Tool disinfection

[0soyoung]

Back on topic:
I think it's all about ease of mind. I mean, working on sick trees is a no-go to begin with.

So, I bought a $500 acer shirasawanum 'Golden Full Moon' maple and planted it in my yard: it is healthy and drop-dead gorgeous all season long. In the next season, a branch dies circa the summer solstice. I remove the dead part of that branch with my trusty little saw. Later, I see little orange dots near where I had cut. I remove this chunk of branch, put it in a bag and take it to my nearby horticultural expert. He identifies it to be nectria canker.

Well, because this is a low branch, the tree is dead early into its third season in my landscape. Toward the end of that growing season, I notice little orange dots on an acer palmatum in my yard. Hmmm, I remember sawing off part of that branch last year. Now that I think about it, I used that saw on another palmatum - it is also displaying nectria fruiting bodies! No others. ,Next year I am at a garden center and notice nectria fruiting bodies on a bargain priced acer palmatum. I bring it to an attendant's attention. The attendant pulls her pruners out of her trusty holster and snips off the branch just below the area of the fruiting bodies and comments that she sees it frequently and I shouldn't worry because they routinely snip if off like she just did (I thought then, and continue to think, I know how I got an infected tree and then infected trees).

MORAL = How do you know the tree isn't infected?

 

[Gustavo Martins]

Thanks everyone for all your replies

I didn't know bleach was corrosive... Better change that.

OK. We know it is impossible to ensure complete sterilization. But... do we really need to? We are not working in a lab and we probably do not need sterilized tools... Our trees are not sterilized either.

However, I do feel that a little sanitation goes a long way to prevent some diseases. Why do we wash our hands before eating? This single action saves a lot of problems and our hands are not sterilized either.

So yes, I think we should (I will) to the best of our ability, try to minimize the potential spread of some noxious bacteria/fungus.

 

[hemmy]

Two fact sheets on disinfecting. I spray and wipe with Lysol, then alcohol to drive off water and oil before storing. But I doubt anything short of soaking really sterilizes when using a liquid method.

https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/403/2015/03/Pruning.pdf

https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/403/2015/03/cloroxed-clippers.pdf

 

[Dav4]

Fwiw, I have attended scores of workshops and study group sessions with multiple local and Japanese trained professionals and I can't say I've seen any of them disinfect their tools when moving between one tree and another. Granted, they aren't working on THEIR trees and I've never been present to see what happens in their own gardens/nurseries. I personally don't disinfect between trees unless I suspect a pathogen is present and I can't say I've ever knowingly spread any pathogen in the 20 + years I've been doing this... but there's always a first time, I suppose.

 

[Lazylightningny]

My intent to disinfect greatly outnumbers actual practice.

 

[WNC Bonsai]

I agree that most cleaning methods used by homeowners falls well short of sterilization. However a god mechnical wiping with alcohol or even a clean wet cloth or paper towel will mechanically remove a lot of potential cross contamination. That said in a case where you have a diseased tree it is more likely that the spores or bacteria will be transferred by wind, rain, insects, birds, and squirrels than your tools. For examlpe phytopthera often moves downhill in ground water and infects other plants that way. We lost 3 out of 4 new rhodies last year that way. Often the greatest prevention to infection is maintaining vigorus, healthy plants.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

So would soaking the blades in a cup of alcohol for 15 minutes work?

Yes, it should. But that alcohol has to be at least 70% and at most 80% vol/vol.

Wine is considered as 'alcohol' but it doesn't do much good for disinfection. In moderation it can cleanse the soul to some extent though ;-)

In the past I’ve tried bringing up some odd ideas regarding protective effects of foliar endophytes/epiphytes and some other similar oddball ideas without much response, maybe I’ll try again someday now that you’re around. I’m not that knowledgeable about that stuff but interested.

I'm all in favor of this. I keep hearing people talk about mycorrhizae as if it's something magical. Well, it is magical. But that's about the most I've read about it when it comes to bonsai. There's a lot more we should be talking about. Are we providing endo- and ectomycorrhizae? What types, and for which trees? What other kinds of fungi and micro-organisms are beneficial? How do we keep those organisms healthy, which in turn keep our plants healthy? Do people realize that Japanese fermenting (bokashi) doesn't usually work in bonsai soils? I mean, fermentation needs a lack of oxygen. Bonsai needs loads of oxygen.. I've seen people dancing around with bags of bokashi starter, shouting from the rooftops that their trees are finally getting some of that good old good from Japan (bokashi cultures are as ancient as rice fields, so it has a nice ring to it), while they are unaware about how the stuff works. There's a huge knowledge gap if you'd ask me. I'm not all knowing about the stuff either, but I think there's a lot that needs elaboration. I mean, the scientists are pretty convinced that in a 100% non-organic substrate, symbiosis starts to turn into a hostile situation where the fungus is actually depleting the tree of nutrients instead of providing it. That means something.. That actually means a lot! It's part of the reason why organic nutrients are favored. A tree is not just a single tree, it's part of a system. And I'd like to talk more about that on this forum, but this thread isn't the right place for that I suppose.

 

[Cadillactaste]

Spraying my tools...and going to other shrubs in my yard...I have not encountered any on any other landscape area. I did end up burning the shrub because of fear I would one day forget to clean between. Lysol and wiping at least controlled the gall from spreading in my landscape. I will continue what I have done for years. But appreciate the info.

 

[GailC]

What about Chlorhexidine? Would it be any better?

 

[cmeg1]

I always run mine through an open flame before each use.

 

[queenofsheba52]

Wow, what a great thread. I appreciate all the posts; knowledge is power. I'll probably just continue to wipe with alcohol but I'll make sure I use the correct percent.

(Also, I'm always sorry to read when someone loses a tree.)

 

[M. Frary]

We're supposed to keep our tools clean?
Mine get rode hard and put away wet.

 

[AlainK]

I voted "not very often": I disinfect my tools when some of my trees show symptoms of a fungal disease, in the Spring most of the time.

When the trees in summer are healthy, I don't bother.