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Steralizing soil to kill weed seeds

philjguyphiljguy Posts: 1
in Problem solving
Hi. I seem to be infested with lesser cellandine. I've made some veg beds in an area where this has been growing. I've removed a lot but I'm wondering if I steralize the soil in an oven at between 80-90C will the bulbets die.  Thanks Phil Guy   

Posts

  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    You'll spend a fortune on leccy and it will take ages as well as killing the millions of beneficial soil organisms in each bag of soil.

    I would leave it bare for a couple of weeks and just hoe it every time you see some more weeds appearing and then,before planting, I would wet the soil thoroughly, cover it with cardboard and then make wee planting holes in that for putting in plug plants.   Water well.


    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • LiriodendronLiriodendron Posts: 8,328
    The lesser celandine will disappear fairly soon as it dies down after flowering, and then not be in competition with your vegetables.  The little bulbils will indeed grow again next winter... so weeding them out again is something to look forward to... or not...
    Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
  • nick615nick615 Posts: 1,487
    If there was a way of sterilising seeds in the soil, farmers wouldn't spend thousands of pounds every year killing off docks etc.  There's an old gardeners' saying 'One year's weeds, seven years seeds' which illustrates the fact that, once you allow your weeds to prosper, the seeds will fall and remain viable for several years.
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