Sous vide dirt

[Munson]

Got tired of fungus gnats in my seedlings’ soil and the grow tent so decided to sous vide the soil this year, lol!
180 degrees for 30 minutes.
We’ll see how it turns out.

 

[chopsaw]

Interesting. Wondering if you could poke holes in it and plant the seeds .

 

[Steve H]

Neat idea. But did it harm the normal nutrients found in the soil? Either way 1 point for creativity.

 

[indaswamp]

That should kill any fungus gnat larva in the soil...like for creativity....

And thanks for the reminder...I need to order seeds. And Calabrian hot and mild chili peppers are on the list!!! For my salami!!

 

[Munson]

Neat idea. But did it harm the normal nutrients found in the soil? Either way 1 point for creativity.

Actually, some folks will heat the soil in the oven—I’d rather not stink up my kitchen.
Temps around 180 or so are fine.

Temps above 200 may release toxins from the soil.

 

[Munson]

Interesting. Wondering if you could poke holes in it and plant the seeds .

Probably not for seed starting—at least for me as I grow around 15 pepper varieties and need them to grow individually.

However, some folks will cut holes in 2 cu. ft. garden soil bags and plant things like herbs with shallow root systems into them.

 

[chopsaw]

Probably not for seed starting—

I was just wondering . My son does a lot of container plants . Mostly flowers . He has a heavy mil bag with slits . He puts soil and seeds in it . Lays down 'til they start to grow , then it hangs . Vines out and flowers .
I like the garden soil bag idea . I think I'll do that in the spring . If I live that long .

 

[DanMcG]

I do aluminum pans of dirt in my electric smoker. cover with alum foil, heat at 180-200 till internal temp is 160. never had a bug problem since I started that.

 

[indaswamp]

I like that Dan...You've just given my old gen 1 MES a new purpose! Dirt sanitizer!

 

[Winterrider]

I'm kinda on Steve's wagon, would that not basically kill all the other nutrients? No idea ?

 

[Munson]

I'm kinda on Steve's wagon, would that not basically kill all the other nutrients? No idea ?

No

 

[Munson]

Here are some pics of my pepper plants.
So far so good.

Aji fantasy
Mustard habanero
Chocolate habanero
Tabasco
Sugar rush peach
7 pot chaguana

Munson

 

[Winterrider]

Wow, looking good !

 

[Fueling Around]

Sorry i missed this
College buddy is a plant geneticist and University professor.
He recommends spreading moist potting soil on a pan and baking until 200°