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Vegetable Gardening

drying seed starting soil after its been wet

ahappy camper zone10

6 years ago

last modified: 6 years ago

after sterilizing some seed starting soil by cooking it, it still remains wet. i would like to store this in a plastic bin for an indefinite amount of time for usage in the future but i imagine it would not be a good idea to do so while its wet? is there any real way to dry it off?

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Comments (5)

beesneeds
6 years ago
Spread it out and let it dry out. Or keep cooking it in the oven till it's dry, like oven dehydrating.
daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
6 years ago
I can't imagine why you need to dry it off. It's sterile. Nothing is going to grow in it. Now, you might cover it, to prevent it from getting infected, but of course that will keep it moist. I suggest that when you cook it, you do so when it is not wet.
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ahappy camper zone10
Original Author
6 years ago
hey dan, i cooked some in the microwave and a lot of directions said to make sure that the soil was moist enough. they said to cook it for about 30 minutes at 180-200 and i did that....but it was still moist when i took it out

beesknees....thanks! i was thinking about popping it back in the oven but i was worried that i would overcook it
daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
6 years ago
If you use a microwave, the soil HAS to be moist, because it is the water that absorbs the microwaves and heats up. Dry soil in a microwave would just sit there uncooked. But you don't need a lot of moisture. Moist, not wet, will do fine.

I use a regular oven, and I can cook dry soil easily.

In a microwave, you won't get temperatures much over 212F (the boiling point of water), so "overcooking" isn't likely. In a dry oven, you can actually burn the organics if you cook them too long at too high heat, which is not constructive.
beesneeds
6 years ago
I'm not sure if I'm understanding the overcooking thing. Isn't the point of sterilizing is cooking the soil to death of whatever ick might be there? I can understand worry about burning the stuff because it's too dry. But worrying about overcooking the dirt by finish drying at low temp after you have been sterilizing it at high temp in a microwave seems kind of... moot.

With oven dehydrating, you would be cooking the dirt at the lowest temp your oven has with the oven door cracked to let the moisture escape. Depending on how thin you spread your dirt in their cooking trays, you might need to give them a stir. If you are worried about using low heat to finish after your higher heat sterilizing process, just air dry. Just spread it out on whatever- racks, tables, screens, ect. and let it sit till it's dry. Maybe use a couple fans to help it out.

You shouldn't really store your dirt wet- but I think it's ok if it is still moist when you store it, like Dan said. If you sterilized it right to begin with, there shouldn't be anything in there to cause problems.

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