# Sterilizing my soil for Mangroves



## LaceyRen (Mar 22, 2018)

So a few months ago I purchased a dozen mangrove seeds from a member on this forum. A few were briefly in my freshwater aquarium. Now all of them are in watertight glasses or containers in a pebble/potting soil mix with a light dosing of miracle gro ferts in pellet form. All 12 made it and thrived, I have really nice growth with new bright green leaves. 

As summer starts to wrap up, I will be moving them indoors on a south facing window ledge. They currently sit in stagnant green water, though it looks disgusting, it does not emit any odours. I'm sure there are all kinds of microscopic ecosystems forming in the soil mix. Plus I will be consolidating most of the seedlings into one big pot. I will need to uproot them (as in remove ALL soil from the roots). Will that kill my mangroves? 

My two solutions to sterilizing the soil are: (please let me know if they are feasible and any risks or complications, don't worry none of the Mangroves will be going into aquariums any time soon) 

1. Bake it all to kill everything. However are pebbles in my oven safe? What about the fertilizer, would the heat make it toxic for my plants? 

2. Soak it in saltwater, since Mangroves actually thrive in it. I currently have been slowly adding salt water here and there to top up and it's been weeks and every one of them have not shown any signs of distress. Will that kill all my pests? How high of salinity I need to achieve to kill everything but still keep the mangroves happy? 

I'm open for better solutions. 

Thanks for reading, any feedback welcomed. 

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk


----------

