Baking soil?

digitS'

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It's this balance of life that I am hoping for.

Infected seed? That sparrow, that showed up on the deck and ate some of my tomato seed - what was he carrying? I don't want a sterile environment for the plant starts but, yes, the organisms are both cooperating and competing. My bet is that there is a great deal of competition but that with some of the life, the seedlings can both tolerate it as neighbors and some, gain benefits. Some of the activities, the seedlings will just shrug off because of their youthful vigor, others may well overwhelm them.

I'm a believer in the benefits (& risks) of fresh air and sunshine. That's part of the reason I'm happy to have the little backyard greenhouse. And, I'm happily willing (nearly ;)) to put up with the attention it requires during the spring.

I wish that there was some magic elixir that I could spray over the plants to establish them within a balance of life that would benefit them. Perhaps there is but I will treat any news on it with skepticism. However, until some great drama occurs in my kitchen, South Window or greenhouse - I will rely on experience. Dearly earned, I might claim but, really, I haven't had many problems with plant starts. Probably, there has been lots of dumb luck involved.

I'll say something about my limited experience with cuttings. Good Heavens. I'm injuring the plant! An open wound ... antiseptic, bandage, sterilized environment!! No, I have to allow for the cuttings' life processes ... I have used either sterile starting mix or 100% perlite with my cuttings (along with rooting hormone). Worked! In about 9 outta 10 experiments. And, that's what they amounted to, crude experiments that mostly turned out okay.

Steve
 

YourRabbitGirl

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Ummm... I've never heard of people baking their soil before. Is that a thing people actually do?

Saw this on Facebook in a gardening group.

View attachment 35176
A variety of methods, including solarization, fungicides, fumigation and heat, are used to remove soilborne pathogens commercially. For home gardeners who need to extract pathogens from a small amount of soil, baking in the oven is an efficient technique and the soil is safe to plant as soon as it cools.
 

Ridgerunner

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in growing things i find that some fungi will not harm a growing plant at all.

Eloquently said. But we're talking about the fungi that does harm the plants. Just because some don't does not mean that none will.

My experiences with damping off and other diseases when starting seeds is that the mold spores, bacteria, whatever causes it, need to be present. If you start off with a sterile mix the mold spores are not present at that time. You also need sterile equipment and pots or trays, however you start them. People have been known to sterile soil, trays, and equipment. Those spores can float in on the air or you can carry them on your hands, so even if you start off sterile the spores can show up. But you do what you can.

The spores grow in moist conditions. When I start seeds I often use a dome to keep the moisture level way up. And I add heat to the bottom, both conditions that aid in mold growth. Once enough seeds have germinated I take the dome off so the soil surface can dry out. I try to "water from the bottom" to avoid getting the soil surface too wet. I use a small fan to blow on the soil surface, not to harden the plants off but to dry the soil surface.

I have had issues with damping off before, it is a real thing. I've developed some techniques to deal with it. It's pretty discouraging to watch your seedlings die.
 

flowerbug

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It's this balance of life that I am hoping for.

Infected seed? That sparrow, that showed up on the deck and ate some of my tomato seed - what was he carrying? I don't want a sterile environment for the plant starts but, yes, the organisms are both cooperating and competing. My bet is that there is a great deal of competition but that with some of the life, the seedlings can both tolerate it as neighbors and some, gain benefits. Some of the activities, the seedlings will just shrug off because of their youthful vigor, others may well overwhelm them.

I'm a believer in the benefits (& risks) of fresh air and sunshine. That's part of the reason I'm happy to have the little backyard greenhouse. And, I'm happily willing (nearly ;)) to put up with the attention it requires during the spring.

I wish that there was some magic elixir that I could spray over the plants to establish them within a balance of life that would benefit them. Perhaps there is but I will treat any news on it with skepticism. However, until some great drama occurs in my kitchen, South Window or greenhouse - I will rely on experience. Dearly earned, I might claim but, really, I haven't had many problems with plant starts. Probably, there has been lots of dumb luck involved.

I'll say something about my limited experience with cuttings. Good Heavens. I'm injuring the plant! An open wound ... antiseptic, bandage, sterilized environment!! No, I have to allow for the cuttings' life processes ... I have used either sterile starting mix or 100% perlite with my cuttings (along with rooting hormone). Worked! In about 9 outta 10 experiments. And, that's what they amounted to, crude experiments that mostly turned out okay.

Steve

compost teas and worm teas are two that i have heard of but since i am so minimalistic i have not ever tried either of them.

i have, however, verified that some beans do not like being planted directly over or into worm compost that is too active (i.e. the food/paper scraps not fully digested yet). other plants have no issue with it at all (onions and garlic both seem to soak it up, peppers planted over it don't seem to mind either, but i do not plant them directly into it). for some peppers it is too rich...
 

flowerbug

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Eloquently said. But we're talking about the fungi that does harm the plants. Just because some don't does not mean that none will.
...
I have had issues with damping off before, it is a real thing. I've developed some techniques to deal with it. It's pretty discouraging to watch your seedlings die.

certainly! i agree it can be a problem - same with certiain bacteria, viruses, etc.
 

Ridgerunner

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How about burning sticks and wood on TOP of your garden bed?

In Arkansas I'd burn in the garden every winter. Scraps of wood from the workshop, limbs I picked up throughout the year, and mostly prunings from the fruit trees and some blackberry briars. I'd get a big pile of wood ashes that I'd scatter over the garden, plus any "charcoal" left. It would sterilize the area right under the fire, not sure how far down it reached. I suspect not real deep. It would burn up any organic matter in the top of the soil, not good. But when I cleaned it up and got ready to plant I'd add a bunch of extra compost to that area and till it in. I can't say that area grew things any better but it wasn't worse than other parts either.
 

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