Microwave My Soil???
- Thread starter Doctor
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green_nobody
Well-Known Member
i don't know if this will kill all bags in there... i heard stories about small ants down south that would be attracted to electronics for some odd reason and could survive a microwave do to their small size
if the soil gets hot enough and stays at that temp for long enough bugs gone die for sure
just keep in mind that most of them aren't harmful but useful actually
oh hack, just try it, if it goes all wrong a new bag soil won't ruin you
if the soil gets hot enough and stays at that temp for long enough bugs gone die for sure
just keep in mind that most of them aren't harmful but useful actuallyoh hack, just try it, if it goes all wrong a new bag soil won't ruin you
TillthedayiDIE420
Well-Known Member
Really? i cannot see that happening.... If you can make a ants ass POP ( you can hear it and watch the ass get big and make a small noise) with a Lighter.....
im 100% sure a microwave inducing radiation into the ant and cooking it from the inside out...
im 100% sure a microwave inducing radiation into the ant and cooking it from the inside out...
hedmekanik
Active Member
Green Nobody has it right - some of those bugs are useful, especially the littlest microbugs who gobble up nutes and spew them out in an available form, which plants thrive on.
A good bake would work better I reckon - just put it in a baking tray, stick it in the oven, turn up the heat and do it till its baked through.
That's pretty much replicating what goes on inside a compost heap, if hotter.
Nuking soil might cause arcing - if there are stones or bits of silica in it.
A good bake would work better I reckon - just put it in a baking tray, stick it in the oven, turn up the heat and do it till its baked through.
That's pretty much replicating what goes on inside a compost heap, if hotter.
Nuking soil might cause arcing - if there are stones or bits of silica in it.
northerntights
Well-Known Member
your better off puting them in the oven, you can fit a lot more in there and you can get it more consistantly hot ensuring you kill everything. Just spread it out in a baking pan or two and turn it to 300F and poof, clean soil.
Blazin24/7
Well-Known Member
i am with ya on that one...it is radiation that is cooking your food...supposta be the kind that is pretty much harmless to humans....but not to insects as there outer body is to thin to absorb the radiation....I took a weapons of mass destruction coarse in las vagas.....For my job......so there ya go..
Read this.
As for the original question, I think I'd pasteurize the soil rather than completely baking it to avoid killing the beneficial microorganisms that are abundant in organic soil.
Apparently the house doesn't reek after baking compost, that's a false assumption. If you use the microwave as already pointed out you would only need do it for seconds as you are only killing everything in it, not heating it for the sake of it. I know you didn't say this, but if it kills nutrients - then we must assume it kills all nutrients in food too, making anything heated in a microwave useless as food, which is not true at all. I'm microwaving my soil I will certainly post the results which I expect to be normal, and no bugs. Another very good reason for reusing compost and garden soil, is that if you are continuously buying compost, its an expense, and it builds up and up will you end up with garden borders high up from all the excess soil. In the UK refuse collection does not take compost or garden rubbish of any sort (at least in my area).