Sterilizing seed starting mix

3/6/2021 Sterilizing seed starting mix.

Last year was very bad for having fungus gnats in the house and grow station area. To help fix this problem I will be sterilizing the potting mix in the oven. The goal is to get the temperature past 140 degrees for at least 15-20 minutes. I was shooting for a peak temperature of 175 degree F but the potting soil reached a peak of 170F. I added the potting mix to two half pans and added a little bit of water to both pans and mixed it in. Here are the temperatures the seed starting mix reached and the time it took to reach it:
Setting the oven to 275F and allowed it to preheat
After 15 minutes 128F
10 minutes 150F
06 minutes 160F
oven turned off
10 minutes 170F
05 minutes 170F

When the seed starting mix was pulled out of the oven steam was coming off of the two half pans.
This was the process I decided to try to help eliminate fungus gnats, a problem I had last year. This is how I will start my seeds. Another option is to use boiling water to sterilize your soil. The would not work for me because I would not be able to use the soil fast enough for planting.
If you have any suggestions like me know down in the comments.

Something I wanted to avoid was getting the seed starting mix too hot, if the soil reaches and sustains temperature of 200F two thing can happen the soil begins to smell and the soil can turn toxic for the plants. This is not something that I wanted to experience after researching how to get rid of fungus gnats in potting mix.

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