Quote:
Originally Posted by AaronTT
Actually it would be bad to sterilize the compost. The reason is soil has many forms of bacteria and yeast in it, and is considered "living". These microorganisms are very important to the soil, as they help liberate the minerals from an unusable state that plants cannot uptake to a form that they can then use. If you sterilize the soil, the plant will use up all water soluble forms, and then that cycle will stop, and the plant will develop deficiencies.
If your growing with pure chemicals it might not matter, but if your like me and grow completely natural, you actually want soil rich in microbes. Its a good thing.
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Yeah, I usually think along these lines too but I feared that the microbiome in my compost, due to the colder climate, might be different from what banana plants are used to and that the "pathogenic element" may gain the upper hand, especially in a confined and not very natural environment of a pot. There are a lot of finnicky plants out there and this is my very first batch of bananas. Well, I've already repotted them using "raw" compost in the mix. Apart from penicilium colonies and weeds sprouting there's nothing out of ordinary to be seen. And if there is any trouble because of it in future, I'll consider this a lesson. Thank you!