Author: LadyJ

Whether you have clay, ceramic, plastic or resin, you will need to clean your planters and pots for new plantings for your next growing season.

Garden pots will need a thorough cleaning either at the end of the growing season or before the new one starts. There can be microscopic fungus, disease, eggs and minerals left behind that can negatively affect your new plants. By taking the time to clean and disinfect your pots, you will be giving your plants the best opportunity to thrive. Besides, you have probably invested a lot in your planters and pots and if you take care of them, they will last you for years!

Best Practices for Cleaning Your Planters and Pots for Reuse

Reusing planters and pots for gardening is best done in the following ways:

Cleaning and Disinfecting

Cleaning Your Planters and Pots
Before reuse, clean the planters thoroughly to remove any residue from previous plants or soil. Then wash them out to remove any dirt from previous use. Scour clay pots with a stiff brush to remove algae, mildew and other deposits. Scrub off white crust as well as you can.

Cleaning Fabric Grow Bags
Fabric grow bags have become popular in recent years. And just as with clay or plastic, these bags need to be cleaned. The first thing, of course, is to remove the plants and soil. If the plants were not diseased, add them and their soil to your compost pile. Toss the bags into the washer or soak them in a bucket with a detergent solution. Rinse the fabric pots thoroughly and let them air dry. Do not put them in the dryer! 

Disinfecting Your Planters and Pots
Soak pots in a solution of 10 parts water to 1 part bleach for ten minutes to one hour. Substitute vinegarfor the bleach by soaking the pots for a few hours longer. The final soak and rinse should be with a dish detergent solution. Then, rinse pots thoroughly and let them dry in the sun if possible.

Repair and Enhance

Fixing Cracks or Holes in Your Planters and Pots
If there are any cracks or holes in the planters, patch them up to prevent soil and water loss. Given the material your pots are made of, you could use silicone, epoxy, or even bondo. But you may have to paint your planters and pots if your repairs are unsightly due to the size of the repair.

Adding Drainage Holes to Your Planters and Pots
If the planters do not have drainage holes, drill some to prevent water logging and root rot. However, you may not be able to drill through clay or ceramic pots without cracking or breaking them.  

Repainting Your Planters and Pots
If the planters are looking worn out, you can paint them to give them a fresh look. Actually this is something we do often, especially to add a pop of color. Here is an example of a set we just completed for this spring:

Let the Gardening Begin

Filling Your Planters and Pots with New Soil
Fill the planters with fresh, high-quality potting soil to provide the best growing environment for your plants. 

Planting Your Planters and Pots
Choose plants that are appropriate for the size and type of planters you have, and plant them according to their specific needs.

Seasonal Storage

Storing Your Planters and Pots
If you clean your pots at the end of the growing season, you will want to store them until the next growing season. So after they dry, stack and store them in your gardening shed or basement. This is particularly important with clay and ceramic pots. Unglazed clay is porous and can absorb moisture. Freezing and thawing in winter can cause the pots to crack. Even glazed pots can crack if left outside in freezing winter weather. These pots can be costly, so take good care of them! Bring them inside along with any other types of glass or ceramic yard art.

If stacking ceramic pots, wrap them in newspaper to cushion them and prevent chipping. You may wish to use newspaper to stack your plastic pots, especially if you have taken the time to paint them. If need be, plastic pots can be stored outside, but make sure they are covered and out of direct sunlight. Sunlight degrades plastic over time, making it brittle and causing color to fade.

Planters and Pots FAQs

Do I really need to wash old pots?

Whether the pot is plastic, clay, or some other material, debris can accumulate that may harbor disease organisms and mineral deposits will form, potentially causing problems for your plants. It is important to clean and disinfect old pots each time you use them.

Should I wash new plant pots?

Rinse pots thoroughly and soak them in a bucket of clean water until you are ready to use them. Dry clay pots can wick moisture away from the potting medium dehydrating newly potted plants.

Can you clean pots with hydrogen peroxide?

