At what temperature do weed seeds and vegetable seeds generally die?

Question

How high does the temperature in a compost pile need to get to kill all the seeds in it?

Answer 1

Many years ago I operated a commercial green house range and we steam sterilized the beds we planted our cut flower crop in.
Here are the temps. that we needed to maintain for 30 minutes to sterilize;
115 * to 140* for plant pathogens.
140* to 160* for most soil insects
160* to 175* for most weed seed
200* to 212* for resistant weed seed and resistant viruses

I think your compost would be those temps only in the very middle! There were chemicals for sterilizing, I am not sure that that is the safest route to take!

Answer 2

For all seeds it is 170 degrees without a doubt, that is why they keep food at that temp on a steam table.


Compost piles, in the center, can reach 170. The real advantage of composting is that it breaks down the seed coatings of all seeds and they die because they are not able to sprout and grow under those conditions. I have seen many seeds sprout in the top layers of a compost pile and grow just fine. Turning the compost will kill them all, in time.