I've read it...It's escaped me!

[HighSeas]

I know this is redundant and I apologize for that. I've read about the preparation of clay pots before repotting and for the life of me, can't find those posts.

I have some grungy old clay pots given to me by a friend that need some serious cleaning before I can use them for my orchids.

So I ask the question....How do you properly prepare your clay pots for repotting? Thanks so much!

[tucker85]

If there's are right way, I'm not sure what it is but I soak my old clay pots in a bucket of water with a good dose of chlorine bleach. The next day I use fresh water and a stiff brush to clean them up. Watch out though, bleach can ruin a good pair of blue jeans if you're not careful.

[HighSeas]

Thank you so much Tucker! I *thought* I'd read about the bleach method but wasn't sure. I had also read something about putting them in the oven but I'd prefer the bleach method.

You are SO right about the bleach and jeans! I recently went scalloping in Homosassa and found a HUGE Horse Conch shell which I promptly plopped into a barrel of bleach to start the process of getting the barnacles and grunge off. Had on a brand new pair of shorts when I pulled it out a few days later to asses the progress. Ruin!

[Orchid Whisperer]

I do something similar to tucker85, but a bit more. I also soak in fresh water to get rid of as much residual chlorine as possible, then air dry.

After the air dry, I put them in a cold oven, slowly raising the temperature to 500 F, leave at 500 F for 20 minutes and then turn off the oven until it's cool. The heat treat kills any viruses or pathogens that might have soaked into the pores in the clay pots. Of course, I do this for many pots at a time.

A note on the SLOW heat; this is needed to keep the pots from cracking (or even exploding if not quite dry). I do this in a standard gas oven in the kitchen, initially heating the oven until the oven just starts registering a temperature increase (roughly 100 to 150 F), then turn the heat off for 10 - 20 minutes, leaving the pots in. Turn it on again until the temperature goes near 200 F, off again for another 10 - 20 minutes, and so forth, in 50 to 75 degree steps, until I get to the 500 F. Needless to say, this is best saved for a time where you can be doing something else & don't mind being in or near the kitchen for a while.

[MrHappyRotter]

1) Soak in water for a few hours to soften surface dirt.
2) Scrub, scrub, scrub.
2) Rinse.
G) Soak over night in a strong bleach/water solution.
8) Scrub a little more.
.) Rinse again.
1) Soak in water. Since I have fish and always have dechlorinator on hand, I add a copious dash of that to help remove any remaining bleach.
10) Let them air dry ... in the sun if you can.

Although to be perfectly honest with you, these days I much prefer to grow in plastic pots, using the clay pots as decorative cache pots.

[HighSeas]

Thank you ALL so very much! These are all GREAT ideas! I love plastic see through pots too, but I'm a sucker for the old fashioned clay jobs!

This is all great advice and I'm sure it will help others as well. Thank you once again!

[Island Girl]

Here is an article by Sue Bottom on how she cleans hers http://www.staugorchidsociety.org/PD...ySueBottom.pdf

Whenever I work with bleach, and usually when I have on clothes that I care about... I always get bleach on them! it doesn't happen when I've got on clothes I don't care about!!

[HighSeas]

Originally Posted by Island Girl

Here is an article by Sue Bottom on how she cleans hers http://www.staugorchidsociety.org/PD...ySueBottom.pdf

Whenever I work with bleach, and usually when I have on clothes that I care about... I always get bleach on them! it doesn't happen when I've got on clothes I don't care about!!

Thanks! What an interesting article! I have a number of pots to get ready...so apparently, I'm going to be busy!

I got a brand new jug of bleach today! I'll no doubt ruin something...

[Lorraine]

I soak and scrub my pots. Luckily I have a pool and can also soak them on the pool step. Chlorine from the pool does the trick. If I have too many to do then I scrub them up and run through the dish washer. Almost good as new. I run them on the sanitize program.

[james mickelso]

All you need to do is soak the pots in a bleach solution for a few minutes and then rinse them for a few minutes. The bleach is a 12% solution and is readily rinsed out of the clay just as quickly as it went in. Virus and all the other critters we are skeered of are oxidized instantly by the sodium hypochlorite in the bleach. The chlorine gas is not available as gas in a bleach solution.