Yes. Mix 2:1 ratio of water to hydrogen peroxide. Pour the solution directly into the pot and swish it around avoiding it leaking out of the drainage holes in the bottom of your pot. Thoroughly wipe the sides of the pot—make sure you wear gloves while doing this. You can also soak your tools in the pot.

What other way can deposits be removed from ceramic pots?

Baking soda works just as well to neutralize and dissolve salt stains. Instead of making a solution for dunking the pots, just add enough water to make a baking soda paste. Rub the paste on the ceramic and then scrub it away with a sponge. As you rinse them off, your pots will look brand new.

Can I clean my plant pots in the dishwasher?

Your dishwasher is another effective tool to clean clay and terracotta pots. Be sure the pots are already free of soil and sand before putting them in your dishwasher. With the heat cycle turned on, dishwashers reach an average temperature of 130-140 degrees Fahrenheit (54-60 degrees Celsius), aiding in sterilization. Avoid the heat the cycle for plastic pots.

Enjoy Nature’s Beauty as One of the Fruits of Your Labor

Once your planters and pots are cleaned and spruced up for a pretty planting summer of gorgeous patio plants, you’ll have to kick back on the patio in your cool patio furniture with a snack and adult beverage and enjoy nature’s beauty as one of the fruits of your labor.

And remember: every day is Friday on the patio!

Please Leave a Comment: Cleaning Your Gardening Planters and Pots for Reuse

Leave a comment below and tell us if this information was of value to you or let us know what we missed and can add to this post. Do you clean your gardening pots after each season? What methods do you use that are different from those suggested here? Please include a photo so we can see how beautiful your potted plants look.

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There is something fascinating about the process of taking all these materials, combining them together and turning them into useable soil, in particular when you can make use of a common item that would otherwise clog our waste stream. Learn how sorting the “garbage in” results in “garbage out” that improves the quality of your gardening soil. Let’s talk cardboard composting. But first . . .

What is Composting?

Composting is an easy way to turn waste into useful soil. Basically you add brown stuff to green stuff with water, air, time and heat and eventually you get compost — dirt that can be rich in nutrients that plants need to grow. Materials that you might otherwise throw away include dead leaves, straw and wood chips, shavings or sawdust (sawdust from wood not chemically treated) along with grass clippings (grass not treated with an insecticide, weedkiller and/or non-organic fertilizer), vegetable scraps, coffee grounds and tea bags. If you are interested in starting to compost, check out our blog post Why Composting is Important and our LivingOnThePatio Starter Kit includes a worksheet for instructions on building an outdoor compost pile (heap). Get it here.

Why Do People Compost?

People begin to compost for various reasons: 

• A city or county may require a reduction in the garbage or trash taken to a landfill. Banning organic waste (leaves, straw, vegetable scraps, etc) reduces that amount by one-third according to the Frontier Group. 
• As more concern grows about global warming, some seek to use composting to reduce their carbon footprint.  
• Others worry about the use of synthetic chemical fertilizers which can deplete the soil in the long run.  
• Most often compost becomes important to the person becoming a gardener or a plant parent as compost can be used as mulch for gardens, fertilizer for potted plants, and as a soil conditioner.  

What Makes Good Compost?

If you, as I am, are looking to use compost to grow vegetables and herbs as well as the blooms in your garden, you will want to make sure that you use certain trash materials that will help your plants thrive. For example, for years I would happily accept any and all of our friends and neighbors’ grass clippings and dried leaves to add to my compost pile — that is, until I learned that one lawn was habitually sprayed with an insecticide, weedkiller and fertilizer. Yikes! This was not what I had in mind for my garden. As I began to pay attention to the source and care of the materials put in my compost, there were some things I learned along the way.

Be Choosy About the “Garbage In”

Know what leaves to compost.

Some leaves compost more effectively than others and the best are those lower in lignin (the chief substance in wood) and higher in calcium and nitrogen. These include maple, elm, ash, birch, cottonwood, poplar, cherry, and other fruit tree leaves which will typically break down in about a year. Avoid the leaves of the black walnut, horse chestnut, beech, oak and holly according to Simple Garden Life. 

