Cleaning pots and trays for reuse

[Alison]

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

Out of curiosity why do you sterilise them? Seems like overkill but then again I'm pretty lazy

[bramble]

Alison, as i only do the pot cleaning once a year i suppose its a precaution to make sure they are properly steralised..

As a matter of interest, does anybody fumigate their greenhouse? I do this every year in early spring.

[Bill HH]

I fumigated my greenhouse a couple of years ago after blight, my digital max/min thermometer never worked again.

As for sterilising pots I see no point because I often re-use old compost (refreshed). As has been said before, if i get a disease problem i would have to re-think.

[1Bee]

Does anyone dishwasher their pots? Or do they go squiggly?

[Alison]

Alison, as i only do the pot cleaning once a year i suppose its a precaution to make sure they are properly steralised..

As a matter of interest, does anybody fumigate their greenhouse? I do this every year in early spring.

I do it if I have had a problem in there but not otherwise as I think the candles are quite nasty. I work on the same principle as I do for personal health ie try and keep things nice and healthy by good practice but only blast things if it's really necessary but not as routine prevention measure. Psychologically things seem to work better if used sparingly (I know this is true for antibiotics, no idea if insects are evolving to survive fumigation by over exposure but like to keep everything balanced naturally if possible. I know this argument stands up better for reasons why you don't want to use chemicals that take out one level of potential predators but suppose I'm a bit if an old hippy at heart.

Does anyone dishwasher their pots? Or do they go squiggly?

Will probably depends on the plot but don't like the thought of them in there followed by food dishes and sounds like total overkill anyway.

[Penellype]

I wash any of mine that are staying in the house, plus anything that has had disease in it. I have the Charles Dowding book, and what he says about washing pots is that it kept spare labour occupied at times when there was little else to do. He does not even brush out his trays and has used some 100+ times with no problems.

If you put plastic pots in the dishwasher they are likely to melt, and ruin not only your pots but potentially your dishwasher too!

[sunshinekitty]

i wash my pots and clean my tools; then get them sharpened over winter.
clean tools are less likely to corrode.

[Philthy]

I wash plastic pots at the end of every season (all ones that will either go in my greenhouse or stay indoors). These are used for seed sowing and potting on young plants. Pots used over winter sometimes become sticky around the rims if the plants above become invested with aphids, and this stickiness (honeydew) left unchecked can facilitate other plant issues, so it's worth swapping for a clean pot. And I just like the pots to be clean when I put them away, ready for next year.

For larger pots that live mostly outside a quick brush is fine.

[w33blegurl]

Excellent thread. You have all now validated my laziness and non-pot washing ways and so it shall continue!

[Lisasbolt]

I never wash my pots, i thought i was one of those lazy gardeners!
I guess if i saw there was a problem with any of the plants i would after taking them out.

[bario1]

A quick flip and rap on something hard is all I do to remove dirt/slugs/spiders from the insides of my pots before the compost goes in. The only problem with this method is that sometimes the rims crack... don't know my own strength, me!