Could anyone advise me how to prepare compost for use in the house for
indoor plants? There are bugs and flies and I would prefer not to
bring them in. Thank you.

Working from ancient memory here! The book "Crockett's Victory Garden"
suggests pasteurizing it outside in a big pot, perhaps over a gas grill. Add
enough water so it doesn't burn. He says it stinks to high hell, so do it on
a day with a breeze, and away from open windows. I don't recall how long
this should take, but I'll guess and say 20 minutes from the time it starts
boiling.

"Anne" wrote in message
om...
Could anyone advise me how to prepare compost for use in the house for
indoor plants? There are bugs and flies and I would prefer not to
bring them in. Thank you.

On Fri, 02 Jul 2004 18:30:45 GMT, "Doug Kanter"
wrote:

"Anne" wrote

Could anyone advise me how to prepare compost for use in the house for
indoor plants? There are bugs and flies and I would prefer not to
bring them in. Thank you.

Working from ancient memory here! The book "Crockett's Victory Garden"
suggests pasteurizing it outside in a big pot, perhaps over a gas grill. Add
enough water so it doesn't burn. He says it stinks to high hell, so do it on
a day with a breeze, and away from open windows. I don't recall how long
this should take, but I'll guess and say 20 minutes from the time it starts
boiling.

Or you could buy some commercial compost for your houseplants.

On 2 Jul 2004 11:23:49 -0700, (Anne) wrote:

Could anyone advise me how to prepare compost for use in the house for
indoor plants? There are bugs and flies and I would prefer not to
bring them in. Thank you.

This is not really practical. It is better to purchase sterilized
potting mixes for indoor use.

However, you can sterilize your compost. Place compost in a baking
pan, wet it thoroughly, and bake it in a 275-degree oven for an hour.
Allow the baked compost to dry, then screen it to make it light and
fluffy. There will be an earthy odor from the baking process, but it
should disappear with a few hours.

On Fri, 02 Jul 2004 11:23:49 -0700, Anne wrote:

Could anyone advise me how to prepare compost for use in the house for
indoor plants? There are bugs and flies and I would prefer not to
bring them in. Thank you.


Don't bother with it, it's more trouble than it's worth. Buy commercial
humus.

(Anne) wrote in
om:

Could anyone advise me how to prepare compost for use in the house for
indoor plants? There are bugs and flies and I would prefer not to
bring them in. Thank you.

If I recall correctly, one of the advantages of compost is the biological
action. Sterilizing seems counterproductive. I am a cheapskate, but I go
and buy potting soil anyway. It might even drain better than home made
oven roasted compost.

Homor Simpson:

"mmmmmmmmmmmmmm...
Earthy homemade oven-roasted compost....
Aghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"
(drooling)

(Anne) wrote in message . com...
Could anyone advise me how to prepare compost for use in the house for
indoor plants? There are bugs and flies and I would prefer not to
bring them in. Thank you.

Sift it and allow it to dry out. If you spread it on hot pavement for
a day in the sun that would pretty much do the trick.
You could sterillize it but it's more effort than it is worth.

Quality compost has disease suppressive qualities, why in the world
would anyone want to sterilize it?

Find a source of quality vermicompost and use it. Vermicompost from
tested sources will not be pathogenic!



On 3 Jul 2004 07:58:30 -0700, (Beecrofter) wrote:

(Anne) wrote in message . com...
Could anyone advise me how to prepare compost for use in the house for
indoor plants? There are bugs and flies and I would prefer not to
bring them in. Thank you.

Sift it and allow it to dry out. If you spread it on hot pavement for
a day in the sun that would pretty much do the trick.
You could sterillize it but it's more effort than it is worth.

"Frogleg" wrote in message
news
On Fri, 02 Jul 2004 18:30:45 GMT, "Doug Kanter"
wrote:

"Anne" wrote

Could anyone advise me how to prepare compost for use in the house for
indoor plants? There are bugs and flies and I would prefer not to
bring them in. Thank you.

Working from ancient memory here! The book "Crockett's Victory Garden"
suggests pasteurizing it outside in a big pot, perhaps over a gas grill.
Add
enough water so it doesn't burn. He says it stinks to high hell, so do it
on
a day with a breeze, and away from open windows. I don't recall how long
this should take, but I'll guess and say 20 minutes from the time it
starts
boiling.

Or you could buy some commercial compost for your houseplants.

.....but read the label if you might use it on food plants. Over the years,
I've seen a few offerings of composted municipal waste, or some such thing.
Rodale tested some of this stuff back in the 1980s and found it contained
not just stuff which was originally "organic", but also quite a bit of heavy
metal from all the other stuff people discard (batteries, computers, etc).

"Salty Thumb" wrote in message
...
(Anne) wrote in
om:

Could anyone advise me how to prepare compost for use in the house for
indoor plants? There are bugs and flies and I would prefer not to
bring them in. Thank you.

If I recall correctly, one of the advantages of compost is the biological
action. Sterilizing seems counterproductive. I am a cheapskate, but I go
and buy potting soil anyway. It might even drain better than home made
oven roasted compost.

That's ONE of the advantages. The other is the physical structure - far
better than some of the soilless mixes sold as houseplant soil.

"tomjasz" wrote in message
...
Quality compost has disease suppressive qualities, why in the world
would anyone want to sterilize it?

Compost's great stuff, but you cannot assume that the beneficial creatures
living in it are good to have indoors where there are probably no natural
controls or competition.

(Anne) wrote in message . com...
Could anyone advise me how to prepare compost for use in the house for
indoor plants? There are bugs and flies and I would prefer not to
bring them in. Thank you.

I put manure and earthworms in my houseplants pots when I put them
outside Memorial Day. The compost is done and mixed with existing soil
by mid september when I take them inside.

Could anyone advise me how to prepare compost for use in the house for
indoor plants? There are bugs and flies and I would prefer not to
bring them in. Thank you.




A lady in the garden club lives in a condo with strict rules, she follows the
same principles of composting in her basemet in a lidded 5 gallon bucket she
bought at one of the large box stores like Lowes or Home Depot. Other then
worms, squirrels and birds my compost pile doesn't attract anyone else, are
you turning in your kitchen scraps????
Colleen
Zone 5 CT

I put manure and earthworms in my houseplants pots when I put them
outside Memorial Day. The compost is done and mixed with existing soil
by mid september when I take them inside.

All my houseplants have worms in them because I used soil and compost from the
garden to plant my houseplants... the stuff I put them in is better then
storebought and since it's free it's cheaper..... my plants do very well.
Colleen
Zone 5 CT