Know what paper to compost.

Most of the time, it is recommended that you use untreated paper for your compost. Newspapers work, despite the ink, as do some types of already recycled paper. What about paper with computer, pen, or marker ink or dyes on it? If the ink used is vegetable-based, soy-based, or non-toxic, then it’s safe for the compost according to Green Matters.

Know what tea bags to compost.

The paper used in high quality tea bags is fully compostable. The vast majority of brands on the shelves have mesh tea bags that are composed of 20-30% plastic which will release microplastics and nanoplastics. The string used in standard tea bags is fully compostable. The staple that secures the paper tag to the string is not. The adhesive used to heat-seal the edge of the paper tea bag is not compostable according to Recycle A Cup.

Know what cardboard to compost.

Uncoated boxes (not shiny) with no heavy dyes. Unfortunately, that shiny cardboard is coated with plastic that cannot be composted. Remove all the tape or labels as these are not compostable, either. Shred or tear the cardboard into smaller pieces according to packmojo.com (more on this later).

Ways to Use Cardboard in the Garden

So now what? After learning which materials to be choosy about, it became obvious I was going to have to find another source of “browns”. As you recall from our previous post, browns are the materials high in carbon and low in nitrogen (the opposite of the “greens” which are high in nitrogen and low in carbon). I live in an area where most of the trees are oak and walnut. However, like most, I had an excessive amount of cardboard boxes, and happily turned my attention to cardboard composting.

There are many ways cardboard boxes can be used in your garden as cardboard composting:

1. Small cardboard boxes can be great to start seedlings and protect plants from weeds when the whole box is set in the ground. 
2. Larger boxes can be the base layer in the sheet composting method or the “lasagna method” of compost (uses a layer of cardboard or newspaper positioned in the yard adding soil with mulch on top; the cardboard helps to smother existing weeds and seeds). This method is mostly useful in building up garden beds, especially as it takes longer for the cardboard to break down.

But if your household is like mine, every online purchase brings a box that is a great candidate to become a “brown” in your compost pile. It’s best if the cardboard box can be reduced to smaller pieces. The thing is, have you ever tried to cut, tear or shred a cardboard box by hand? After a while, it’s difficult — my hands hurt either using scissors or trying to tear along the folds, and soaking the boxes in water (a recommendation from packmojo.com) was too messy for me. 

Is Shredding Cardboard Feasible?

Thus began a search for an affordable way to shred cardboard. For all the increase in online purchases as well as the chatter about keeping cardboard out of landfills, it was not an easy task. Cardboard is NOT just lots of paper stuck together. Waste corrugated cardboard is mainly composed of 52% cellulose, 7% hemicellulose, and 11% lignin – think tree trunk material. We tried using a chipper-shredder from a national retailer, thinking that if it could grind up sticks and branches, cardboard should be no problem. It jammed on the first run.  There was a high-end shredder designed for cardboard but it was $700, really for warehouses or distribution centers that apparently reduce lots of boxes daily. So I intensified my online research to find something cheaper; useful for a household but able to shred the cardboard for my cardboard composting pile. We selected the Bonsaii 3S30 and it works great! It’s available at Amazon.com. Look at the lovely shreds destined for the compost heap!

Keep That Shredder Running

The Bonsaii 3S30 does a great job shredding your cardboard boxes, but it needs some maintenance to keep it running in good shape. First, remember to remove all the labels, tape, and staples from your boxes. You will need to cut the cardboard box to a piece the size of the hole at the top of the shredder feed. After you have filled the shredder basket twice, use the Bonsaii Shredder Lubricant Sheet (also available at Amazon.com) to keep the blades well-oiled. Because the shredder produces dust, we make sure to use an air purifier in the same vicinity – we use a MOOKA Air Purifier, available at Amazon.com.

