Sterilizing containers

[adkspackler]

How do I sterilize my nursery pot containers?

[kurt]

http://www.cleanertoday.com/mold-kil...stat16.htm#epa


After years of trying to find a suitable,eco friendly chemical cleaner my wife a nurse asked the staff at the ER what they use for cleaning and this is what they recommended for a cleaning product.

I grow a lot in containers and after every mater season when I empty the spent rootballs/soil into yard and distribute material I will gather all the containers,a concrete mixing tub,cleaner,one of those bottle brush type dusters and start the process.
I stand all the containers right side up,hose them out,brush out all the left over stuck soil with hose pressure.
Then I flip and repeat the the process.
In the tub I will have some fresh water and the concentrate ready.
Then dredge the containers through the concentrate(maybe 5-10 stacked)flip and soak a couple of times remove ,arrrange in yard for final hozing.Upside down so as to get the material soaked into the rims of my containers.Flip and hose accordingly.
After all that while they are upright a fine mist spray of the material,hosed, flipped,misted hosed.
Might seem like a lot of work but down here in SFlorida we do not have the cold freezing temps that control a lot of the spores that seem to carry over from season to season that I found out over the years of reoccurrance of plant maladys.
Before each season I mist and hose each container before new plant start ups.
I do not have any connection to the linked company,but bleach does not seem to cover all the problems that I have encountered plus it is not really all that safe in the long run.

[Doug9345]

The most interesting part I found was that bleach doesn't penetrate deep enough to kill the mold.

[Tom A To]

You could be like me, lazy.
I squirt water in the used pots and put in the new plant. No problems after many years, that I could notice, anyway.
I realize that doesn't answer your question, sorry.
My point is; many times, if you don't do what all the experts tell you to do, it doesn't mean you can't get away with it.
So if you're pressed for time, don't care, or are just plain lazy, life goes on.
What's with me, today?

Maybe the "Tomatovillian" under my avatar should have the "i" taken out to read "Tomatovillan".

P.S. Wait, I've thought about this. As with many things in my life, if I can do something faster, cheaper, with less work and get away with it, I'll do just that, despite what I am told. 99% of the time, I get away with it. The other 1% is negligible.

[adkspackler]

I live in upstate ny in the adirondack park it gets to 30 below sometimes so hopefully that will help with spores. Had a horrible year with some of my plants. Tossed all my soil. Starting fresh

[kurt]

Not only does the crud hibernate on the containers,they love wooden handles,boots,clothing etc.The last greenhouse I visited had me put on a cloth painters suit and had a chemical dip liquid pan at the doorways.Bamboo poles are notorious since they have hollow middles and open ends.It is only when you suffer a year or two of some malady you become more aware of the methods of transmission to find and get rid of the spores.I "nuke"everything before and at the end of each season down here in S Florida.Good Luck.


Doug...."The most interesting part I found was that bleach doesn't penetrate deep enough to kill the mold."


"Mold remediation" is the new "Abestos removal" business.Molds are just as bad if not worse than asbestos.One part of our company is making a killing on mold remediation.

[Doug9345]

The standard use to be that if it got wet in a flood rip it out and replace it. I agree that mold is worse that many other things.

[KarenO]

I wash mine like dishes in hot soapy water, soak in dilute household bleach solution for 10 or 15 minutes rinse and dry in the sun. Works for me. I always tell people seedling pots and trays should be clean enough that you would eat your own dinner out of them. This should be sufficient as even in the worst of situations blight and other serious fungal problems should not be a problem in nursery seedling pots. If it is, well then...I would move to Canada
Actually, I guess I would chuck them and get new ones and not re-use things that were exposed to serious disease.
Karen

[Durgan]

I do absolutely nothing. Just clean them out dry and lay them out in the Sun for a few days. There is soil clinging to them in many cases,which brushes off.

But I don't sell any plants, or I would probably have to be more careful. The pots are stored in the cold shed all Winter, and the below zero temperatures and the dryness probably kill anything present.

I also do nothing. I re-use dirty pots - just knock out any slugs hiding in them and fill them with newly purchased sterile potting mix.

The only tomato disease I get is late blight some years, and the plants have been in the ground several months at that point so there is no way the pots they were in as seedlings are going to get contaminated.

[amideutch]

Physan 20 is good for sterilizing containers, garden tools you name it.

Ami

[kurt]

http://www.disknet.com/indiana_biolab/b062.htm Don't know much about biology....Some facts regarding temperatures.

[joseph]

No sterilizing containers for me either. I'm just going to fill them with DIRT!

[AKmark]

If you remove healthy plants, why spend time and money to remove a pathogen that should not be there, just replant.

[Sodak]

Originally Posted by AKmark

If you remove healthy plants, why spend time and money to remove a pathogen that should not be there, just replant.

my attitude, too.
And I reuse the potting soil. Nowhere to put the old, and too spendy to buy new.
This is for Smart Pots.
I never replace the potting mix in raised beds, just supplement it, and a 25 gallon Smart pot is a lot like a small raised bed to me. Works so far. Hope it continues!