Preferred method to sanitize tools?

General Fruit Growing
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I usually wipe down my knife and shears with isopropyl alcohol before and after cutting anything I’ve recently acquired, but I tend to be less careful once I’ve had time to observe them grow, and may only wipe them down at the start and finish of grafting or pruning. But I’m wondering what other people’s practices are, and whether I should consider any other type of sanitizer.

I know that many pathogens can be spread by tools, such as fireblight, Verticillium, and some viruses and viroids, and isopropyl is not necessarily effective for all pathogens, especially viruses and viroids. E.g., sodium hypochlorite is recommended by UC-ANR as an effective way to sanitize tools to limit the spread of the avocado sunblotch viroid:

https://ipm.ucanr.edu/agriculture/avocado/sunblotch/

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This is a myth. However, cleaning tools is very important for many pathogens including others you mentioned.

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Is there any particular sanitizer you use and recommend as part of the cleaning process?

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I use alcohol in a small mouth spray bottle.

Curious to hear about Paracetic Acid made from h202 and vinegar.

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i use 70% isopropyl in and old glas deo/perfume spray bottle, spray it on my knifes/tools. Let it set/evaporate for a few min. And than use a tissue or toilet paper to wipe clean. I like the toilet paper, since i just bury it and let it compost in the garden. Tissue’s don’t degrade as quick.

From what i understood just wiping down does not sterilize as good as letting iso evaporate/set for a few min. I usually take 2-4 pruners with me. Prune as many tree’s as i got prunes than clean em all. Rinse repeat.

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I use 70% alcohol and recently I have used hand sanitizer.

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I just wash mine with soap and water when finished using and before I’ll wipe them down with hydrogen peroxide. I am more careful with certain trees but for the most part pretty laissez-faire

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70% isopropyl when I do it at all; I’m not as disciplined as I should be. I don’t seem to have a lot of disease pressure, so I’m just lucky. I suppose a person could spray on the alcohol and then dry with a propane torch …

I don’t like using bleach because it’s corrosive and the smell is annoying.

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9

I soak a few folded up paper towls in alcohol and store them in separate ziploc snack bags and keep the in my pocket.

I need a spray bottle… that would be easier.

I use clorox bleach and dish soap and hot water… when cleaning up potts or planters that were used in previous years to grow something.

Ginseng seed (stratified) purchased from a commercial grower… should be soaked for 10 minutes in a 10% clorox/water solution and any floaters removed.

Just a couple situations where I do use clorox bleach.

TNHunter

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10

Bleach and 90% alcohol

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70% Alcohol works better than 90% as studies show the added water in 70% allows for better penetration into bacteria and slows the evaporation rate. 90% can flash off before completely killing the bacteria.

Some viruses, most notably the Norovirus, don’t die from any strength alcohol. But it can be easily washed away with soap and water. The Covid virus is easily killed at 60%.

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12

If I use something,it’s Lysol,after listening to a local radio gardening show.

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used 1/10th bleach solution but found it pitted my new pruning saw blade in a hurry! I put it in a mister bottle and took it right out in the nursery thinking a neat idea to prevent fireblight from spreading if I used it between cuts when I found fireblight in early June.

Tried windex with ammonia and no damage to my saw or pruning blade. But not sure if this product works ok to sterilize. It was fast and I had it so I gave it a try.

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rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle. i don’t clean completely until im finished then spray/ wipe then spray and let evap. on its own.

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15

I carry a can of lysol and paper towels as well. I just clean them after I cut something that’s dead/infected and in-between each tree.

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16

I wonder if WD-40 has any santizing properties. I like to spray my nippers down with that.

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17

Alcohol and/or bleach for me. I sanitize before cutting each variety. Similar requirements with tomato seed which I always wash in dilute bleach. I can tell a difference with resulting healthier plants.

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18

What dilution percentage are you using for seed?

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i occasionally hit mine with that to prevent rust.

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I mix bleach and water at 1 part bleach to 5 parts water. Since most bleach as sold is about 5%, my mix results in about 1% sodium hypochlorite. My process is to ferment seed 3 days in a closed container, wash and strain with water including spraying while in the strainer to remove all remaining pulp, put seed in a clear plastic cup, add enough bleach/water to submerge the seed, leave for 30 to 40 seconds, then rinse, strain, and spray again to remove the bleach. It won’t do anything about infections that are inside the seed, but it goes a long way toward removing anything on the seed coat. When seed are clean and rinsed, I dump them onto a paper plate (do NOT use plastic!) and let them dry for a couple of weeks.

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