Remember the Other Composting “Don’ts”

• Don’t add fish, meat, dairy products, bones, baked goods, fatty foods or grease to your compost pile. These food scraps do not easily decompose and may attract unwanted animals.
• Don’t use diseased plants or plants that are toxic to other plants. Also, avoid weeds, which produce abundant seeds, because they may not be killed during the composting process.
• Don’t add pet feces or used kitty litter. Although they may eventually break down in compost, they also harbor bacteria, germs, viruses and parasites.
• Don’t use sawdust from treated wood, coal fire ash or synthetic fertilizer, because they can harm your soil and plant health. 
• Don’t add glossy or coated paper. Also, avoid composting sticky labels on fruits and vegetables, because they are not biodegradable. 

Cardboard Composting FAQs

 Is cardboard good for compost?

Yes, you can compost cardboard. In fact, cardboard waste makes up over 31 percent of landfills according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Cardboard composting is a practice that is becoming more popular now that people are beginning to realize the benefits of composting.

How long does it take for cardboard to decompose in compost?

If you do nothing to your large pieces of cardboard, then it can take them naturally about six to eight months to break down completely. Obviously, if you shred your cardboard it will decompose quicker.

Does cardboard need to be shredded for compost?

Cardboard is very good for improving the structure of compost because it helps introduce air pockets. Oxygen is an important ingredient because the composting microbes need it to do their job. In my experience cardboard needs shredding. If it’s not shredded, large sheets will stick together in a big damp mass.

Check It Out

Check out our blog post Why Composting is Important and Our LivingOnThePatio Starter Kit includes a worksheet for instructions on building an outdoor compost pile (heap). Get it here. And remember, every day is Friday on the patio! Kick back with an adult beverage and a snack and watch your garden grow with your own rich compost.

Please Leave a Comment: Cardboard Composting

Leave a comment below and tell us if this information was of value to you or let us know what we missed and can add to this post. Do you compost? Do you practice cardboard composting? If so, how is it working? Do you shred your cardboard? Please post a photo of your compost heap — we’d love to see your garbage!

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Dirt is Not Cheap

Gardeners can spend a lot of money on soil. Bagged dirt, whether organic, potting soil or compost isn’t cheap and it’s a little daunting to think you may have to start from scratch every year. But with a little effort, container garden soil can be reused without worry about contaminating your new beds. 

First know it’s generally okay to reuse potting soil if whatever you were growing in it was healthy. If you had problems with pest or disease, you will want to sterilize it to avoid infecting new plants. And you are going to need some black garbage bags or black plastic storage bins to reuse your soil.

Step 1: Remove Dead Plantings From This Season

Pull out any dead plants that remained healthy and set aside for your compost heap. Turn over your containers’ dirt on old cardboard boxes that have been flattened, if you can. Remove any roots or leaves by finger combing the soil. 

Step 2: Kill Bugs and Pathogens in Your Container Garden Soil

1. If the plants remained healthy in the container:
   Place the soil in black plastic bags, tie them tightly and leave them in the sun for 4-6 weeks. The heat builds up inside the bags just enough to kill bugs and pathogens. We leave our bags in the same area we have the containers (which gets the full sun for 6-8 hours daily), to avoid lugging the bags around too much.
   
2. If the plants did not remain healthy in the container:
   It’s been recommended that you sterilize this potting soil in your oven. Place it in an oven-safe pan, cover with foil, and bake it at 180 to 200 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes. Check the soil temperature with a candy or meat thermometer to make sure it stays below 200 degrees, as higher temperatures can release toxins. When it’s done, take the soil out of the oven and keep it covered until it cools.

Alternative Heat Option
Microwaving is another option. Moisten the potting soil in quart-size, microwavable containers. Cover them with lids with ventilation holes or loose paper towels to allow steam to escape. Heat at full power for about 90 seconds per two pounds of soil. When it’s done, take the soil out of the microwave and cover up the vent holes until it cools.

While we have not personally tried this method, after cooking the soil, I think I would still place it in garbage bags for a period of time AND keep this soil separate, just in case. 

