by George Buehler
In last month’s newsletter, we presented an article on repotting and root pruning. In that article, I listed how I cleaned my pots prior to use:
Whether you are using the existing pot or switching to a new pot, it will need to be thoroughly cleaned. I use a mild dishwashing liquid to clean my pots - making sure to clean off any salt crust if it is a used pot. A 50/50 mixture of vinegar and water, along with a stiff bristle brush generally will take off the salt crust.
Once you have scrubbed the pot with the soap solution, make sure to rinse, rinse, rinse. You don’t want to leave any soap in the pot. As a final step, I disinfect the pot using a bleach solution – one cup bleach to about 1/2 gallon water. I let the pot soak in the bleach solution and agitate it slightly to ensure that the solution gets into any pores in the pot. After the disinfect step, it is rinse, rinse, rinse again. If this is a new pot, I will let it air dry, otherwise, I use a clean towel to dry the pot.
I received the following email from Lee Squires:
“I read in your article on repotting that you wash the pots with detergent and then bleach. Unless you have a fungus on your trees I would not do that. You need beneficial fungus and bacteria in your soils to be healthy fiMychorrizae fungus is essential to deciduous and evergreen trees and the sterile , bleached pots will kill the spores and slow down the growth or eventually kill your trees.
Your goal is to create the fungus in the soil for healthy trees. I only wash with water from the hose.”
I must state that Lee has substantially more experience than I. His collection of bonsai are outstanding. Therefore, I suggest that you follow Lee’s advice. I will continue sterilizing any new pot I get to avoid bringing in other people’s problems. But I will reconsider how I clean my pots during root pruning.
I want to thank Lee for getting back to me to express his thoughts.
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