Recycling nursery pots is one of the many ways you can support the nursery. Reusing pots means we don’t have to buy as many new plastic pots which reduces our costs and helps the environment. Win-win!
Pots 4”– square and 1-gallon round pots are the ones we use most. Use pots from home or get a supply from us.
Remove any leftover potting media and soil. Remove the labels if you can. Pots that are cracked, have damaged rims (hazard), or have heavy mineral stains should be thrown away, along with the potting soil debris.
Wash the pots inside and out. The pots don’t have to be sparkling clean, but obvious plant debris, potting soil, and dirt should be gone. Presoaking and using hot soapy water helps get the caked-on dirt off. Rinse afterward. The point of washing is to remove as much debris as possible so that in the next step debris doesn’t contaminate and deactivate the sanitizing solution.
Sanitize Bring the cleaned-up pots to the nursery where we maintain a tub of sanitizing solution. We’ll take it from there. All recycled pots must be sanitized using a bleach solution per CNPS Best Management Practices. The bleach solution kills plant pathogens that can be devastating to native plants. Thank You!
Photos and descriptions by Rebecca Zettler
