Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
writer333

To Sterilize?

writer333
9 years ago

I recently acquired an olive tree from a nursery and replanted it soon after arriving back home. After a few weeks, I noticed what I believe to be a fungus gnat flying around the pot area. I applied a systemic pesticide to take care of the problem, but as you can imagine, I would like to avoid using that method in the future so that I can enjoy eating my olives safely.

And so I have considered sterilizing any soil I use in replanting the tree in the future. I have read many articles on doing so, but the only problem is that most have stated that sterilizing soil will also kill any beneficial organisms along with the injurious ones. My question is: will this apply to my tree as well? I was thinking that there are still probably beneficial lifeforms left in the actual root ball of the tree, but I am not completely sure.

Any advice is appreciated, and thank you for your time.

Comments (7)