What If Your Container Garden Soil is Contaminated?

If you are reluctant to go through all this trouble to reuse soil that may be ‘contaminated’, you can always use it to fill in your yard holes or level out erosion areas. 

Step 3: Replenish Nutrients in Sterilized Soil

Once the soil has been sterilized, you need to replenish the nutrients that may have been lost in the spring/summer plantings. You can add fertilizer or stir in new potting soil, but personally we would recommend using your own composting.  Store your renewed potting soil in a clean covered trash can or covered plastic buckets until it’s time to plant again. 

Start Planning For Your Next Planting Season

So now you’re in a waiting game. This will give you the time to sit and study your garden area and decide what you’ll do for next season. Will you rearrange your garden? Will you expand your garden? Might you plant something different than you planted last season? While sitting and contemplating your coming-year planting decisions, you might want to enjoy a hot toddy or a cup of cold brew coffee to keep you warm as you muse about how your garden will bloom next spring.

Please Leave a Comment: Container Garden Soil

Leave a comment below and let us know if this information was of value to you or tell us what we missed and can add to this post. Tell us what you may be thinking about for your spring plantings and how you’ll use your renewed soil. We love photos. Add a picture to your comment to let us see your patio/garden area.

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Typically insects find homes anywhere they can, in the ground, under leaves, under rocks, pavers, bricks, any place that provides a safe hiding spot. Insects thrive in rotting wood and leaves, but most of us are not crazy about seeing piles of leaves or wood in our outdoor living spaces. This may mean insects won’t be drawn to our yards or gardens, especially beneficial ones that are good for the garden and eat pests that would otherwise wreck your plants.  And that’s where a bug hotel comes in — placing a bug hotel in yards or gardens significantly increases the chance of these hero insects moving in.

What is a Beneficial Insect?

There are three kinds of beneficial insects that are necessary for a garden or yard to flourish: 

• Pollinators
  These are the bees, butterflies, moths, or wasps that help collect and spread pollen. 
• Predators
  These are ladybugs, praying mantis, lacewings, spiders, and beetles that eat other destructive insects. 
• Decomposers
  These include flies, slugs, beetles, ants, and worms which chew up bits of leaves, dead animals, or dead wood.
  

What is a Bug Hotel?

A bug hotel is an artificial “building” that serves as long-term lodging or a winter hibernation spot for insects. You can hang bug hotels from trees, attach them to fences or stake them to the ground as long as they are near the flower and vegetable gardens. Some bugs prefer full sun, while others like shady spots, so you should consider the kind of insect you want to attract when placing your hotel.

To Buy or DIY Your Bug Hotel

Per the Farmer’s Almanac, beneficial insects have a basic need for water, food, and shelter. By providing these things, your garden will become an inviting home for them. And there’s nothing more inviting than hosting a hotel for the bugs to move into! But whether you buy it, like these from Amazon, Breck’s, and Wind & Weather or make it yourself depends on your inclination and materials you have or can get your hands on. Even if you decide to build your own bug hotel, there are plenty of kits and plans you can use. In fact, we found bug hotels made out of bricks, chicken wire, drain pipes, milk cartons, drawers, palettes, plastic bottles, plant pots, photo frames, popsicle sticks, tires or any combination thereof!

Our DIY Bug Hotel

We had on-hand some old small tires that we were going to use for another project but decided these would work better for the bug hotel.  It was simple really – we attached the tires tread-to-tread, using nuts and bolts.

Then, we placed the hotel on some old slate panels and filled it up with different items, using old PVC pipes, paper towel rolls and bamboo stakes from Amazon as well as plastic plant pots to fill the holes.

Fallen tree bark and old broken bricks completed the project and viola! A bug hotel! 

How to Use Your Bug Hotel

Your hotel should be out during summer when the wildlife is commonly active and protected against wind and rain during winter. Some experts recommend cleaning out and storing the bug hotel in a garden shed; others however, state that an occupied bug hotel should remain outside. Certainly any materials used to fill your bug hotel such cardboard, dried flowers, twine, burlap may need to be replaced each season.

