Cleaning pots and trays for reuse

[Greenleaves]

Non wash here as well, I plant in the same ground every year and as Bill says " Do you wash your soil"

[Alison]

May sound daft but why do you wash your pots?...............Do you also wash your trowel, spade, fork, hoe...........etc..............Potty is excluded from that question with his knife & fork set.........

I wipe mine over with an oily rag on a fairly regular basis.

That's the trowel etc not pots

[Bigmallly]

I wipe mine over with an oily rag on a fairly regular basis.

That's the trowel etc not pots

I suppose it stops the crops getting rust....................I'll get me coit.

[alldigging]

I'm sure this was one of the myths Charles Dowdling was going to dispel in his gardening myths book. I've not read it yet though!

Don't wash pots here and never will.

[vixylix]

I'm sure this was one of the myths Charles Dowdling was going to dispel in his gardening myths book. I've not read it yet though!

Don't wash pots here and never will.

aah... I have his book but havent read it properly yet - I shall peruse as soon as I get chance!!

[burnie]

When I grew stuff in the soil in my green house I used to sterilise with Jayes fluid every other year and did all my pots at the same time with the same mixture. Seed trays are more important I think, but don't worry about pots too much, usually just rinse in plain water to get the muck off.

[Madasafish]

I never wash pots. Leave them out in the garden for the rain to do it..

No problems in 20+ years..


If you water plants with rainwater from a barrel, do you sterilise it first? And the watering can?

If not, no point in cleaning pots.

[Jungle Jane]

May sound daft but why do you wash your pots?...............Do you also wash your trowel, spade, fork, hoe...........etc..............Potty is excluded from that question with his knife & fork set.........

I wash my pots because they have to sit on my kitchen worktop,so they've got to be clean. It doesn't take long.

[mothhawk]

As I empty pots (ie when I plant out or pot on) the empties get sloshed around in the water butt and left outside to dry, or if it's raining, just left in the rain.

This does mean though that whenever the butt is empty, I have to make the effort to up-end it and rinse out the 2 or 3 inches of sludge at the bottom. (Fortunately, it's not completely empty very often )

May sound daft but why do you wash your pots?...............Do you also wash your trowel, spade, fork, hoe...........etc..............Potty is excluded from that question with his knife & fork set.........

I wash my tools after every use - the same way I wash pots, by giving them a slosh in the water butt. Then they are wiped with an oily rag, metal parts and wooden parts, before being hung up. Secateurs, saws and clippers are wiped and oiled but not wetted.
.
My grandfather, a carpenter by trade, trained me very thoroughly.

[mothhawk]

I remember Geoff Hamilton had a bucket full of sand with old engine oil in it that he plunged his tools into after every use. He said it cleaned and sharpened them at the same time.

I know if I had a bucket like that, in my limited space in the shed, I'd be sure to kick it over, then there'd be oily sand everywhere.

[ESBkevin]

I'm thinking if you have terracotta pots and wooden seed trays there is a potential to harbour disease especially if stored in a warm shed for the winter (victorian Gardner?).
With Poly wassaname pots they are impermeable so the likelihood is reduced there and if you store them outside where jack frost plays then some sterilisation takes place then too. Anyway I've never quite got around to doing any more than a quick swish in a bucket of water if even that.
I think if I had a disease problem I would address things differently. Until then no changes for me.

[Alison]

I'm thinking if you have terracotta pots and wooden seed trays there is a potential to harbour disease especially if stored in a warm shed for the winter (victorian Gardner?).

Warm shed? Blimey, mines rain tight but it's not insulated let alone heated. No warmer than outside in there!

[ESBkevin]

Warm shed? Blimey, mines rain tight but it's not insulated let alone heated. No warmer than outside in there!

I think if you stood outside in the breeze when the temperature is below freezing you would appreciate the 'warmth' of the shed. ;-)

[Alison]

I think if you stood outside in the breeze when the temperature is below freezing you would appreciate the 'warmth' of the shed. ;-)

Not arguing with that but it's still cold enough to freeze any water inside so not exactly frost proof let alone warm

[bramble]

Warm soapy water for me and then rinse them in cold water with a steradent tablet or two thrown in.