Im wondering why you have to sterilize soil? I have grown potatoes every year-rotating postions as well, and have never had any problems at all. What kind of soil did you start with?....

Hi, Snibb. To answer your question, Wisconsin had a statewide epidemic of early blight in 2010 (a very wet summer!), and my tomatoes got it from my neighbor's tomatoes and then passed it on to my potatoes growing in their bin. So that contaminated the soil in the bin. It is a mix of Perlite, vermiculite, peat moss, and Miracle Gro potting soil -- with sulfur added to get the pH down to around 5.5 where potatoes prefer it. I intend to try again next year in the same bin, so I will sterilize this soil rather than pay to replace it. Early potatoes growing in another growbox in the front yard didn't get the blight -- just those in the bin near the blighted tomatoes in our back yard. Best to you.

Thanks for the answer...hmmmm....never heard of that before. It sure doesnt sound like much fun though...hope your able to get it cleaned up...

If you are OG the spray is out.
You could till it on a hot day & put clear plastic over it.
This will sterilize the soil.
Sterilize: kill everything, good stuff to, not the compost, but the good bugs.
Turning the soil every 10 days in the Summer will kill nematodes without clear plastic, but do not know about blight.

Everthing I've read from ag. schools says that it takes 180 deg x 30 minutes to sterilize soil. I don't think the boiling water does this.