Sterilizing driftwood?
 

Does driftwood need to be sterilized at all before use? If yes, what is the best method? Boil it? Bleach it?

I'm not so used to plants yet, I know that everything gets bleached before it goes in my aquariums.

I have a great piece of driftwood I want to mount on (I'll be posting photos in a previous thread, but wanted a specific question here), but before I do I want to make sure its safe.

It's unknown type of wood found on the banks of the Mississippi.

I have always boiled mine ,boiling also removes any salts and other nasties in the wood.
I recently tried to grow an oncidium on a piece of driftwood which I had picked up on the beach, when the new roots pushed out they stubbornly refused to attach to the wood , it was almost as though the plant was saying "ugh I cant touch that!" So I guess there are some woods that are not suitable or poisonous to the plant ,but you wont know until you try them

If they are from the river or mountain, wash them very well first then let them dry up under the sun for a day or two, then bake them at 275F in the oven for 1-2 hours.

Now thats a good idea , you must do this while your wife's out ,right?:lol:

I get a lot of driftwood from the Missouri and Kaw Rivers. I boil for about an hour then bake at 250 for an hour or so.
Joann

Thanks! I'll bake it tomorrow... I don't know that I have a pot big enough to boil it effectively. I'll see what I can come up with.
I totally forgot about the baking theory, I remember that for sterilizing sand for hermit crabs.

Thats hysterical...my wife would kill me.

Yip ,so would mine ! I am still trying to persuade her to let me use the dishwasher to wash pots , her reply is unprintable ,so I suppose its a no ,no !!

And hence this will be done while my mother is not home... fortunately I go home for lunch.

Big Mississippi driftwood
 

My big driftwood won't fit in a pot or in an oven so I just put it out on the concrete slab driveway during a hot spell (with some bleach) and let the sun bake it.

We have been getting 90 degree weather here lately so it seems to work.

Here is my Den lindleyi (aggregatum) that I just mounted yesterday. That driftwood is over 4' tall and weighs over 15 lbs. :yikes:

``Wow! great mount and nice piece of drift wood

Good thing this one is small enough to fit in the oven (but not a pot to boil)... it's done nothing but rain here for ages. It will probably stay wet into July, too, knowing our weather... at which point it will dry out and be miserably hot and muggy but only storm once in a while.

Love your mount!

Orchids in the wild grow on branches that have not been sterilized...
I think if you take indoors is more a matter of not taking bugs/molds/bacteria in the apt?

what about filling the tub with hot water and adding some bleach? that should kill everything

What makes you think tree branches are not sterilized , rain is the ultimate sterilizer, it is highly oxygenated. It maybe better to add hydrogen peroxide to the water, dont make it too hot.
The other alternative is to boil the wood in a drum over a fire I enjoy this method as we have as we usually have a braai (barbecue) at the same time

I think rain may clean but no sterilize. I imagine on every crack of a tree branch there is a population of bacteria, maybe insects and so on...
actually the sun / UV is a sterilizer...

anyway i think the easy/ safe option is a few hours in a bucket of water with a couple of glasses of bleach.
that will sterilize for sure and get rid of smells too.

Nicely done! Can hardly tell that your den hasn't be growing there all its life:)

bingo