Bleach solution poured into containers to kill spores?

[ScottinAtlanta]

Folks, After cleaning all my garden equipment with bleach, I wonder if I can pour a 10% bleach - 90% water solution into my containers to kill whatever spores are left over from last year? I don't change the soil but once every three years, but thought that maybe a bleach solution 5 weeks prior to planting might help.



What do you think?

[Yak54]

Most definitely. I soak my grow bags in the 10% bleach solution every year about 2 weeks before I refill them with Pro-Mix and get ready to put my tomato & pepper plants in them.

[ScottinAtlanta]

Thank you, sir.

[Whwoz]

Are you talking about sterilizing the mix or pots/bags Scott. Definitely worth doing for containers, probably not for mix as bleach will react with potting mix and kill any beneficial bacterial/fungi as well as any pathogens

[ScottinAtlanta]

Yes, they are full of mix that I am reusing.

[Yak54]

Originally Posted by Yak54

Most definitely. I soak my grow bags in the 10% bleach solution every year about 2 weeks before I refill them with Pro-Mix and get ready to put my tomato & pepper plants in them.

Let me clarify that I empty most of my grow bags of the pro-Mix at the end go the growing season and store them in my garden shed empty. Then at the start of the new growing season I soak the empty bags in the 10% bleach solution.

[PaulF]

My reusable plastic pots always get a bleach solution rinse. Same with my tomato cages. The pots and six packs get dunked into the solution on our back porch sink and I use a garden pressure sprayer to spray down the cages.

[AKmark]

Originally Posted by ScottinAtlanta

Yes, they are full of mix that I am reusing.

Even Pro Mix has microbes in it. I would wash the pots without the dirt in them just because of that.

[KarenO]

Certainly useful to clean pots, trays, cages, stakes, bags etc but I would not advise attempting to sterilize previously used potting mix by wetting it with a bleach solution. Is that what you meant?
KarenO

[ScottinAtlanta]

Yes. I have about 120 containers, and I replace the potting mix every three years. I am now into year 2 with this mix.



I can't empty and clean the containers empty - there is probably 6,000 pounds of mix in those 120 containers.

[zeuspaul]

I don't think sterilizing the mix would work. There is too much organic matter and the bleach solution would quickly get *used up*.

[Milan HP]

Are you talking about bleach based on sodium hypochlorite (NClO)? If so, I'd like to warn you: you would probably make the mix saline. Commercial bleaches of this sort usually contain salt (NaCl). It's hard to say if the amount is a hazard.
If you are talking about bleach based on hydrogen peroxide, I believe it should be okay.
Milan HP

[ScottinAtlanta]

Good point.

[GrowingCoastal]

Originally Posted by ScottinAtlanta

Yes. I have about 120 containers, and I replace the potting mix every three years. I am now into year 2 with this mix.



I can't empty and clean the containers empty - there is probably 6,000 pounds of mix in those 120 containers.

Wouldn't any spores be on the surface of things and soil? I bleach spray my tomato growing area's surfaces including fencing, cages, pots and surrounding bare soil surface every year.
I think I'll use hydrogen peroxide this year as it is kinder to everything.

[shatbox]

Scott I do the same, for my earthbox planter I wash it with something like Dr Bronner and spray with a tablespoon/gal bleach solution or 5:1 peroxide.

For the mix, I dump it into buckets and place that in a construction trash bag/drum liner, pour boiling water onto the mix, and tie it up to steam until I am ready to plant again.