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Reusing Clay Pots?

southernfried

southernfried

If I am reusing clay pots from last season do I need to clean them? If so, how should I go about this. I read somewhere that I should soak them in a water/bleach mix for a few hours. I'm not so sure about using bleach....

EDIT: I am trying to get any impurities out of the clay with cleaning them, and therefore I am curious if the bleach will leach into the pots.
 
You can use bleach, peroxide and just soak the pot. Since those clay pots are very porous you need to let it soak then give it a good rinse and you should be fine.

I would invest in some standard 5 gallon plastic pots. Plastic pots cost about 60 cents a piece which makes them cheap enough to use new ones each year which cuts back on possible spreading of disease and viruses. Plus they are a lot lighter and easier to move.
 
You can skip the bleach if you want, but it wouldn't hurt anything unless use way too much. After you've got all the dirt off make sure they dry out completely and you should be good to go. A soak in a diluted hydrogen peroxide solution would be an extra measure. I've always liked clay pots, but they do use a lot more water.
 
LGHT said:
You can use bleach, peroxide and just soak the pot. Since those clay pots are very porous you need to let it soak then give it a good rinse and you should be fine.

I would invest in some standard 5 gallon plastic pots. Plastic pots cost about 60 cents a piece which makes them cheap enough to use new ones each year which cuts back on possible spreading of disease and viruses. Plus they are a lot lighter and easier to move.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Yeah, I am regretting buying clay from last year. This year for my additional potting needs I went with the plastic pots that are made to look like clay ones (I live in an apartment and don't want the neighbors to get angry that my backyard looks junky haha).
 
Yeah I hear you on the looks. I live on a townhome and I was worried about that at first until I gave a nice big bowl of fresh salsa to my neighbor made from a small harvest. Surprisingly he didn't mind that I had a ton of pepper plants on my patio wall after that. Now whenever he needs fresh peppers or wants to make a few I'm more than happy to give me a few peppers. Since he's not much of a chili head he only needs 1-2 which is great ;)
 
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