Reuse garden twine / clips or spread disease?

jtjmartin · October 21, 2018

Hey all:

I know I'm hopelessly cheap!

Can I reuse garden twine and plant clips and NOT spread disease? Can I bleach them?
Do those of you with greenhouses reuse equipment or just cut and trash the lines and clips?

Someone want to tell me I'm penny-wise and dollar-foolish?

Jeff

seasyde · October 21, 2018

No harm reusing what you can. That just leaves more cash for seeds....

I am lucky that I don't have much disease pressure here. Still, no point in taking chances so I scrub the clips using an old toothbrush in a pan of warm water & dish soap. First rinse with clean water, then a second rinse of water with a little bleach added. I set them out on a towel to dry thoroughly before putting them back in the bag.

I don't reuse the twine. Years ago we got a huge roll for $10 and we are still working our way through that. Anyway, this particular twine wouldn't make it through a second season. A higher quality twine might be a different story.

ContainerTed · October 21, 2018

I use bailing twine. Each year, I go to the local Co-op and retrieve the twine they get on bundles of straw bales. It is usually about a 1/4" diameter. The neat part about this is that it is free for picking it up a couple times a week. It is also plastic. I take it home of put it into a large galvanized wash tub with slightly soapy water into which I've added a good amount of bleach. Then it is rinsed and dried. You may have seen some of it in my pictures as mostly it is colored orange.

Now, for the best part. Using the thicker 1/4" stuff lets you do something many would not think about. You can tie a knot in it and then grab about half of the fibers and unravel it to make a piece twice as long. This makes tying up vines easier to make the knots we need and it also spread out the fibers to better support the vine without cramping the growth or injuring the stems.

I also keep a fresh roll of baling twine made from whatever they make the non-plastic stuff out of. 5000 feet of it was pretty cheap at the Co-op. I do not reuse any twines in my garden. I look for bargains at the local flea markets for all kinds of twine, and help the folks at the Co-op. Anything organic must be new - first use only.

clkeiper · October 21, 2018

If you aren't battling diseases in your garden I wouldn't fret over reusing things but I will tell you clips break rather easily the second year after being out in the sun for the previous Summer. To me they aren't worth keeping.

kurt · October 21, 2018

If you had a issue with a anomily,all fibers will carry over that crud,thru seasons.nuke all pots,all wood stakes,velcro, pots ,those grow bags,anything organic will harbor the year before ,unless you go below minus the freeze zone.

AlittleSalt · October 21, 2018

Jeff, I have RKN and FW3 in our old garden. When I stopped using that garden, I burned the stakes, labels, support strings, etc. I didn't want to take a chance of spreading the diseases.

I'm right there with you on saving money. Shovels, hand tools, and other gardening things can be disinfected with a strong solution of bleach water and cleaning. You can use a 5 gallon bucket with half a gallon of bleach to 4 gallons of water, and not much will survive that.

mcsee · October 22, 2018

Quote:

Originally Posted by clkeiper

If you aren't battling diseases in your garden I wouldn't fret over reusing things but I will tell you clips break rather easily the second year after being out in the sun for the previous Summer. To me they aren't worth keeping.

I agree, if you can get away disease free, then use them, just bleach them and you should be fine. I'd probably use a thicker twine the second year so your clips get a better hold.

b54red · October 22, 2018

Seems like a lot of time and work for so little savings. I buy the clips in bulk and use them over 4 or 5 years. The last time I got some 4 years ago they cost me less than 2 cents apiece. If you have friends that use the clips you can share the cost of buying them in bulk and divvy them up. I cannot reuse them anyway since a few months in our intense summer sun cause them to weaken too much. I tried reusing them one year and it was a disaster as so many of them broke causing loaded plants to fall and some were ruined right as they were starting to produce ripe fruits.

As to the twine a 9000 ft bale of square bale twine costs around fifteen dollars and lasts years even with me planting between 60 and 100 plus tomatoes each year.

