thepitchergrower wrote:thepitchergrower wrote:Boil some water. Probably is best to use distilled or rain. Pour it on your soil. Let it sit until it is cool enough to touch.
This is not actually sterilization. But it gets rid of Fungus gnats, Mold spores, Moss spores. That kind of bad stuff.
Actually, that is sterilization. Pouring 200+ degree water through it will kill any spores, critters, or microbes in it. The problem is that the media is not kept in a sterile environment after that, so it can pick up baddies again quickly. However, like someone else noted, that will accelerate the breakdown of the media, and could quickly leave you in a worse position than had you not done anything to begin with.
The best suggestion I had heard, many moons ago, was to just go with it as is. Maybe rinse it with distilled or rain water to wash out any potential minerals that may be there (peat and perlite), and watch it. If you start to grow some light, grey, fuzzy mold, that's pretty normal as long as it stays light. If you suddenly experience a big outbreak of mold early on, then steam the next batch by getting it moist and microwaving it in a microwave safe dish until at least 165 degrees. This will kill all critters and microbes and most mold spores, but will not degrade the media as much as 200+ degree water. Allow it to cool before you handle it. You'll probably still experience some mold/fungus and critters, but it should be manageable.
Everything happens for a reason. Sometimes the reason is that I make bad decisions.
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