Can nitrogen 'sterilize' plants?

About 30 years ago a friend attended an HSA convention and went on a side trip to (what I remember as) the NASA Ames Research Center. During the tour the guide was asked what they did to "sterlize" plants before sending them into space. The aim being to kill any insects or pathogens on a plant. As I remember he was told that they put them in a chamber filled with nitrogen gas. That bubble stuck in my brain and for some reason popped into mind today.


Would it be feasible to 'purify' a cannabis cutting of potential insects and/or pathogens by using a small chamber and filling it with consumer-available nitrogen gas? If yes - how long would you leave a small, rooted cutting in a 99.9% concentration? Any plant harm or inhibition?


Just curious is all. I hear about people purchasing cuttings only to find they are infected or infested, thought this might be a solution?

There is a difference between sterilizing seeds and sterilizing a living plant.
Our air consists of about 70% nitrogen and 20% oxygen. If you increase to concentration of N2 to 90% and decrease the concentration of O2 to 0% actively and consistently, You will create an environment that will kill all multicellular organisms. The sterilizing affect does not come from the enrichment of N2, But from the low concentration of O2. In practice you will choke all oxygen breathing living beings.

So no, This will probably not work on living plants.

anaerobic life forms don't need oxygen