ! It does kill fungal problems !
