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Last post 14-02-2008 5:05 PM by Figwort. 11 replies.
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I'm starting to clean my pots etc ready for the new season (last year was my first) and wonder, how clean do they actually have to be?!! I know I need to get rid of pests, fungal diseases etc (last year my toms got blight) but it's nigh on impossible to get rid of all traces of mud etc. I am using a scrubbing brush and horti disenfactant. Do they need to look brand new? They are terracotta if that makes a difference? I'm pooped after doing 6 and have about 20 to go!
Cleaning Terracotta is more diffucult than plastic pots. I give mine a good clean with soapy water to get the worst of the muck off, and leave them to dry. I them put them in a solution of Jeyes Fluid (see instructions on the bottle). I usually leave them there for a couple of days, but inevitably, they stay longer. I use the dip for all my pots and trays and cells. I also do the same with my labels. gardeners forget to clean their labels even though their pots are clean. The labels are as good a source of disease and fungus as the pots. Getting them spotless is the ideal world but it is not always possible. I don't think it is neccessary unless you already have a problem. I have a tank for collecting water. I use this for dipping. Plantman
Hi , i am afraid it is quite essential to get the pots as cleans as possible, as plantman says leaving them to soak is a good idea, i don't use terracotta myself for seed sowing instead i use plastic pots which are easier to clean. Seeds need the environment spotless,established plants don't always need things to be as clean as for seedlings, with the exception of early large flowered hybrid clematis, neglect their cleanliness and you end up paying a "hefty" price, as I found out.
If they are small plastic pots, how about using the dishwasher if you have one. Mac
Wow! That's a bit posh Mac. Does the wife Know. Plantman
I never, ever wash any pots - things go well enough. On the rare occassions disease occurs it is discarded in the early stages so I reason that there is not a big innoculum to be treated. I should do of course, it would be better if I did, but life is too short. Blight spores are not very robust and are unlikely to persist over winter outside living plant tissue; a quick scrub with hot water and detergent should be plenty. Or just buy more pots, I don't suppose you have many and cheap terracotta is, well, very cheap. Use the tomato ones for something else like potted lilies, pelargoniums for the patio or even some peppers. Boggy
I am really fussy about anything concerning my Tomatoes, so anything associated with them is either new, or really, really clean. Tomatoes are too vunerable. The rest I generally give a quick wash and then a soak in a solution to clean them. By growing your own stock, particulary Brassicas, you can drastically reduce the possibilities of diseases such as Clubroot. In the main general cleanliness is adequate until you get an infection somewhere. Then it becomes important. You should be the judge of what is worthwhile or not. Cleaning pots, trays, cells, propagtors, tools etc etc is not just a five minute job. There must be a happy medium. Plantman
Thank goodness for that Boggy - I was skulking about here feeling guilty after reading about all these stalwart souls who faithfully scrub and clean and bleach and sterilise everything; and here's me just whisking out the worst of the cobwebs from last year's (and the year's before) pots prior to planting. I reckon life's too short to sterilise a plantpot too.... (don't know about putting them in the dishwasher though - wouldn't your dinner end up with crunchy and gritty bits???)
Is this thread to become a virtual confessional? I don't generally do a lot of pot cleaning either - if they're really grimy I'll give them a quick wash in hot soapy water, but otherwise I don't tend to bother. I'm pretty sure it hasn't made any difference, the seeds germinate and the plants are healthy. The only time I've ever sterilised pots or compost was to sow fern spores. [Edited on 13/02/2008]
I must admit, I started to read this thread utterly aghast...I'd never even considered cleaning the pots (something I also get accused of INSIDE the house too ;-)); thanks to you three, I feel a bit less 'scruffy'! I think I may have sprayed the outside of terracotta pots that had gone green, but that's it. The only thing I've ever had was some sort of cobwebby-esque fungus, which I think originated in the lollipop sticks I was using for labelling. And this was only in a heated propagator that was very moist.
I've just used water this year to get all the old traces of compost out. There are times of the year when the water butts are overflowing and so I think you might as well use the water. (I also use water from the butt to do the first stage of cleaning my car)
I always wash my plastic pots - terracotta ones get a scrub down and high pressure hosing but that's it. The plastic ones are either washed in a hot solution of household bleach or Jeyes Fluid. I remove most of the caked-on compost first, leave them in for about 10 minutes and then rinse with cold water. Some of these pots are more than 12 years old (mean? Yes, I'm Welsh!) and I've never had any problems with them.
