Privacy | Legal

Table of Contents Back | Next | Cover Page

Technology & Development Center

Using a Steamroom To Sterilize Pallets of Styrofoam Seedling Container Blocks

Standard Operating Procedures

Lucky Peak Nursery plans to use the following procedure to sterilize styroblocks in the steamroom.

DAY 1—

• 8 a.m. to noon—One person using a forklift will fill the sterilization room with pallets loaded with styroblocks. This will take about 4 hours.
  
  
• Noon—The boiler is turned on and set to 160°F.
  
  
• 5 p.m.—The steamroom has reached 130°F.

DAY 2—

• 7 a.m.—The steamroom has reached 160°F. Styroblocks have been sterilized for several hours. The boiler is turned off. One person with a forklift removes styroblocks when they are needed for sowing.

About 4,000 stryroblocks can be sterilized in one operation.

Lucky Peak Nursery plans to use the steamroom for other tasks, such as heating lodgepole pine cones so the seeds can be extracted. The cones of lodgepole pine and some other conifers open only after they have been heated. The nursery also intends to use the steamroom to sterilize items used in bareroot and containerized seedling propagation (seed trays, mulch fabric, and so forth).

Top Back | Next Table of Contents Cover Page

E-mail: wo_mtdc_webmaster@fs.fed.us	Technology & Development Center

Visitor since May 31, 2005