Home made Soil Sterilizer

[davyp1]

From time to time I do like to make my own John Innes composts.
But being honest, I do hate having to spend the time it takes weed-pulling from the pots/seed trays.
If anyone has made their own sterilizer, I would love to hear about it.
Using a kettle element has gone through my mind; but building something in the garden that needed
a little wood fire would not be a problem either!

Cheers & thanks in anticipation.

davyp1

[wine~o]

I just buy compost @ £ 3.75 for 75 litres ???

[davyp1]

Well I can't deny that's a good rate wine-o. but there is a satisfaction of making your own.
Besides you would need hell of a lot of your shop bought bags to pot up fifty-odd Chrysanthemums!
Besides, when you have made it you know whats in it!

Get your thinking cap on mate, how can I make one?

davyp1

[Someone-Else]

Only a guess, but I would guess wine~O is saying its cheaper to buy it than to make it.
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I am not a gardener, to me it grows or dies, (assuming I planted it) so I for one am not sure what you are trying to do. I note you mention kettle element, do you just want to heat a bunch of soil? or will exposing it to UV help? (Like I said, I don't know) Could you expand on what you actually want to do / are thinking of

[steviejoiner74]

I agree with wine-o,it's cheap as chips so not really worth the hassle. If you've plenty farms nearby you'll get plenty free sh....wait a minute,don't want to offend,manure for free

[Someone-Else]

As I understand it, you can't use manure to grow plants in, you have to let it rot over several years, or you can add it as a layer for "food"
And what if like me, there are no farms nearby, and horse poop (from a stables) sure does stink.

(But I do agree with you stevejoiner74 / wine~O about cost)

[Rorschach]

Well rotted compost made in a dark container should really suffer from weeds. Any seeds will try and germinate, fail and then rot before being to reproduce again. We have never suffered from weeds with our homemade compost. We don't use ours for potting, its a bit coarse we find, instead we dig it into the greenhouse beds every year.

As for nutrient, if you can't get well rotted manure, a home wormery is cheap and easy to maintain and even a tiny one will produce several litres of liquid manure each year which is superb added to your watering can.

[davyp1]

Only a guess, but I would guess wine~O is saying its cheaper to buy it than to make it.
__________________________________________________________________________________

I am not a gardener, to me it grows or dies, (assuming I planted it) so I for one am not sure what you are trying to do. I note you mention kettle element, do you just want to heat a bunch of soil? or will exposing it to UV help? (Like I said, I don't know) Could you expand on what you actually want to do / are thinking of

The soil component has to be subjected to very high temperatures for a minimum of an hour. he most obvious way to do this is to contain the soil so steam is passed through it constantly for that period.
That using a kettle element is the easiest way to achieve it.

Never thought about UV help?

Perhaps an empty 5 gall drum with a kettle element fitted at the bottom and a small ledge half way down for a close meshed basket containing the soil to sit on?
The top of the drum perhaps replaced with a close fitting lid and a small hole to release the steam.

Perhaps we are nearly there!

The other components are leaf-mould; sharp sand & chemical fertiliser. None of these require heat treatment.

[Someone-Else]

Well now I know.

My thoughts.

The source material will need to be spread out over a wide area to allow it to be "steamed evenly" (or the material closest to the steam will be "boiled" and that above "slightly dampened"

Taking the above, if you said 5cm deep max, and to get something useful you would need an area of 100cm x 100cm and also a container underneath to keep water in.

You then need to heat the water to create steam, lets say that the water container is taller than 5cm but is full to 5cm.

You heat the water with a couple of kettle elements and the steam passes through the source material job done.

If only it is that simple.............

You can't build anything from timber as the steam will warp it, like wise plastic. So what will you use?
You also need a large supply of water.
The average kettle element is 3kw BUT you could use a washing machine element as its bigger in size and only 2kw, but you will probably need two in order to get steam

Costs.
Tank / holder no idea what so ever.

