Sterilizing compost

Question

I have great homemade compost from my outside garden. I want to use it, in conjunction with some store-bought seed Starter soil, to start seeds and to propagate forsythias.

I’m afraid if I bring the compost inside, I’ll introduce bugs and insects into my home. But I’m afraid if I pasturize my compost, I’ll destroy all the good things on the micro level.

What should I do? When I bring a garden plants from outside into my house to overwinter, I submerge the potted plant on the water in my bathtub overnight to drowned some of the bigger insects like potato bug and so forth.

Would that work with my compost.

Answer 1

It might work, but it might be difficult to get the compost dry again- it might become too soggy to use, although mixing it with enough of the seed starter soil might solve this.

Another technique for this is to spread the compost in a thin layer on a tarp an put it in direct sun on a hot day. The heat will either kill the bugs or get them to migrate out of the compost.