Since losing some seedling's to damping off (pathogens)in peat pellets was wondering if sterilizing soil(peat pellets etc,) diminishes what nutrient value their is in the medium. I would imagine it is not good for beneficial bacteria but, good bacteria is not a concern to me at this stage, only surviving the seedling stage and enough nutrient to last till transplant.... I now use a fine organic mix and add ewc but, would like to sterilize the soil for good measure before adding the ewc......Any Comments....
Why do you want to sterilize your soil? Why not just use coco or another soilless medium at that point? J
[quote name='"colafarmer"']Since losing some seedling's to damping off (pathogens)in peat pellets was wondering if sterilizing soil(peat pellets etc,) diminishes what nutrient value their is in the medium. I would imagine it is not good for beneficial bacteria but, good bacteria is not a concern to me at this stage, only surviving the seedling stage and enough nutrient to last till transplant.... I now use a fine organic mix and add ewc but, would like to sterilize the soil for good measure before adding the ewc......Any Comments....[/quote] I've also had issues similar to this but like jerry said it would almost be point less. Instead of sterilizing the medium i would instead simplify my seedling mix. Leaving it to a very boring mix of peat and perlite. For the most part a seedling will be able to sustain on its own for a good little while before needing nutrients in the soil.
I've used coco to start seeds(cough,cough)with chemical grows and you need to start feeding as soon as they break ground.. This is my organic grow so wanted something to get them to first transplant without using a liquid fert. I hydrated a coco brick, added 4 parts (solo cup) perlite, 2 parts ewc and 1 tbls of the Dr E starter fertilizer....
[quote name='"colafarmer"']I would imagine it is not good for beneficial bacteria but, good bacteria is not a concern to me at this stage, only surviving the seedling stage and enough nutrient to last till transplant.....[/quote] Those beneficial bacteria you aren't very worried about are the corner stone of organic gardening. They are the single most important thing in your soil! If you don't have ample amounts of micro organisms your plant will have a hard time using the nutrients available to it. Also, having a healthy soil full of microbes will help your plant be strong enough to survive the seedling stage. Its almost like how a newborn baby needs its mother milk to start its immune system and be healthy. Plants need micro organics and when they aren't in place, they suffer. Now, I know we don't really worry about PH in organic gardening, but peat alone has a very low ph which is why I don't recommend using peat pellets. Peat mixed with earth worm castings and perlite is a great starter mix. But peat all alone can cause problems.
Mama is so right. A healthy organic garden RELIES on a healthy microbe colony in your soil mix. You can have the very best nutrients in the world, but without microbes, you might do a tenth as well as if you have a living soil. This is gained by starting and basing - wrapping your soil mix around a quality - and I do mean quality - humus component, whether it be compost, earthworm castings or vermicompost - or all. These 3 items are the heart and soul of an organic garden. It only takes so much in the way of nutrition to have a great organic garden but if you have healthy microbes below the soils surface watch out! The results can be so amazing. 2 weeks ago I did a transplant of some "largish" cuttings/clones into a soil mix that I had made back in March. I took them out of their cups and transplanted them into the soil mix in 12 gallon containers. They were probably 6" tall and maybe that wide as well. I wet them down well with tap water and went out of town for the week thinking that it would take them the week that I was gone for the roots to start to spread out, and kinda "grab" into the soil - not really expecting them to actually grow much that first week. I got home a week later and went immediately downstairs to the veg room - I wanted to see what they looked like. I got halfway down the stairs and busted out laughing - these plants were now around 2 feet tall, maybe 18" across and as healthy a set of plants as you have ever seen. I love organics! J Edit - I can't wait to get home tomorrow and see what they look like after 2 weeks! *lol*
lol jerry...I'm now convinced of the real secret to growing organics... It was right in front of me all along but, just didn't see it...... I will be going a 2 week vacation starting tomorrow for sure.....
I started seeds in straight peat/perculite and only after 2 weeks intoduced compost in form of tea... I am sure they would have grown faster if the compost was added earlier. Still the sterile medium does work so the seedling won't be taken in fungus. I am sure germinating in live soil is a viable technique, I just did not have the material or knowledge to do it myself.
I am sharing method of soil sterilization as follow: Soil sterilization can be achieved through both physical and chemical means. Physical control measures include steam and solar energy. Chemical control methods include herbicides and fumigants. Dielectric heating and gamma irradiation are used less frequently as soil sterilization methods. Composting can be used to sterilize organic materials mixed with soil,but it is not used for the sterilization of soil alone. Soil sterilization is used in greenhouse operations,the production of high-value or specialty crops,and the control of weeds.
[quote name='"jerry111165"'] Excellent! Organic Gardening humor! *lol*[/quote] Yeah, i just figure it pertained to the rest of the pointlessness lol After this im going to buy a new dodge ram and take off the tires. Lol
Cola, back to your initial question, I believe that spaghnum peat doesn't contain a great deal of nutrient value(someone please correct me if I'm wrong). I personally don;t see whether it woud help or hurt to sterilize straight peat for the sake of seed starting. Last year my thoughts were the same as yours, as I've had damp-off and other problems before and I certainly didn't want to invite disease. Since I started hangng out in the organics section, my entire thought processes have changed in the way I view cannabis growing from seed to finish. I started a handfull of seeds outdoors this year in my own homeade vermicompost blend amended with peat and perlite(something I would have never done in the past) and had the healthiest seedlings I've ever had. Even with my worm bed being in the ground with all sorts of little critters in it, and bacteria both good and bad the plants still flourished. Here's a plant I started in 1/3rd homeade vermicompost, 1/3rd peat, and 1/3rd perlite and crushed lava rock with various meals,greensand,and crushed oyster shell. It's not only that the plant has done well, but it's like it has a super-immunity. To not see PM or a little botrytis already is a miracle in itself where I live. Not too bad for 9 weeks from seed, eh?
^^Coco dose not contain pathogens like peat and is a good organic medium so, I'm going that route with a mild nutrient added to get them through 2-4 weeks til transplant. I would imagine sterilizing the soil would kill good bacteria as well as any nutrients....
Its funny to me that any one can assume that any material (peat, cocoa, cat hair etc.) could hold or not hold pathogen. In all reality pathogenic microbes are potentially any and everywhere. In the air, on your face, for all we know the pathogenic source could be your own hands inoculating the material. To assume that something is "sterile" is kind of silly really. If it is actually "sterile" its only a matter of time before it's infected. I'd just prefer it be infected with beneficial microbes that i produce and supply. Than to create a "sterile" environment where its an up for grabs turf war between the good guys and bad guys. Think of it like this you had two different countries fighting over a city thats been vacated. Who do you think would win? The guys that have more numbers (essentially). But what if one of the countries already occupied that city? Already had its borders up and defenses at the ready. Who do you think would win then?
Awesome analogy Seandawg! I feel the same way. Pathogens are omnipresent even in the most tidy of indoor home environments.
Were only talking of the seedling stage where the pathogen that causes damping off is critical. Any other stage of growth is not a problem.....
I was having damping off problems with multiple strains and multiple mediums and techniques for sprouting. I narrowed the problem down to something being on the seed or infecting the seed at a very early time in its development. I soaked seeds in a cup of water with about 10 drops of hydrogen peroxide and I was 3/3 for seeds sprouting 20 hours later. I dropped the sprouting seeds in soil that had visible microbial growth and they are rocking a week later. Like you said, sterilize when they are most tender. And I trust you have a somewhat good soil. I didn't even bother with starter mix with the sprouts, since I wanted a good inoculation from my soil.