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Re: [SHADEGARDENS] Unfinished UNSTERILE Compost

In a message dated 98-01-28 23:42:45 EST, Marekmohr@AOL.COM writes:

<< Contrary to the way everyone seems to start their seeds,....I THINK YOU ARE
 FIGHTING THE ODDS.....YOU HAVE READ HOW TO DO IT AND YOU WANT TO DO IT YOUR
 WAY......IF THAT IS THE FACT, THEN REVEL IN YOUR STRUGGLE.... I am starting
 mine in mini soil blocks made of soil [WAS THE SOIL STERILIZED?],
 vermiculite[WAS THE VERMICULITE STERILE?], peat moss [WAS THE PEAT MOSS
 STERILE?]and my compost [HOW DID YOU STERILIZE YOUR COMPOST?](which isn't
 totally finished, I suspect) because I heard it is a good way to go...[YOU
DID
 NOT HEAR THAT HERE ON THE HOSTA LIST].. >>


Well, I'm enjoying all the responses to my question about unfinished
compost..this subject is rather fascinating to me (does that mean I don't have
a life??)  I'd like to continue the discussion a little more by presenting the
other side of the sterile medium vs non-sterile compost.  Ken said above that
I did not hear that using compost was the way to go on the hosta list...he's
absolutely right..I read about it in Eliot Coleman's book, The New Organic
Grower - 1995. (Some of you might recall that I am an admirer of Mr.
Coleman)..

Here is a paragraph out of his book (and Ben, am I breaking any copyright law
by including this??)
                                      "Sterilizing the Mix

In more than 20 years of using homemade mixes, I have never sterilized them.
And I have not had problems.  I realized early on that damping-off and similar
seedling problems, which are usually blamed on unsterilized soil, are actually
a function of cultural mistakes like overwatering, a lack of air movement, not
enough sun, overfertilization, and so forth.  Good, fertile garden soil and
well-prepared compost contain many organisms that benefit seedling growth.  If
you "sterilize" these ingredients you lose the benefits of live mix without
gaining the advantages that are achieved through proper seedling management.
Recent university studies agree and emphasize the specific value of finished
compost as a disease-suppressing ingredient in growing mixes." Eliot includes
here a footnote for the university study:

Harry A.J. Hoitink, "Basis for the Control of Soilborne Pathogens with
Composts," Ann. Rev. Phytopath, vol. 24 (1968), pp. 93 -114.
H.A.J. Hoitink, Y. Inbar, and M.J. Baehun, "Status of Compost-Amended Potting
Mixes," Plant Disease (Sept. 1991), pp.869 - 73.

whew! that challenged my typing skills.

So what do you all think?

Revelling in my struggles,
Cindy Johnson
White Bear Lake, MN
zone 4a
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