Thank you for helping me out! What do you smell when sterilizing soil - Ammonia? Magnesium? Nitrogen? OR???
None of the above...use a kitchen stove :). Leave the windows open & fans on...It smells pretty bad. I think it's easier to buy it if you have the moolah, or just use soil from the a relatively "clean" garden mixed with pumice, sand & compost for required consistency/drainage for the budget approach (that's me). Soil is inherently an organic stew. You want sanitation? Grow hydroponically. What do you want to use the soil for? gb.
It is one of the questions on the Trades Production Horticulturist exam that I obviously did not know. I think it's Ammonia - but not sure and terribly curious. Thank you for your input - it is MUCH appreciated :o)
Ammonia??? You'll end up with nitrogen-rich soil at some point, for sure. I think there may be some basic fact-gathering needed here. Ammonia is used, I think, for cleaning surfaces in horticultural facilities somtimes. Certainly commercial horiculture relies on sterilized soil to limit the psread of diseaes & pests. I used to cook it for a greenhouse operation years ago. gb
Found it! Sterilizing soil destroys soil structure and releases Ammonium-N & amino acids. Now I can go to bed - thank you gb for making dig deeper into this, I feel much better! LS
