No, I don't. I just use dish soap with bleach to wash the pots and benches. I just fill up a wheelbarrow with soapy bleach solution to wash the pots, and it goes really fast. I wash the bulbs in water with just a dash of dish soap to break the surface tension. If I do find any kind of rot, I scrape or cut out that part and dust with sulfur. Sometimes, if I think the bulb might not make it, I clean it thoroughly, removing all damaged tissue and twin scale the rest of the bulb, since some of the species I have are in very short supply and I don't want to sacrifice even one bulb. If I have plenty, I just throw the damaged bulb away. In the past I have used Cleary 3336WP, a systemic fungicide, which is very good, but to buy it now I need a pesticide applicator's license and I don't want to go that route. It would be very burdensome to take the classes and file monthly reports for a small business like mine, and I have found these practices I have outlined to work just as well, maybe better. I have two young helpers one day a week who do the washing, and they are very organically oriented, so they have been a good influence. One worked right through her pregnancy in my greenhouses, so I was also motivated to phase out the use of chemical solutions. I have been very pleased with the results. Diana http://www.telosrarebulbs.com/ http://www.thebulbmaven.typepad.com/ > Diana: > > That's great advice. > > Do you disinfect with any commercial product during your cleaning process. > > Arnold > New Jersey > > > On 06/12/13, Diana Chapman wrote: > > I have modified some of the cultural advice posted yesterday and added > some tips on specific species. I will add to this in the future. > > I have had people ask me how I keep my Hippeastrums so healthy. I must > emphasize the yearly repotting and cleaning. We repot all the bulbs in > winter, clean the bulbs, removing any dead tissue, dead roots, and all > the outer dry tunics, scraping off dead material from the basal place. > Sometimes I dust with sulfur when I do this, otherwise not. The pots > are washed, and the benches washed also, and the bulbs repotted in fresh > material with the old potting mix discarded. I used to use fungicides, > but have not had to for the past two years. I keep my bulbs much drier > than most bulbs. The only problem I have had with rots is when the > medium is too moist. There are some species that like moisture (H. > blumenavium, but maybe it's not a Hippeastrum after all!). Old potting > mix gets compacted, fungal disease can build up, so the repotting is > very important. It is a very big job, and my helpers and I do it in the > winter, but my collection is very valuable to me. > > blog: http://www.thebulbmaven.typepad.com/ > > Diana > http://www.telosrarebulbs.com/ > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ >