In a message dated 8/31/04 4:05:46 AM, Roberts Flower Supply writes: > I would suggest rather than firing your pot over again at 900 F that a soak > in 20% hydrochloric acid (muriatic acid) will kill all your bugs but also > remove all the salt out of your clay pot. > Sorry to differ with you, and here I think I am on firmer ground than with 8 foot tubes. I used to sterilize all my pots with bleach solution. The past ten years or so I have been sterilizing the clay pots and metal stakes in the self cleaning oven, which I believe gets to 700 deg. F. Sterilizing metal in bleach solution was too corrosive. Unfortunately, high heat destroys galvanizing and stainless steel rust resistance, but the alternative is worse. I found that in a hard water area, the sodium hypochlorite in bleach combined with calcium in the water to saturate the pot with calcium chloride or something similar, which is poisonous to plants. It killed the roots wherever they touched the pot. I may not be exactly right about the chemistry, but I could see the results. Cleaning the pots in the self cleaning oven is harmless and efficient. The oven doesn't care in the least. Iris
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