Sterilizing my soil

[bobbyblaze]

sterilizing soil only works for small amounts; like for starting seeds... anything more and you need summer heat over 90+ f and some black poly... put ur bag of soil on the ground... cover with the poly and let bake... solarization i think it's called... look it up but it don't work unless its really really hot outside

for pasteurization just throw some soil in a paint strainer bag in a 5gal bucket and cover with boiling water; let sit for 90 mins and you're set... takes a lot of heat to make 5gals of water boil though and u can only get so much soil in a strainer bag so it probably wouldn't work for the amount ur talking about... but for seedlings and whatnot its golden

look into merit75 wp... that'll work if gnatrol wdg doesn't... the mosquito dunks can b hit & miss depending on how old they r and how they're used... people seem to have the best luck crumbling them as a top dressing for the plants as opposed to leaving in the res or just soaking and watering in with... spraying the surface of the soil with neem doesn't hurt either... but if those don't kill the bugs than u might have root aphids and nothing but imidacloprid kills em

Well, I took 1 bag and put it into 4 different baking pans, and put them in the oven at 180 for 12 hours.. So if that doesnt do it, When I get some $$ Im switching to Ebb&Grow

 

[opt1c]

hope it didn't smell too much

 

[carbonskeleton]

I am just not a fan of sterilizing soil at all. Get some diaotomaceous earth and sprinkle on top of soil after you pot them or spray with a safe pesticide. For fungus gnats I just let the top of the soil dry before watering again and it has worked great for me. My point is to deal with the bugs rather than destroy the soil microbiology. When you heat the soil you are going to harm or even wipe-out all those beneficial microbes that make soil so good. Good luck.

While letting the soil dry does help keep fungus gnats down another great method is putting mosquito dunks since the bacteria will also attack the fungus gnat larva.

 

[bobbyblaze]

hope it didn't smell too much

Oh it does stink.. Pretty bad actually, but hoping its worth it..

 

[shuswap]

what about placing bags in a deep freeze for say a month ?

 

[gdbud]

They say for soil it only has to be heated to 180 degrees for 30 minutes.. I think 11 gallons of dirt will take way longer than 30 minutes,

That would be 30 minutes after the center of the bag reached 180 degrees.

 

[beejium]

i meant all the lil soil critters. sorry for not being clear. i would use some of that soil to start a worm bed to get some life back to the "sterilized" soil, don't forget the inoculates. personally i hate baking soil, it stinks and kills nearly everything in the soil. it could possibly break down some of the unknown stuff in the soil and release toxins. personally if i thought the soil was that bad i would probably compost it outside and start over with lc's mix instead.

 

[beejium]

what about placing bags in a deep freeze for say a month ?

it takes more than that to kill some eggs.

 

[facelift]

Oven Method- Spread soil not more than four inches deep in non-plastic containers, such as seed flats, clay pots and glass or metal baking pans. Cover each container tightly with aluminum foil. Insert a meat or candy thermometer through the foil into the center of the soil. Set the oven between 180° and 200° F. Heat the soil to at least 180° F; keep at this temperature for 30 minutes. Do not allow the temperature to go above 200° F. High temperatures may produce plant toxins. After heating, cool, remove containers from the oven and leave aluminum foil in place until ready to use. The heated soil will give off an odor.

Microwave Oven Method-You also can sterilize soil in a microwave. Microwave soil for 90 seconds per kilogram (2.2 pounds) on full power. Don't use metal containers and aluminum foil when using a microwave. Two methods suggested by others are:

1. Fill clean, quart-size plastic containers with very moist soil, perlite or cutting medium. Check the rims of the containers to make sure there is no aluminum of any kind because some yogurt containers come with a foil seal. Use clean plastic yogurt containers with lids on for sterilizing soil. This is done using a temperature probe inside a carousel-type microwave oven, heating to 200F and holding that temperature with the digital oven program for 20 minutes. Poke a hole through the plastic lids with a nail for steam ventilation. The temperature probe goes half way down into the soil through this hole in one of the containers. In a large microwave, up to 7 quart containers can be sterilized at a time, making this a very efficient way to heat sterilize soil. Allow to cool and tape over the hole in the lid to keep sterile until ready to use.

2. Place approximately 2 pounds of moist soil in a polypropylene bag. Leave the top open and place in the center of a microwave oven. Treat for 2½ minutes on full power of about 650 watts. After treatment close the top of the bag and allow the soil to cool before removing.


http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/CoopExt/4DMG/Soil/sterile.htm

 

[reckon]

I'm the sort of person that thinks he can fix anything (see my sig)

I'd personally go for the solution of NOT HAVING TO STERILIZE in the first place.

I have been purchasing FF soils (red bag, OF, & LW) for better than 2 years now, I crop every 3 to 4 months, depending on strain, so almost 8 runs with it, and I have yet to find a bug in it. I get my bags from two "hydro store" locations, one actually places the bags in a big walkin refer, and pumps in co2 for a week, then sells it to make sure they didn't pick up gnats, mites or thrips along the way, the other is just so dang busy, they turn a pallet every couple of weeks anyway, so new stuff is always coming in.

can you purchase your soil somewhere else?,....because I can tell you FF soils are NOT full of bugs, but they can GET that way, if the store has them outside in pallets sitting around for months at a time , as there are tiny vent hols in all the bags, perfect for mommy bug to crawl in and set up shop. (like when I buy pro-mix from a box box store)

I sterilized soil once in an oven like was described by ed rosenthal, and yes it stunk, no it didn't kill ALL of the critters, and yes, it destroyed the soils life support qualities

I'll never do that again (bet you don't either)

there HAS to be another solution to your problem, seriously

 

[bcell]

Do not worry about. I have been using Foxfarm Ocean Forest soil for 10 years - cannot say I have ever seen a bug. There may have been - never noticed. Always get great results.

Sterilizing soil is bad - kills beneficial organisms. Big waste of time - screwing with nature. You might as well get Pro Mix which I do not really consider soil.