I am certainly no spendthrift and save a lot of money by reusing my cypress mulch for years until it totally breaks down. I do spray it with a 10% bleach spray and that helps with disease prevention. The use of the mulch gives me the biggest savings through cutting my expensive city water bill.

Bill

jtjmartin · October 22, 2018

Thanks all. I'll wind new string on my tomahooks this winter, and use new clips. I did buy both in bulk - but childhood habits are hard to break! (I might still wind the old baling string up and use it for tying up newspapers etc.

All the clips I used this years were used last year - probably only 5 or so broke on 40 plants - none caused damage.

Jeff

Nematode · October 22, 2018

Frugal old farmer died.
Family was cleaning out the house and found a box in the attic labeled "String too short to save".
Relative of yours?

jtjmartin · October 22, 2018

Huh. We all wondered what Uncle Ed! Oh, he was the spendthrift of the family.

PhilaGardener · October 23, 2018

You mean the box behind the huge ball of tinfoil?

Worth1 · October 23, 2018

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nematode

Frugal old farmer died.
Family was cleaning out the house and found a box in the attic labeled "String too short to save".
Relative of yours?

Some idiot at work I hope he is gone put labels on security wire going everywhere in a huge building.
Over 100 of them.
The labels read no label.
This is true I saw it myself.
Took forever to trace out.
Back to twine.
Have a nice day.

Worth

imp · October 23, 2018

I've re-sed twine, but usually not in the garden; for other smaller things, like tying up newspapers to recycle or to tie on xmas ornaments or to decorate a wreath ( rustic twine that is brown touched up with gold or silver paints can be pretty against a green wreath).

brownrexx · October 23, 2018

I do not disinfect anything. My tomato cages sit outside during our long, cold PA winters. Can't you people in the warmer climates utilize the freezer for things?

I put my dry beans in the freezer to kill any potential bean weevil eggs and I also use the freezer to kill wax moth eggs on beekeeping equipment. I leave them in the freezer for 4 days.

I use paracord to support my pepper plants and I just coiled it up yesterday. This is the second year I have used it. I don't have any pepper diseases that I know of but this thread has made me decide to put the cord into a zip loc bag and toss it into the freezer for a week or so.

October 21, 2018	#1
jtjmartin Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2016 Location: Williamsburg VA Zone 7b Posts: 1,110	Reuse garden twine / clips or spread disease? Hey all: I know I'm hopelessly cheap! Can I reuse garden twine and plant clips and NOT spread disease? Can I bleach them? Do those of you with greenhouses reuse equipment or just cut and trash the lines and clips? Someone want to tell me I'm penny-wise and dollar-foolish? Jeff

October 21, 2018	#3
ContainerTed Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: 6a - NE Tennessee Posts: 4,538	I use bailing twine. Each year, I go to the local Co-op and retrieve the twine they get on bundles of straw bales. It is usually about a 1/4" diameter. The neat part about this is that it is free for picking it up a couple times a week. It is also plastic. I take it home of put it into a large galvanized wash tub with slightly soapy water into which I've added a good amount of bleach. Then it is rinsed and dried. You may have seen some of it in my pictures as mostly it is colored orange. Now, for the best part. Using the thicker 1/4" stuff lets you do something many would not think about. You can tie a knot in it and then grab about half of the fibers and unravel it to make a piece twice as long. This makes tying up vines easier to make the knots we need and it also spread out the fibers to better support the vine without cramping the growth or injuring the stems. I also keep a fresh roll of baling twine made from whatever they make the non-plastic stuff out of. 5000 feet of it was pretty cheap at the Co-op. I do not reuse any twines in my garden. I look for bargains at the local flea markets for all kinds of twine, and help the folks at the Co-op. Anything organic must be new - first use only. __________________ Ted ________________________ Owner & Sole Operator Of The Muddy Bucket Farm and Tomato Ranch

