Sterilizing greenhouse and pots

[BertieFox]

There are lots of things that gardeners do which are totally unnecessary but we continue to do as the old books have always said that and it is copied for the next generation and so on. Many of the practices are for the commercial plantsman where disease and pests are likely to be more prevalent. I have been growing for decades and using our current polytunnel for over ten years. I NEVER sterilise the soil, the pots or anything else and yet never suffer any problems. I DO have a good tidy and clean in the spring and remove any rubbish and things in corners and under boards, but that is all.

Most of your problems with damping off would be more likely caused by poor ventilation and cool conditions. A slightly dirty seed tray is not likely to cause damping off, but a cheap compost or watering with dirty water from an old butt might well. You can even add a SMALL amount of copper fungicide to your watering water to prevent this disease.

Flea beetles and other bugs can be removed by allowing lots of natural predators into your greenhouse. If you are a 'sprayer' of pesticide, you have probably killed off most of your predators too, so try to use natural methods. When we arrived here we were plagued by flea beetles and no member of the brassica family would survive the seed leaf stage, but after a couple years of organic methods we no longer see any flea beetles at all, either in the tunnel or outside. Even the Colorado beetle on the potatoes disappeared after two years of integrated pest management.
I hope this doesn't sound too complacent and 'well, we're all right, Jack' but I do think that if you concentrated more on good composts, clean water, and plenty of ventilation, many of these problems would disappear. Don't try to make your greenhouse sterile, just concentrate on these other things

[Kristen]

TI NEVER sterilise the soil, the pots or anything else and yet never suffer any problems.

Me too, I don't even wash my pots, just knock the soil out thoroughly when I take the plant out of them so they are ready to be stacked for next year. I would either sterilise, or chuck, pots that had anything diseased in them though.

Only downside is that I think plants knock out of pots more easily if the pots were clean in the first place - the old compost sticks to the pot, maybe, and makes it somewhat harder for the new contents to be knocked out perhaps?

or watering with dirty water from an old butt might well [cause damping off]

I agree. I always use tap water on seedlings, so that there are no micro organisms in it. I use rain water later, once the plants are bigger and have better developed immune systems, as all sorts of muck gets washed off the roof and into the water butt by the rain.

[Marb67]

I never ever use chemicles. 100% organic as far as I know. I encourage wildlife and have a pond. I have used water butt water in the past, skimped on some compost, re-used some old if ran out and perhaps over watered so i will try and get those sorted. But as you can see from my B Beans they are very healthy at first.

[Kristen]

I did wonder that before you posted, but I didn't know that Capsid bug would attach Broad Beans. They attack my Brugmansia, getting inside the leaf buds and munching away, and then when the buds open the leaves are like lattice-work

The broad bean photos do look rather like that, and I suppose the capsid bugs might do the same damage entering the pods when they are at embryonic stage and wrecking them before the get to full size

Perhaps read up on what else Capsid bug likes to eat, that you have in your garden, and see if you remember that collateral damage having occurred? If so then maybe that would confirm it?

[Marb67]

Yes, i recognise the bugs damage that has been on other plants. Now I need to know how to get rid of them organically. The list of plants they attack doesn't state broad beans though. I do wonder when I got the horse manure nearly 5 years ago locally if I bought back some nasties.

[Kristen]

Are you an RHS member? Their website says that vegetables are not effected by Capsid bug's damage. Might be you have a new / different strain? (Perish the thought). If you are a member they will investigate for you.

[veggiechicken]

From Bren's link to the RHS:-

Common name:
Capsid bugs
Scientific name:
Various species, mainly Lygocoris pabulinus and Lygus rugulipennis and apple capsid, Plesiocoris rugicollis
Plants affected
Many, including apples, beans, Caryopteris, Chrysanthemum, Clematis, Dahlia, Forsythia, Fuchsia, Hydrangea, Phygelius, potatoes, roses and Salvia

[Kristen]

I suppose that trumps the RHS's assertion earlier in that link that "Vegetables generally tolerate capsid damage and do not need spraying for this pest" ...

[veggiechicken]

Or do they sit alongside each other ? ...........

"Vegetables (including beans ) generally tolerate capsid damage and do not need spraying for this pest" ...

[Kristen]

"Vegetables (including beans ) generally tolerate capsid damage and do not need spraying for this pest ... except for Marb67's Broad Beans"

[Linzy]

i think vinegar will be fine. i use soapy water normally but this year i used dettol but only as i happened to have a little spare. my mum just heaps all her pots outside and let the rain rinse them of and the frosts kill of the germs she never seems to have any problems.

[Bren In Pots]

I've always thought that any bug that sucks sap out of a plant must do some harm even if its just slight.

[FB.]

I've always thought that any bug that sucks sap out of a plant must do some harm even if its just slight.

Yes, it does harm the plant. But a happy, healthy plant will shrug if off. If a plant is succumbing to a pest or disease it is probably not happy with the general growing conditions (light, warmth, fertility, moisture, or predators unable to clear it of pests due to lack of access or over-use of chemicals).
Wild plants have to cope with pests, diseases and other competing plants nearby, without being fed or watered.

[Aberdeenplotter]

No different than us being bitten by an insect. If we are healthy, it's an irritation but we don't notice any harm if we are otherwise healthy and aren't allergic to the wee sods

[FB.]

No different than us being bitten by an insect. If we are healthy, it's an irritation but we don't notice any harm if we are otherwise healthy and aren't allergic to the wee sods

In fact, scientific evidence suggests that humans get allergies because our immune systems don't have enough to do, so start attacking anything.
Some studies found that humans with light parasite/worm infection in the intestine reduced allergic reactions considerably because the immune system actually had some work to do rather than go around vandalising because it was bored.
There was a girl "cured" of her nut allergy on TV in the last few days (allergies are basically immune systems attacking anything because the immune cells haven't got enough to do; "the devil makes work for idle hands).
Her allergy was cured by doctors admitting her to hospital to give her carefully-monitored and carefully-supervised amounts of the very thing that caused her allergy; nuts.
All she has to do to prevent the allergy coming back is...... eat five peanuts each day.

But absolutely DO NOT try this at home because messing with allergies can be fatal within minutes; any allergy treatment MUST be done in hospital with medical supervision and resuscitation equipment nearby!