poll: do you sterilise all your bonsai tools

the trident thread got me thinking - who actually sterilises all the tools they use to cut or carve into their trees ? do some only sterilise a few of their tools but not do them all ie carving bits, power tool heads, chain saw chains !! . how about workshop teachers - do you sterilise every tool between moving from one persons tree to the next - i've seen many demos, workshops etc and never seen any sterilising going on.

or do you believe it is not neccessary?

cheers Marcus

Hi Marcus

I need a option for the poll...yes, but not every time.

Kind regards Yvonne

And I need another: Yes, after working on a tree that I suspect may be diseased.

My answer is the same as Jim's. Only if I've worked on a sick tree.

Hi people.

I got this question. If the tree is "sick" (and I think most of the time it is just neglected or weaken) Is it like people or animal that has some sort of transferable virus that can be transmitted via the use of tools?. I think (just I think) most of the plant deceases are gene based and if pest is the reason pesticide is the answer, and most likely would be transfered to other trees in the same garden with or without the use of the same tools.

...Just curious.

This is the reason I answered never or never will.

regards,
jun

I never did till I started volunteering at the Weyerhauser collection, where it is done after each job is complete before starting on the next. I've carried that over now to my own trees. I use a pint sized spray jar that is 90%
water and 10% alcohol. i use the alcohol that is the highest percentage, if i remember correctly it is 98%?
curious to find what others use to sterilize their tools?

Yvonne Graubaek wrote:Hi Marcus

I need a option for the poll...yes, but not every time.

Kind regards Yvonne

hello Yvonne, this is option 2 i think....yes, but just once in a while

thanks, marcus

i tried to do an edit to add jims option but i dont think it will let me add another catagory, sorry, so the vote for that is still option 2, yes but once in a while (ie just when you suspect a tree)

For the last 24 years i never have sterilized a tool but I do a few club visits and demos so it would be a good practice to do so when working on other peoples trees i think, just to safeguard someone elses tree. it would be such a shame to transfer something ?? from one members tree to another. For that reason i have voted no, but will consider it in the future.

like jun i dont quite know what diseases would pass on tools - bacterial diseases i imagine, and actual physical spores too, so plenty of reason to do it. i'd use a baby sterilising product i think - like Milton fluid as it kills bacteria, fungal spores, viruses etc - as a dip between trees on demos would be the way. I'm not sure that diluted alcohol would do that much as water carries loads of bacteria once its exposed to the air, pure alcohol would be the stuff needed

thanks for the responses,

marcus

One of the marks of a good Arborist or tree surgeon is the little spray bottle of 10% bleach he has hanging from his tool belt, used after each cut, even if its going from branch to branch on the same tree. With a quick wipe of each tool before use and boy does it ever look professional. I attended a class at Cornell in apple tree pruning and the instructor gave a quick spray every time he moved from one tree to the next.

I clean my concave and spherical cutters after I cut anything harvested from the woodlands behind my house until I'm fairly sure its healthy then I don't bother too much, actually that Trident thread reminded me to clean everything with Isopropyl yesterday, and so I did.
-Jay

I do make an effort to spray Lysol on the tools I use after each tree; a tip passed on by a visiting master to our study group. One of the guys hated the smell of the original Lysol so we switched to a scented. It's easier to handle than alcohol and who knows whether it works but none of my bonsai have become infected after cutting.

Also tools are cleaned after every trimming session; 17 years with my original tools! And sharpened at least 2x during growing season!

Best regards,
Norma

Diseases such as Phytophthora, Fusarium, and Verticillum are transmittable via tools. None of them have an easy cure, so prevention is the best option.

I usually use denatured alcohol in a spray bottle in beetween different students trees at lecture demos. At home I have a container in the green house with Liquid anti bacterial dish soap I leave tools in. Oh yea especially when prepairing air layers or grafting.

Mitch

It is a bit complicated to sterilise your bonsai tools, so I only disinfect them with high percent alcohol.

Bye

Norma wrote:I do make an effort to spray Lysol on the tools I use after each tree; a tip passed on by a visiting master to our study group. One of the guys hated the smell of the original Lysol so we switched to a scented. It's easier to handle than alcohol and who knows whether it works but none of my bonsai have become infected after cutting.

I use the same protocol, probably recommended by the same person. Makes sense to me. He showed a black center of a branch that was cut off and said that the disease that made the wood black can infect other cuts, even on the same tree. I want to say he spritzed the cutter each time he made a cut.

[quote="Yvonne Graubaek"]Hi Marcus
I need a option for the poll...yes, but not every time.

I dip my tools in alcohol and wipe them with clean tissue paper after each tree but
not always.
Like when i am cutting young tridents of the same batch it does not happen after each tree.
This is certainly not option 2 i think, so Ivonne has a point there.
Sunip

Hello,
What about a poll on washing hands in between working on different trees?
Sunip