A bug hotel is a simple, easy, and fun way to bring beneficial bugs to your patio garden area. Make yours unique to your garden theme and repurpose materials that have been hanging around your garden shed and/or shop area just waiting to be used. No doubt, in addition to having bugs help your garden grow strong, you will have an intriguing conversation piece to share with your guests while entertaining with food and drink on your patio. Remember, life happens on the patio.

Please Leave a Comment: Bug Hotel

Leave a comment below and tell us if this information was of value to you or tell us what we missed and can add to this post. Let us know what kind of hotel you built or purchased and how successful you think it has been for your garden. Attach a photo so we can see your bug hotel!

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Or, How I Fell in Love With My County Extension Office

So, for years, whenever we moved to a new area (we were diehard vagabonds) and I wanted to get the lowdown on what and how to garden, I was told to contact the local county extension office.  

What is a County Extension Office?

Extension offices are departments located in local counties and universities staffed by university employees and volunteers who are experts in local crops, landscaping, soil, gardening, pests, and more. For example, are your tomatoes sporting weird looking spots on their skin? Call the extension office. Are the leaves of your peppers wilting and withering? Or are roses full of wispy webs? Yes, the extension office can help you.

In our area (Southwestern Virginia), the Extension office website is www.ext.vt.edu or you can call the Master Gardener Help desk at 540 776 7178. To find these offices in other areas or states, you can use this free resource from the Farmer’s Almanac.

Keep Digging to Get the Information You Want

Now, when we first moved to Southwestern Virginia I did check out the extension office website. Unlike other places we’ve lived in however, there did not seem to be the robust library of information and courses for the amateur gardener that I had become accustomed to in other locales. But recently I had a chance to attend a course about Minor Bulbs at our local library and have had my enthusiasm renewed. Let me share with you what I’ve learned.

Minor Bulbs for Your Garden

Minor bulbs are defined as those that are not common or well-known plants that have little or limited hybridization. Because of that, they tend to be less expensive. The plants introduced in this class were placed in the (fun) categories of Bells, Stars, and Firecrackers – the reason for that will be made clear below. Here is summary of part of the information provided in class:

Where to Find Minor Bulbs

Remember, minor bulbs are not common or well-known plants so you probably will not find them in local or regional garden centers or nurseries.  And while no one nursery carries all the bulbs listed here, the following nurseries carry quite a few: 

• Brent and Becky’s Bulbs, Gloucester, VA
  www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com 
  877-661-2852
• K. van Bourgondien, Lawrenceburg, IN 
  www.dutchbulbs.com
  800 552 9996
• Breck’s, Guilford, IN 
  www.brecks.com
  513 354 1511
• John Scheepers, Inc, Bantam, CT
  www.johnscheepers.com
  860 567 0838
• White Flower Farm, Litchfield, CT
  www.whiteflowerfarm.com
  800 503 9624

Why Stars, Bells, and Firecrackers?

Oh, yes! The whole idea of Bells, Stars and Firecrackers is to add one of each category to your garden. And do know that for each of the plants identified above there or other or similar species that could be substituted and used. You can check that out with the nursery you use to order your bulbs.

Plant in Fall for a Spring Surprise!

So, your autumn planting of minor bulbs will net you a colorful spring surprise. Those winter months will be filled with relaxing and gazing at your garden while enjoying a adult winter beverage all with the anticipation of the burst of color that will greet you as the warm spring sunshine awakens your minor bulbs and you literally see the fruit of your autumn labor. Life happens on the patio, right?

Please Leave a Comment: Minor Bulbs

Leave a comment below and tell us if this information was of value to you or tell us what we missed and can add to this post. And tell us what minor bulbs you decided to plant — Bells, Stars, Firecrackers, or a mix of all of them. When they blossom, add a photo so we can see the beautiful fruits of your labor!

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We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post at no extra cost to you if the affiliate links are utilized to make a purchase. Click this link to see all our disclosures.