All,
A recommendation regarding the use of soils as scenery material: sterilize it
first. I have seen mag articles where soils were used, but the average scoop
of regular soil (e.g. sandy loam) contains LOTS of little "critters" (as in
"billions and billions"). By volume, most are microscopic roundworms
(nematodes), but there are other biological entities as well. Sandy soils with
little organic content probably contain much less of this stuff. At any rate,
what to do? The best thing would be to autoclave the soil sample for at least
30 min. before use. Admittedly, most modelers do not have access to this type
of equipment, so heat soil to at least 160 F (oven) for several hours before
use. Probably, most of you didn't want to hear all this, so continue using
"artificial" scenery materials.
Toodle'S',
Jay Mellon
New Orleans, LA
P.S. In my other life, I am a practicing research biochemist/microbiologist.
l
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