On Mon, 31 Jan 2005 00:14:30 -0500, "madgardener"
wrote:


"HaHaHa" wrote in message
...
From: Phisherman


On Sun, 30 Jan 2005 16:24:56 GMT, "Brigitte"
wrote:

I have a very large bag of Miracle Gro potting soil that's been sitting
on
my porch all (Nebraska) winter.

Is it still OK to use? I have a few houseplants that need transplanting
into larger pots and wondered if it would be alright to use this potting
soil.

Thanks in advance.

Brigitte


It should be okay, provided it was kept closed so bugs could not crawl
into it. If you want to make sure, bake the soil at 275 F for an
hour.

Serves what, 12? :-)

depending on the servings, and amount left in the bag..........but seriously
for a moment........baking the soil for an hour at 275o will make SUCH a
stink.........and it's MIRACLE GRO soil, it has FERTILIZERS and TIME release
substances. She'll render those down to useless. Like Ann said, it's
probably frozen, so bring it into the garage or kitchen or utility room to
thaw,wherever you're going to pot these plants up at, and check for bugs,
and pot those houseplants up with no problem. The shock of fresh soil will
make them nuts and since it's Miracle Gro soil, the time release nutrients
will start them in an early spurt of growth. Me? I'd top dress the plants
at the end of February or mid March.

I understand the need or desire to pot up houseplants right now though. It's
the only way with winter going on outside to get our hands into the soils
until true spring. I do it myself all the time. But please, I suggest you
DON'T bake that soil. If it were just plain stuff, maybe. But it's been
altered and you risk causing the ingredients they put into the soil to be
destroyed and defeating the purpose of it being "Miracle Gro "soil". Not to
mention the stink that will be caused once the stuff heats up............

madgardener who sterilized soil in a microwave once and it took several
sticks of incense, some Lysol room deodorizer and open doors in the middle
of a wintery blast to rid the house of the smell, and it still had a
lingering odor for weeks afterwards (not to mention I had to clean the
microwave with bleach twice before ridding the thing odor free. Can you
imagine what the first batch of popcorn smelled like when I discovered after
cleaning the oven once that it wasn't quite nuked stinky soil free smell
yet? euwwwww live and learn)



I've had no problems baking soil. It does cause an odor, but it is
not objectionable and it dissipates quickly all on its own. It does
not linger and has a slightly caramel-earthy odor. Baking does
destroy the bacteria, but there's plenty microbes around to inoculate
the soil immediately after cooling.