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Sterilizing or pasteurizing soil?

C

carnalrekt

New member
Hey Good People,

This is my first post here. I'm hoping to start my first indoor organic grow soon using coco, vermiculite , composted lawn clippings and composted hpoo - all stuff i have lying around . The lawn clippings are well aged and full of life with random bugs running through it. Im afraid they or their eggs will cause complications with my grow later.

So im hopping to eliminate them by pasteurization the hpoo and lawn clippings before making up my mix. I have a couple of myco grow bags and a pasteurizing kettle i hope to do this in. Usually 2 hrs between 140°F-175°F does the trick for growing mushrooms without killing all the good bacteria as well.

Is this a worthwhile approach or is it overkill? should i avoid it altogether and just leave the critters be?

thanks
 
h.h.

h.h.

Active member
Veteran
The things that live off of decomposing clippings generally aren’t interested in live plants.
 
bigpeter

bigpeter

Active member
I re potted some house plants with composted farmyard manure, I now got fungus gnats and some other unknown flies buzzing around my home. I would pasteurise or bake in the oven.
 
M

Mr. J

Well-known member
If you want sterile then why not start with a sterile product? Sounds like you'd be better off with straight coco or rockwool and bottled nutrients. Killing off all the living things in the soil is kind of defeating the purpose of an organic grow. It's actually the exact opposite of a living soil. Because it's dead.
 
aridbud

aridbud

automeister
ICMag Donor
Veteran
bigpeter said:
I re potted some house plants with composted farmyard manure, I now got fungus gnats and some other unknown flies buzzing around my home. I would pasteurise or bake in the oven.
Click to expand...

^Definitely if you are going to do indoor!! We do (bake), then add alfalfa meal, earthworm castings....presto!
 
O

Organilush

Member
Mr. J said:
If you want sterile then why not start with a sterile product? Sounds like you'd be better off with straight coco or rockwool and bottled nutrients. Killing off all the living things in the soil is kind of defeating the purpose of an organic grow. It's actually the exact opposite of a living soil. Because it's dead.
Click to expand...



I was thinking the same exact thing.





.
 
T

TheGrandmaGrows

Member
Mr. J said:
If you want sterile then why not start with a sterile product? Sounds like you'd be better off with straight coco or rockwool and bottled nutrients. Killing off all the living things in the soil is kind of defeating the purpose of an organic grow. It's actually the exact opposite of a living soil. Because it's dead.
Click to expand...

I see it as a way of getting rid of unwanted organisms, to then start adding the good ones yourself from scratch. I think it can make sense. Not sure about his starting material but why risk it
 
N

Nay Hay

New member
I had russet mites in the middle of the winter and assume they came from bagged soil I bought. I decided I did not want to keep spending money on new soil only to bring in new pests. So I let the soil dry out, filled a 10 gallon cooler with the soil, then boiled many gallons of water and filled the cooler, letting it drain out the bottom until both the bottom and top measured 160F, then I sealed and let it sit overnight. Smells unpleasant. Dumped soil into bin, refilled with the next few used pots.

Of course I need to re-amend after each round but I'm using dry ingredients and bottled organic nutes with added beneficial microbes from products like Recharge.

But it's been a year without russets, so I guess it was worth it. To be on the safe side I did add predator soil mites and nematodes.
 
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