Cleaning orchid soaking pots

[sapphirerose]

I am probably being over fastidious about the watering, especially since the only thing special about any of my orchids is the person who gave them to me.

I like the roots. They are fascinating and so I don't mind setting just the clear pot on my saucers. My watering containers are too varied to be good for display, so I put them away inside a cabinet. My cabinet space is precious, so they get washed, dried, and stacked. I could see start just drying and stacking them.

I have no plans to chop leaves off for virus testing, so I should probably not worry about it.

Thanks again to all. I appreciate it. Whoever thought you would be telling someone tombe less concerned?

[Ray]

HAH!

I thought you were unposting and cleaning the pots the plants were in!


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[Leafmite]

It is good to be careful when you can be and it doesn't cause too much trouble. I try to take precautions when I can. I just cannot help it that I like passionfruit and figs. :|

[Joseia]

I used to laboriously soak all my watering pots in bleach and then one day I thought - why not just run them through the dishwasher? It was a real time saver!

[Cym Ladye]

Originally Posted by Joseia

I used to laboriously soak all my watering pots in bleach and then one day I thought - why not just run them through the dishwasher? It was a real time saver!

Water and the heat in the drying cycle are not hot enough in a dishwasher to kill virus. If you really want to kill virus, the best way is to use a 5% solution of bleach and soak pots, saucers and potting utensils for several hours.

Why not just use a shallow plastic saucer under each plant? Place both in the sink. Run water through the pots and let sit in the water in the saucers up to an hour. Then tip out any remaining water into the sink and place the plants back in their usual places. Many people use plastic saucers for house plants to protect the furniture.

[PaphMadMan]

Originally Posted by Cym Ladye

Water and the heat in the drying cycle are not hot enough in a dishwasher to kill virus. If you really want to kill virus, the best way is to use a 5% solution of bleach and soak pots, saucers and potting utensils for several hours.

True, the heat of the drying cycle won't kill all viruses, but that is not the point. Most are dead or gone long before that. Heated wash cycles are more effective, and the surfactants, enzymes, and often bleaching agents in dishwashing detergents do even more in terms of sanitizing. Some bacteria and viruses may survive, but most are simply washed away along with everything else. They have no significant means to adhere to surfaces, and if they did adhere through wash and rinse cycles what could ever loosen them to allow them to infect anything? Dishwashers are very effective at sanitizing hard surfaces.

On the other hand, bleach can be very ineffective unless all organic residues and mineral deposits are completely removed first. A 5% solution, assuming that means 5% of a typical household bleach product, might be strong enough to do some good if the formulation of the product is over 5% hypochlorite to begin with (many are not) and if the product is fresh. Bleach loses strength rapidly after it is opened. I wouldn't count on anything less than a 10% solution of a typical household bleach doing the job, and only in the first few weeks after it is opened.