>>PhRatz, would microwaving the soil be as successful?

>>

>>Just curious, in an age (and a State) where our power bill went up by over 20%, or in hot areas, I'd consider microwaving, if the results are comparable.

>>

>>Wanda





microwave.. bad bad idea. any metallic substance in the substrate will damage microwave. You can't guarantee the contents of the substrate.. many types are actually mixtures of various things as some put cheap 'fillers' in and you can't always tell when they do that. Also, a microwave doesn't operate in the same manner as an oven.. you want to DRY out the substrate with an even air moving heat - drying from the outside in. You do not bombard wet/damp stuff with radiation and cause the moisture inside to boil from the inside out as a microwave does...might cause some chunks to explode under the pressure.



I learned the hard way with an insect collection once. Large beetle (found dead of natural cauces), teacher said to slowly dry out in the oven to keep it from stinking. I stupidly tried to rush things and use the microwave... not a pretty site... my mother wasn't happy to hear about beetle guts splattered everywhere either.



oh yeah, depending on the organic/live components of the substrate you may have to leave your windows and doors open while baking it in the oven.. some can be quite stinky when the heat gets to it.
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PHWyvern

[ Hide Replies ]

• I always have mites. - phishnuts, Mon Jan 15 08:01:43 2007
• RE: I always have mites. - PHRatz, Mon Jan 15 10:17:18 2007
• RE: I always have mites. - WTorres, Mon Jan 29 18:08:03 2007
• RE: I always have mites. - PHWyvern, Mon Jan 29 18:47:40 2007
• RE: I always have mites. - WTorres, Mon Jan 29 19:41:21 2007