Broadback wrote:
Thought I would make my own compost for my tubs and save a bit of money.
However is there a practical way of sterilising fairly large amounts,
say about the amount that large shop bought bags contain?

I've heard that one way to do this is to use a steam generator (such as a
wallpaper stripper) to force the steam through the compost. No idea if it
works, or how much steam you would need for it to be fully effective.

I must say that I've often wondered about the necessity of using sterilised
soil. I guess that if you are trying to germinate seeds, then sterilised
soil has the advantage that what comes up is what you have sown, rather than
a lot of weeds. But in terms of sterilisation to remove bacteria and fungi,
well, perhaps it does more harm than good. Many plants require - or at
least make use of - certain fungi to enable healthy growth. If those are
not present the plant will struggle. Perhaps try using unsterilised compost
and put it in a propagator for a month before you put your seeds in. You
could then pull up anything which germinates, or grows from a piece of root,
before putting in your seeds.

--
Jeff