How do you clean and disinfect pots for veggie growing?

I'm new to vegetable gardening but have a flower garden and loads of old pots I would like to use for bringing on seeds and seedlings. I'm told you have to disinfect them but am not sure of the best way to do this.

How do you clean and disinfect pots for veggie growing?
First things first.


Open a bottle of your favorite beverage and pour yourself a drink.


Bring pots to work station.


Pour another drink.


Discard old soil, wipe inside of pot with strong bristle brush and mist a mild bleach/water solution on the inside.


All this hard work will make it necessary for another beverage.


Once pots are dry, you can either stop for the day or continue to work.


No matter what, have at least one more drink before you go in.


I have been following this strict work ethic for years and nothing ever dies!!!
Reply:I'll ask Tesco for you, next time I'm in......
Reply:Or you could sterilise the pots by running a steam cleaner over them, if you have one.
Reply:Us experts use a weakened solution of jeyes fluid.
Reply:Yes - scrub them with a soultion of Jeyes Fluid. The container will tell you the correct ratio for the job.
Reply:i just wash mine with some soapy water and give them a good scrub with an old dustpan brush that does the trick
Reply:Using a house hold bleach would be suitable for the disinfecting of your pots.


It is a good idea to clean them first as it will inhibit the onset of any bacteria that may cause problems with your plants as they grow. There are many that can attack your plants born from old potting mix, such as fungi(Pythium, Phytophthora, Fusarium, Pellicularia and Ryizotonia. All can be devastating.


You can buy solutions to do this from Nursery Suppliers but If you wash them well with a reasonable strength solution, then rinse them, leave them to dry that will do the job.


Happy gardening
Reply:Use Jeyes Fluid and sterilize with water
Reply:Disinfect? Why? The only reason why you would want to disinfect them is due to nematode action, etc and you would NOT have that sort of problem with pots.. ONLY with soil and in your case..... you can just clean the pots with water to make them look clean... forget about that disinfecting business. .. it is totally unnecessary
Reply:Disinfection for garden pots is a bit of overkill, unless you know you have a nasty bug in there. Just discard old soil, and give them a bit of a wash and let them dry. That should do it.
Reply:If you use Jeyes fluid go easy on it. Very strong and you would only need a minute amount diluted in water. Any used diluted jeyes fluid put down your drains or dustbin.
Reply:Clorox and water.
Reply:It's probably over-kill. A good washing should do the trick. The Jeyes fluid sounds like it would work. Also allowing them to soak over night in a solution of Clorox and water would work. Boiling them in hot water for about a half hour should also work. Or you could even put them in the oven for about 10-15 minutes.





I'd only disinfect your pots if you have had trouble in the past with diseases in the plants. Many greenhouses don't disinfect them. If you do have disease in the plants it could be as much or more so the potting soil that you use than the pot.





Terra cotta pots will be more likely to hold diseases than glazed or plastic pots due to their more porous nature. Terra cotta is normally preferred though because it allows the soil to breathe better.