Soil Sterilization
 

Greetings all,

I was thinking of re-using some soil I'm had accumulating in a 60gall drum.
My main concern is that of any fungi or others pathogens that may be lurking
in this mix. Any ideas on how to sterilize this soil (it is much too
valuable to throw out). I've heard of ovens being used, was wondering if a
microwave was up to the job. This soil is comprised of 60/20/20 pine bark,
coarse river sand and lava rock respectively.

Any suggestions would be as usual - greatly appreciated :)

Martin

Soil Sterilization
 

Oh man, don't cook it in the house!

I use deep, old baking pans or the aluminum kind you buy for turkeys this
time of year and do it over a wood or charcoal fire on the grill.

I have never in my life smelled anything worse than baking dirt...and I was
"chief dishwasher and bathroom cleaner" in a restaurant for my first job!

Ugh...bad, nasty, gives me the shivers just thinking about it. Are you
married? Do that once a week and you won't be for long!

luck to you,
John
in Houston

"Martin" wrote in message ...
Greetings all,

I was thinking of re-using some soil I'm had accumulating in a 60gall
drum.
My main concern is that of any fungi or others pathogens that may be
lurking
in this mix. Any ideas on how to sterilize this soil (it is much too
valuable to throw out). I've heard of ovens being used, was wondering if a
microwave was up to the job. This soil is comprised of 60/20/20 pine bark,
coarse river sand and lava rock respectively.

Any suggestions would be as usual - greatly appreciated :)

Martin

Soil Sterilization
 

You can tell Jim is still in Florida with his description of soil
solarization....

It should be called soil pasteurization, because the temperatures
reached will kill pathogenic organisms, but not thermophiles (the kind
of heat-tolerant bacteria that accumulate in composted material). It
is a technique used commercially in Israel, California and Florida.
All of which have hot summers.

We tried soil solarization in our fields on Long Island, with horrible
results: our clear plastic was difficult to anchor and the wind kept
blowing it away or tattering it. Long Island can't support early
summer solarization (with mid-summer planting of crops like spinach or
squash) because the summer doesn't get really hot until July and
August. So the temperatures under the plastic were nowhere near as hot
as they ought to have been.

So anyway, Martin, your easiest course of action is to let the soil dry
out. That will kill most of the pathogens.

One of my research goals is to find a way to clean up potting mix from
contamination by the "sudden oak death" pathogen. So check back with
me in, oh, 10 years and see what I've come up with.

Nina.

Soil Sterilization
 

Thanks to all that replied to the my initial query - both those posts that
made it through to r.a.b and those that didn't. Next stop - lsoft.com to
read ALL the posts :P

Martin

"Nina" wrote in message
oups.com...

You can tell Jim is still in Florida with his description of soil
solarization....

It should be called soil pasteurization, because the temperatures
reached will kill pathogenic organisms, but not thermophiles (the kind
of heat-tolerant bacteria that accumulate in composted material). It
is a technique used commercially in Israel, California and Florida.
All of which have hot summers.

We tried soil solarization in our fields on Long Island, with horrible
results: our clear plastic was difficult to anchor and the wind kept
blowing it away or tattering it. Long Island can't support early
summer solarization (with mid-summer planting of crops like spinach or
squash) because the summer doesn't get really hot until July and
August. So the temperatures under the plastic were nowhere near as hot
as they ought to have been.

So anyway, Martin, your easiest course of action is to let the soil dry
out. That will kill most of the pathogens.

One of my research goals is to find a way to clean up potting mix from
contamination by the "sudden oak death" pathogen. So check back with
me in, oh, 10 years and see what I've come up with.

Nina.