DaisyI said:Something was creating heat. If you got the right bacteria going in an anaerobic situation (created by densely packed overwatered or breaking down soil), that would create heat. Did it smell slightly of sulfur? Or rotting vegetables?
purpleinopp said:I don't think that's a big enough "pile" to generate heat, and a lot more air would be needed for heat to occur.
purpleinopp said:It is, I couldn't think of an alternate theory, just that I doubt it was from decomposition on such a small scale and with so little air. It's not the kind of thing that can be decisively solved at this point, but interesting.
Where was the pot at the time? Any chance that the location was the source of heat, like if it was where the sun could shine on it, or on top of a fat old (got hot on the top) TV? Maybe the pot was bigger than my first reaction, and there was more air. If a foul odor wasn't noticed, anaerobic decomposition wasn't occurring but if it did happen to be hot composting, there shouldn't be any foul odors.
I've repotted hundreds of plants and never found any hot roots like you describe.
woofie said:South facing windows can get pretty toasty. Just wondering, what color was the pot and what was it made of? And how close to the window was the pot?
jnicholes said:
When we were discarding it, we took the plant out of the pot, and found that deep down inside this very large pot, the soil was VERY hot. Hotter than it was in the house. If I had to guess, it was maybe 100°F. Maybe more.
DaisyI said:
Not warm all the way through, hot in the middle of a very large pot. If a warm window was the cause, the soil would be cooler in the center, not warmer.
purpleinopp said:I don't think that's a big enough "pile" to generate heat, and a lot more air would be needed for heat to occur.
Leftwood said:I note that no one here has said aerobic composting does not produce heat, but you seem to imply anaerobic activity is hotter, Daisy. I've never heard this before, either. What can you tell us that breaks the status quo?