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Boiling to Sterilize / Soil BBQ!

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Posted by Calgary_G 3b AB (My Page) on
Fri, Apr 15, 05 at 17:10

Won't get into the whole story right now (I'll give details later if you're interested) but basically I've got a quantity of mud which I'm using for planting aquatic house plants (arrowhead) and which is thoroughly infested with thousands of large nematodes or similar worms (transparent and up to an inch long). I need to sterilize this well enough to kill of these guys in particular and any other creepy crawlies that might be along for the ride. I don't want to use pesticides on this and due to the saturation (which I want in the end anyways) I don't think it's practical to sterilize by baking (and my microwave is not an option).

So how about adding more water and boiling the whole mess? I'd be doing it outside on the BBQ to minimize smell etc.

While we're talking about the BBQ, is it an option for sterilizing more conventional soil mixes, instead of oven-baking them? Am interested in sterilization but I'm not enthralled with the idea of baking soil in an apartment.

Any suggestions/comments appreciated.... If I get around to boiling off this mess this weekend I'll follow up with the results.

G

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RE: Boiling to Sterilize / Soil BBQ!

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Someplaces such as Hawaii take sterilizing soil very seriously so they write the proceedures in easy to follow language. The proceedures described at http://www.archaeology.hawaii.edu/handouts/soilster.htm are consistant with what I was taught at the univeristy.

Oh, BTW, I would not attempt boiling and since you probably do not have the steam equipment use the dry heat times and temperatures at the link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: hawaii.edu/handouts

  
 

 

 


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