Tiny Bugs from Potting Soil

It takes time and money to pasteurize potting mix, so many producers don't do it anymore. You can pasteurize it yourself if you have a heatproof disposable pan and a hot plate, bbq grill, or other heat source that can be used outdoors. You don't want to do this indoors because it gets quite smelly.

Just dump the potting mix into the pan. You can get better control of the soil temperature if you cover the pan with some aluminum foil. You want to heat the soil to a minimum of 140 degrees F. to a maximum of

because life is tenacious.

little bugs, live on.

it is very unlikely that they actually cause any harm.

songbird

sometimes there are so many of them I can't wash them off the lettuce leaves

Don't you mean sterilize? Sterilized potting soil is readily available and only a few pennies a pot more than unsterilized. However still no guarantee a plant won't attract insects, so you'd need to treat the plant... often misting with a mild soap solution will delouse a potted plant.

If you don't know what they are nor if they are harmful why do you want to kill them?

Hmm protein!

mj wrote: ...

you have little bugs and no little bug predators. learn about what kind of bugs they are and what preys upon them.

songbird

They are probably sciarid fly. Google for more info. Some info here:

No, I don't. Sterilized soil is dead. It's been heated to the point where all the soil microorganisms have been killed off. The idea here is just to heat it enough to kill off the less-hardy stuff, like bugs and eggs.

Sterilized potting soil is readily

I usually do it in an toaster oven, using a metal bowl at 181 F for 30 min. to make sure that I have good penetration of the heat. 181 F for

pasteurization

verb [ trans. ] [often as adj. ] ( pasteurized) subject (milk, wine, or other products) to a process of partial sterilization, esp. one involving

heat treatment

or irradiation, thus making the product safe for consumption and improving its keeping quality :

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The product isn't sterilized, but the microbes that affect the product's use are killed, not necessarily all the microbes are killed.

If you are going to be germinating seeds in it, you will want it sterilized it to avoid damping-off.