Why are you sterilizing?

Al

The reason I am sterilizing the soil is that I had a bout of root mealybugs in most or all of my plants in 2008 (?). So, I had to get rid of all of my plants and start over from new plants or from cuttings. I am hoping that using sterilized soil will help prevent an outbreak of these in the future.
-Jmcat

My method of sterilizing soil. Fill the pots you plan to use with soil mixture. Set them is a flat roasting pan. Bring a large bucket of water to boiling and pour into each pot, refilling as the water drains out of each. Fill pan to top with the boiling water. Place a towel over all to slow down cooling. When all is cool remove pots from water and allow to drain overnight. Then plant.

I wouldn't personally be worried about getting the soil too hot. However, when I've needed to sterilize, I've used boiling water in a metal cake pan full of water.

(Nandina -- don't the pots crack if they go from room temp to boiling rapidly like that? Or melt, in the case of plastic?)

Thank you both for the input! With using boiling water, do you worry at all about washing nutrients out of the soil?

Mr Subjunctive- I don't have much experience with clay pots, but most plastic will not melt at or below boiling. It may soften somewhat, but I am not familiar with any plastic that completely melts in boiling water.

-Jmcat

Re: nutrients washing out of soil. I have only used this method for 60 years so cannot say for certain. Have always grown healthy plants. Can say that experience has taught me that there are times when sterilizing soil is a good practice.

Re: boiling water and ceramic/clay pots breaking. Think for a minute...remember when you have poured water into dry soil, newly filled pots. Remember how the dry soil washes upward and you have had to slow the filling down until saturation takes place and the soil stabilizes. During this process a ceramic pot has time to 'temper'. Just take your time.

OK, thanks for the answer about nutrients in the soil.
-Jmcat