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Re: [SHADEGARDENS] Unfinished UNSTERILE Compost

At 01:25 PM 1/29/98 EST, Cindy Johnson wrote:

>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. "
>So what do you all think?
>
>Revelling in my struggles,
>Cindy Johnson
>White Bear Lake, MN
>zone 4a
>
Cindy,

This is definitely contrary to my own experience, but, as I mentioned
earlier, I sow indoors in an artificial environment.  I suspect there are
many variables in the outdoor garden environment which we cannot replicate
in our greenhouses.  Thus, we are a bit "at odds" with nature in this
respect.  And, as you have experienced personally, great loss of seedlings
will result if you try to bring indoors only a small part of the total
outdoor arena.

It sounds as if Mr. Coleman, and the researchers mentioned, have studied
the effects of compost in an outdoor setting.  It would be a mistake to
suppose that these findings apply equally to indoor growing conditions.

I would welcome comments from some scientifically minded gardeners in our
group.

Sherryl Sandersfeld Norman, Ok zone 7a
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