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Serious question, are you checking your pots for root rot before you plant?
I just lost a whole batch of cherry tomato starts because I reused a pot from last year without cleaning it properly. The old soil had fungus gnats and the roots were a mess. I learned you need to scrub pots with a 10% bleach solution and let them dry for a full day. Has anyone else had this happen with a specific plant?
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shane_perry295mo ago
Watched my buddy lose all his pepper seedlings the same way last spring. He reused a bunch of those cheap black nursery pots and didn't clean them at all. The plants just stalled out and fell over, roots were totally brown and slimy. He's a bleach convert now too, but he adds a vinegar rinse after to get the smell out. What do you do with really dirty terra cotta pots, just toss them?
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grant_ross275mo ago
Terra cotta gets a long soak in a vinegar bath for me. The white crust is just mineral buildup, but that porous material holds onto pathogens like crazy. Fill a tub with one part white vinegar to four parts water and let them sit overnight. A stiff brush takes off the rest. It's way less harsh than bleach on the clay, and it dissolves that crust without any scrubbing.
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colemiller6mo ago
Yeah, that bleach soak is key. I've found even a quick rinse leaves behind spores. For plastic pots, I'll sometimes soak them in hot water with a bit of dish soap first to loosen everything up before the bleach scrub.
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