October 21, 2018	#4
clkeiper Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: ohio Posts: 4,350	If you aren't battling diseases in your garden I wouldn't fret over reusing things but I will tell you clips break rather easily the second year after being out in the sun for the previous Summer. To me they aren't worth keeping. __________________ carolyn k

October 21, 2018	#5
kurt Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Homestead,Everglades City Fl. Posts: 2,501	If you had a issue with a anomily,all fibers will carry over that crud,thru seasons.nuke all pots,all wood stakes,velcro, pots ,those grow bags,anything organic will harbor the year before ,unless you go below minus the freeze zone. __________________ KURT

October 23, 2018	#14
imp Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Wichita Falls, Texas Posts: 4,832	I've re-sed twine, but usually not in the garden; for other smaller things, like tying up newspapers to recycle or to tie on xmas ornaments or to decorate a wreath ( rustic twine that is brown touched up with gold or silver paints can be pretty against a green wreath). __________________ I'm not a complete idiot, some parts are missing.

October 21, 2018	#2
seasyde Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: PNW Posts: 81	No harm reusing what you can. That just leaves more cash for seeds.... I am lucky that I don't have much disease pressure here. Still, no point in taking chances so I scrub the clips using an old toothbrush in a pan of warm water & dish soap. First rinse with clean water, then a second rinse of water with a little bleach added. I set them out on a towel to dry thoroughly before putting them back in the bag. I don't reuse the twine. Years ago we got a huge roll for $10 and we are still working our way through that. Anyway, this particular twine wouldn't make it through a second season. A higher quality twine might be a different story.

October 21, 2018	#6
AlittleSalt BANNED FOR LIFE Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 13,333	Jeff, I have RKN and FW3 in our old garden. When I stopped using that garden, I burned the stakes, labels, support strings, etc. I didn't want to take a chance of spreading the diseases. I'm right there with you on saving money. Shovels, hand tools, and other gardening things can be disinfected with a strong solution of bleach water and cleaning. You can use a 5 gallon bucket with half a gallon of bleach to 4 gallons of water, and not much will survive that.

October 22, 2018	#8
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	Seems like a lot of time and work for so little savings. I buy the clips in bulk and use them over 4 or 5 years. The last time I got some 4 years ago they cost me less than 2 cents apiece. If you have friends that use the clips you can share the cost of buying them in bulk and divvy them up. I cannot reuse them anyway since a few months in our intense summer sun cause them to weaken too much. I tried reusing them one year and it was a disaster as so many of them broke causing loaded plants to fall and some were ruined right as they were starting to produce ripe fruits. As to the twine a 9000 ft bale of square bale twine costs around fifteen dollars and lasts years even with me planting between 60 and 100 plus tomatoes each year. I am certainly no spendthrift and save a lot of money by reusing my cypress mulch for years until it totally breaks down. I do spray it with a 10% bleach spray and that helps with disease prevention. The use of the mulch gives me the biggest savings through cutting my expensive city water bill. Bill

October 22, 2018	#10
Nematode Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2012 Location: massachusetts Posts: 1,710	Frugal old farmer died. Family was cleaning out the house and found a box in the attic labeled "String too short to save". Relative of yours?

October 23, 2018	#12
PhilaGardener Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Near Philadelphia, PA Posts: 1,940	You mean the box behind the huge ball of tinfoil?

October 23, 2018	#15
brownrexx Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2016 Location: Southeastern PA Posts: 1,420	I do not disinfect anything. My tomato cages sit outside during our long, cold PA winters. Can't you people in the warmer climates utilize the freezer for things? I put my dry beans in the freezer to kill any potential bean weevil eggs and I also use the freezer to kill wax moth eggs on beekeeping equipment. I leave them in the freezer for 4 days. I use paracord to support my pepper plants and I just coiled it up yesterday. This is the second year I have used it. I don't have any pepper diseases that I know of but this thread has made me decide to put the cord into a zip loc bag and toss it into the freezer for a week or so.