Electricity 20p (approx) / kwh 2 heaters will be 80p an hour + time to get to boiling point

Heating elements £25 each

Summary
Yes its a great idea you have, but no matter how you do it, although great fun / sense of achievement even with B & Q prices, buying it in will be cheaper. A UV lamp may work but you would need to have a very thin layer of material and constantly move it.

Sorry to say but the only other thing that springs to mind is a compost maker. (But it does take a few months to do its thing)

[BrettGH]

I heard this on BBC R4 G Q T years ago. Use a Microwave oven
Now their cheap as chips for a 900W and less bother than trying steam.

[boxedin]

putting your damp compost mix in a black bin liner with a drawstring top in a sunny place will cause it to heat up on top of the heat created by the bacterial activity that should be enough to cook it and destroy seeds

Dont leave weeds to go to seed before you deal with them and then put them on the compost bin weed before they have seeded as soon as you seed weeds flowering hoe them out and get them on the compost heap

Horse manure contains thousands of seeds as the seeds just pass through

Keep compost covered up so that wind born seeds don't lodge there like dandelion, rose bay willow herb


I am cooking chopped up leaves and grass clippings at the moment on the allotment in a couple of bin bags as a trial to see what and how much I get I also use chopped up leaves as a mulch to keep down weeds as well as grass clippings doesn't stop couch, creeping buttercup and marestail though unfortunately

I spend about £40 a year on compost at the moment the last lot was wickes own brand compost 70 litres not bad for the money a bit of woody material but no amenity green material in it
Not badly priced on 3 for 2. Also use Jacks Magic for seeds but I am finding a lot of stones and clay material in it for some reason so has to be sieved get it for £4.50 for 60l from allotment shop
others recommend clover for seed starting but its a bit pricy and difficult to get hold of

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/kill-weed- ... 04263.html

[davyp1]

I heard this on BBC R4 G Q T years ago. Use a Microwave oven
Now their cheap as chips for a 900W and less bother than trying steam.

Hi BrettGH,
Can you remember how long they recommended to microwave the soil for?

[BrettGH]

Sozz no - it was back in the days of Clay Jones IIR - an he went in '96.
Try these

Sterilizing Soil with a Microwave Another option to sterilize soil is to use the microwave. For the microwave, fill clean microwave-safe containers with moist soil — quart size with lids are preferable (no foil). Add a few ventilation holes in the lid. Heat the soil for about 90 seconds per every couple pounds on full power. Note: Larger microwaves can generally accommodate several containers. Allow these to cool, placing tape over the vent holes, and leave until ready to use. Alternatively, you can place two pounds of moist soil in a polypropylene bag. Put this in the microwave with the top left open for ventilation. Heat the soil for 2 to 2 1/2 minutes on full power (650 watt oven). Close the bag and allow it to cool before removing.

Read more at Gardening Know How: Tips To Sterilize Potting Soil, Garden Soil And Soil For Seeds
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden ... g-soil.htm

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/microwave- ... 48342.html


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[davyp1]

Well now I know.

My thoughts.

Sorry to say but the only other thing that springs to mind is a compost maker. (But it does take a few months to do its thing)

The word 'COMPOST' has got a few different interpretations which can confuse! Generally as follows:-

• Multi Purpose Compost - Supermarket or garden centre (usually peat substitute and quite coarse)
  Compost - The rotting down of garden clippings & mowings etc plus all kitchen waste. Resultant Compost used for top dressing etc.
  John Ines Compost - A soil based compost comprising of Sieved soil + Sharp sand + Leaf mould + Fertiliser. Their are 3 different types called No1 - No2 - No3. Each has a different formula and a different use.

You can buy John Ines at garden centres, usually about £7 a bag

davyp1

[boxedin]

What about steralizing the soil with a flame gun like the Sheen x300 that reaches temps of upto 2000deg C and you don't need to have electricity available where you are gardening

You could also solarize the soil in situ with the weather being so good
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden ... e-soil.htm