So, let’s just say you lacked a bit of foresight last season and you’ve got some dirty growing gear to deal with. We’ll share our best methods of getting things cleaned up!
You might be surprised to learn that we mostly avoid using water in much of our gear cleaning, especially our germination gear. Turns out, dirt plus water equals mud. Which, last time I checked, is the polar opposite of clean!
Not to mention, it’s still winter. So, you probably don’t want to be out there wielding that spray hose at below freezing temperatures. And using your kitchen or laundry sink is not a wise thing, since you’ll basically be pumping mud into your home’s pipes and sewage systems.
Our tool of choice, especially for cleaning our germination gear, is an air compressor and spray nozzle. This is a surprisingly effective tool at cleaning seeding trays, 1020 trays, growing pots and many other gardening tools! It avoids the need for water and does a surprisingly good job, plus no surprise ice dams melting in your grow room!
Now, compressed air will still be cold on the hands, especially if you’re doing it in the early season like this. Take the lesson and clean your gear in the summer next time! But, remember, you’re a northerner and bundling up is your business for six+ months out of the year. This ain’t Hawaii, we were built for this kind of stuff!
In case you’re wondering, we don’t practice any kind of mass disinfection or sterilization of our germination gear. When we’ve experienced infections in the past, such as a major fungal outbreak, we do mark the gear with a piece of tape and disinfect only that gear as soon as it’s no longer in use. The way we like to put it is we’re raising plants here, not performing surgery!
So, if you find yourself in a bind in these coming weeks and desperately need to clean your gear, that’s how we roll around here!
