To bake or not to bake soil killing unsavory pathogens?

[aridbud]

http://www.colostate.edu/Dept/CoopExt/4dmg/Soil/sterile.htm

Learned from my great grandmother...she steamed (burlap bags) soil then introduced worms later and beneficial mulch to soil.
Amish friends have used similar techniques to their soil.

Been an organic gardener countless decades, grew in greenhouses a good 20+ yrs. (cannabis and veggies/herbs). Cannabis grower, using compost/soil outdoors for 43 yrs.

When pests/soil diseases present themselves, I've baked soil in oven, ridding them, then introduced organic matter, mycorrhizal to the mix, building back soil. Both for outdoor/indoor grows.

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/bake-soil-kill-pathogens-46218.html

After earning my master's degree...I took a few grow seasons off from demanding career working in a commercial greenhouse operation and learned tricks of sterile soil treatment to be reused adding amendments. (See CO state link....owner used techniques mentioned) Great therapy, learning curve.

Question:

Do you guys bake/sterilize soil? If so, what additives do you add to the mix after inopportune pathogens are in the soil.

If not why? Do you dump soil?

Realize there are healthy pathogenic parts to organic soil, yet wondering if you follow sterile and rejuvenation.

Interested in responses.

 

[Otto Flour]

I have used the oven to pasteurize re recycled soil is the past, but it's just kind of messy to have all that dirt in the kitchen, so I just pour boiling water into 5 gallon buckets of soil and cover them now. I always add compost and mycorrhizae afterwards. I really only do it for germination and seedlings and don't worry about it as much after the early stages of the plant's life.

 

[aridbud]

I have used the oven to pasteurize re recycled soil is the past, but it's just kind of messy to have all that dirt in the kitchen, so I just pour boiling water into 5 gallon buckets of soil and cover them now. I always add compost and mycorrhizae afterwards. I really only do it for germination and seedlings and don't worry about it as much after the early stages of the plant's life.

Interesting! Yeah, Soil can be baked by having it covered (dampened) sheets. Some use tarps for large areas. You're right....oven baking...messy.

 

[sprinkl]

I haven't done it before but I've had caterpillars 2 years ago at a certain spot and this year I grew broccoli there and there must have been hundreds on a couple of broccoli plants. It's my most productive spot as it has most hours of light and well worked soil so I've been thinking about putting a cover over it to kill off some caterpillars... I suppose you need to mix the soil a couple of times throughout the covering process as it will only kill bugs in a few cm's of soil this way?

 

[aridbud]

We bake, then re-introduce the good pathogens and ingredients for living soil. Having to deal with botrytis, bugs....haven't had problems baking soil, adding elemental amendments back into the soil.

 

[Adze]

aridbud,

A small point, I think microbial herd or some other term might be closer to what you're referring to...

pathogen noun:

any disease-producing agent, especially a virus, bacterium, or other microorganism.

 

[aridbud]

aridbud,

A small point, I think microbial herd or some other term might be closer to what you're referring to...

pathogen noun:

any disease-producing agent, especially a virus, bacterium, or other microorganism.

Yep, my mistake. Was thinking bacteria....like in the gut....good and bad. Not pathogens...you are correct.

 

[sprinkl]

Well, in the microherd we want there most likely are pathogens towards micro organisms that are themselves pathogens towards our beloved plants, and in this way effectively protecting it.

 

[EssentialGround]

proper aeration and the right inoculants and you shouldnt have much to worry about .. That is provided you have the proper cation/anion balance in your medium.

 

[the gnome]

if your plan is to sterilize soil shoot for 180F(internal soil temps) for 30min.
to pasturize 160F for 30min will kill all bugs, weedseeds, eggs etc etc.
I use to pasturize my casings and dung substrates for my mycological endeavours.
there's a fair to large amount of work involved in doing it unless you have 5-10gal to do,

sterilizing/pasturizng your soil is ok for small amts,
for larger amts it is very time consuming unless you have a commercial autoclave.

for most cases its easier to buy new soil imho

 

[Weird]

Normally you are better suited fighting fire with fire instead of wiping the slate clean and I feel it should be part of the organic mantra that organic growers should seek to balance nature with itself before we attempt to recreate it.

Infestations of any sort are invited by imbalance, and also it is easier to balance a system than to start from scratch, most especially ecologically. This is how evolution worked up until the industrial revolution.

 

[Manastasis]

Normally you are better suited fighting fire with fire instead of wiping the slate clean and I feel it should be part of the organic mantra that organic growers should seek to balance nature with itself before we attempt to recreate it.

Infestations of any sort are invited by imbalance, and also it is easier to balance a system than to start from scratch, most especially ecologically. This is how evolution worked up until the industrial revolution.

Wierd makes a great point here. In healthy living soil the microbiology network keeps everything in balance, preventing pathogens from gaining much of a foothold, even thogh they may be present. Solarizing then innoculating with microbiolgy is a good place to start if recycling your soil and want to start clean, but it can take many months to build it up into a healthy, living, balanced situation. To cook it between every round can be a step back if building an organic living soil. Feed da dirt, cause it does more than feed your plants. The more the soil matures the better it gets...