Boiling Water?

[Wilbur]

My brother and I were talking about soil today and he said that he had used boiling water to sterilize soil and kill dem pests. Whada ya think? It seems to make sense. I know the consensus is to just buy soil, but some folks are really short of funds. I'm not personally thinking of growing..... just wondering

 

[RangerDanger]

Better than boiling water--just bake it.
350 F for 45 minutes will kill everything dead.
Then, after it cools, if I were you I'd add mychorrizae.

 

[Wilbur]

Better than boiling water--just bake it.
350 F for 45 minutes will kill everything dead.
Then, after it cools, if I were you I'd add mychorrizae.

Is there a specific reason why baking would be better than boiling or is that just preference? Seems that boiling would be faster, you boil and then pour over the soil. Like you said the bake takes 45min and its gotta smell really bad. And it would be alota soil, like 25-30 gallons of soil I was also wondering about bleach/water?

 

[NoDirtWeed4Me]

the difference is temperature. Try getting water to 350ºF

 

[Wilbur]

duhh! thanks

 

[Wilbur]

Ok, heres what I've decided to try. I'm gonna dump the soil on some metal siding I have layin around and build a bonfire on top of it. Then rake the ashes off, a few shouldn't hurt if I miss them. That should get the temp up there. I'll let ya know. Thanks for the input.

 

[Urdedpal]

You do realize you can buy dirt for as little as $2.00 for a 50 pound bag.

 

[Wilbur]

Yep, I know. I was looking when I went into town today. The thing is that I grew tomatoes on my deck this summer (tasty ones too) and I already have the containers and all the dirt. I also have very limited funds to spend and a wife who is my finance manager so I'm gonna use what I have. So far by scavenging I've spent a grand total of about 15 bucks. I live in the country so I have lotsa stuff to burn, including time, so why not? Thanks for the help though