De-salting pots

Well, as promised yesterday, here is some information on how to salvage those salt-soaked planters. 

Non-porous planters, such as plastic or ceramic, should be scraped cleaned of as much of the salt residue as possible with a sharp knife or scraper.  Be careful, though, not to scratch through the finish or knick the edges of the pot.  This will not only weaken the pot, but will leave openings that can harbor organisms that can cause bacterial, fungal or viral infections in your plants.  Once most of the residue has been scraped clean, wash the pots in a solution of one cup of white vinegar to three cups clean water.  If residue is "stuck" let the pots soak in the vinegar solution for a few minutes and then use a brush to clean away any remaining residue.  Rinse the pots thoroughly, dry, and store or prepare them for re-use (we'll talk about that later in this article).

For porous pots, such as clay, the fertilizer salts actually move into the clay itself so they require a little bit different approach.  You will use the same 1:3 vinegar solution, but you will need to submerge the entire pot into the solution and allow it to soak for 8 to 10 hours, more or less depending on the degree of salt build-up.  After the soaking, brush off any remaining residue, wash the pot thoroughly in the vinegar solution, rinse, and dry.

Preparing pots for re-use is pretty simple, takes only a few hours and will save you a great deal of misery.  Soil and those scratches and nooks and crannies in the pots all can harbor yucky diseases that will make your plants and you miserable.  Prevent the problem by soaking porous pots for 8 hours in a solution of one cup bleach to one gallon of water.  After the soak, remove the pots, rinse, and re-plant.  For non-porous pots, a quick rinse in the bleach solution is sufficient.

While this likely isn't necessary for new pots, it certainly doesn't hurt, either.  I do this, especially if it is a planter that has been stored outside or under plant shelves, or any number of those other very dirty places that garden centers tend to store pots.  :)