pot cleaning

[brianc]

Hi all.
prior to seed sowing would sterilising my pots in baby feeding bottle cleaner help as an alternative
to boiling them? i assume i would still have to sterilise my compost.
Brianc.

[FaeLLe]

I just turn my hot water tap to max and show it under the sink then let the water fill till the brim and let it cool.
Similarly I treat my grit and pumice as required.

Things like potting mix usually comes out of a sterlised sealed pack (I dont use John Innes but the special Cactus Focus Repotting Mix which is sold by Kew and Amazon) augmented with grit etc. but in case it has been open for a while I just microwave it two or three times for several minutes (with gaps in between).

[Phil_SK]

Yes, or bleach.

[FaeLLe]

Also I hope your baby does not need the bottle sterliser anymore... would not share it for sure!

[fruit]

I have always used Jeyes Fluid for pots and greenhouses - and slimy paths

[Chris L]

Also I hope your baby does not need the bottle sterliser anymore... would not share it for sure!

It'll be alright - we all use the microwave/oven to sterilise the soil.......

My own personal preference for cleaning pots is the dishwasher followed by drying in the tumble dryer.

[joke ]

[purzo]

I use the microwave for the pots as well. We have a redundant microwave for use in the greenhouse so don't have to worry about getting compost flavours in our warmed up curry.

[Chris L]

I've often wondered if we'd just be better accepting that moss is going to grow, baggie the compost 6 months before we want it and then pull all the moss off the top before reusing the compost that is left in the pot.

i.e. remove the top layer (with the moss) and then sow the seeds on the clean surface before re-bagging.

[ralphrmartin]

I wish all my pots in the dishwasher

I sow my seeds in a purely mineral compost, which avoids problems with moss and stuff. I also use chinosol as a disinfectant.

Compost = sand, fine grit, perlite (seed grade), cat litter, vermiculite (seed grade)

[Keith H]

Also I hope your baby does not need the bottle sterliser anymore... would not share it for sure!

It'll be alright - we all use the microwave/oven to sterilise the soil.......

My own personal preference for cleaning pots is the dishwasher followed by drying in the tumble dryer.

[joke ]

You may be joking Chris but I did try using the dishwasher for cleaning plant pots, it worked quite well for the first couple of loads untill the grit and sand clogged the spray bars and pump. It took all day to strip down and clean the dishwasher but I never did get it to work properly after the pot wash sessions, we now have a new dishwasher.