A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2005 sterilizing plants

how would i sterilize a plant, to make sure there was NO fertilizer, NO insects, and NO pesticides on it or in the soil.

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other than rooting a plant in water, i don't know how you would do that. why would you want to?

I don't know if I "sterilized" it, but I was given a potted rose bush that had Black Spot really bad & I took it out of the pot & THOROUGHLY washed the roots off (in my driveway, away from other plants). I sprayed straight #### on the roots & re-potted it in a fresh pot with new soil, then kept it watered (with #### solution only for about 2 weeks). I took the pot, all the diseased leaves, & the soil that the plant came in, to the dump... which may have been an extreme move, but I didn't want the contamination anywhere in my yard! The rose didn't seem to root-shock from my harsh treatment, & it perked right up & flourished in a short time! I'll be transplanting it to a permanent location, now that I know it's healthy.

If I have a plant that shows symptoms of a disease or is sick from over-fertilizing or other chemical mistreatment, I have the attitude that if I lose it by doing something harsh to it, "OH WELL! If the plants in my yard can't be healthy & happy I don't want them here anyway!"

But then again, what do I know?... I'm so new at this stuff that maybe the success in my methods has been dumb beginners luck & might not work ever again, once I know all the "rules"!

I don't know about roses..I am just learning after recieving a rosebush for mother's day this year..But I do have simular attitude about some plants...I recieved a car trunk full of Iris from some friends who picked them up out of the trash where someone else had dug them all out of their yard. I trimmed every root and also soaked them in some diluted bleach water...LOL...hopefully killing fungus etc....Most of them survived with no ill effects, but I do understand your feelings about this...I am glad your rose bush seemed to make it.

i want to put live plants in with my hermit crabs. there cannot be any chemicals around the crabs. no chemical fertilizers, no pesticides (they are related to spiders) and just no chemicals.

Maybe fake floral adornments like you would get at a pet store would be the better option.

if you want live plants, your best bet is to root some on water. then using fresh compost or good peat, you can plant them. that seems to be about your only option.

i already have fake plants in with them. i want to try real ones, have a sort of terrarium/crabarium or something.