Home By Jack Kertesz Sterilizing Pruning Tools

Sterilizing Pruning Tools

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Sterilized Pruning Tools: Nuisance or Necessity? by Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott, Washington State University Puyallup Research and Extension Center. (pdf post)

Excerpts from a Feb-2020 discussion:

Aaron Parker: I have always used rubbing alcohol. What i have heard is that to be really effective you need to put it on and let it evaporate dry before using again, so wiping with a rag or paper towel usually works better then spraying it on.

Jack Kertesz: Still looking into this and no one seems to reach agreement on the subject of disinfecting tools (though everyone agrees this is NOT sterilization.)

Dollar store has little spray bottles of isopropyl alcohol. Small, cheap, effective, and easy to apply.
Most people would recommend wire brush treatment first to remove any gummed on wood.
One arborist mentions using tea tree, several recommend heat from a torch applied an inch away from the blade, with a fairly quick coverage can work, but they do say that a heat gun is much safer. One guys take:
OK, here’s what I found thus far. The way the process is described in the published study I found, they’re recommending keeping the end of the torch approximately 1 inch away from the blade and moving it back and forth over the length of the blade. Doing this for 10 seconds killed 95% of pathogens, while doing it for 40 seconds killed 100%. Others go to multiple blades for a job with a soaking station and a rotation.

This wikipedia article mentions a Lysol Power and Free product that is mainly hydrogen peroxide. It goes into other detail, somewhat gory and alarming, regarding the toxicity of the regular formula. (less to people)
I thought the previous article was pretty good but typically looked to alternatives rather shallowly in scope. 
So if WE were looking for anti-viral, anti bacterial or anti fungal products there would be these options:
extracts of:

  • black walnut husks
  • calendula
  • garlic
  • osage orange bark
  • Amur Cork tree root
  • Japanese Honeysuckle

and a much longer list that may have potential not just for disinfecting tools. Mostly this goes back to my curiosity of how to find a local substitute for Neem.
But I also think that Mark Fulford’s approach of loading the plant with a bunch of nutrient supporting sprays and soil applications sounds promising. Can we get together to follow up on a visit to Mark’s and maybe other sites?
I still find Michael Phillips spraying protocols to be beyond the small growers capacity to comply. And then their are those untended trees that produce marketable fruit. Is there room here for grant supported research? I feel a little like a pest but I think that you know where I’m coming from.

C.J. Walke: In recent years, I have been buying those isopropyl alcohol wipes that come in a tub.  Mostly for cleaning grafting knives, but also pruning tools.  I used to keep a spray bottle of 10% bleach, but that definitely corrodes the metal quickly.  This article makes me think Lysol or Pine-Sol is the better way to go.  I’ll look to see if those come in a wipe rather than a bottle.

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