How to clean white stains and algae from terracotta clay pots

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Plant with Matt

Күн бұрын

Пікірлер: 23

@plantwithmatt 2 күн бұрын

Thanks for your comments and questions! Please LIKE and SUBSCRIBE for more tips, tutorials and gardening info.

@c.a.savage5689 10 ай бұрын

Very helpful! Especially the atio quantities of vinegar and water. Thank you!

@plantwithmatt 9 ай бұрын

Thanks, I am glad it was useful.

@RSPBWoodpecker 6 ай бұрын

Thank you for this video and for the quantities of vinegar and water required. I'm currently using clay pots to make greenhouse candle heaters to get nighttime temperatures up to at least 10 Centigrade. They sometimes get covered in soot that washes off but still leaves darker stains. This may or may not work to get them clean. :)

@plantwithmatt 6 ай бұрын

Worth a try. Let me know if it works!

@nevena9627 Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much this was so helpfull! I wanted to ask are mineral deposits bad? Is it better to take them off or it is just a diference in looks?

@plantwithmatt Жыл бұрын

Thank you for the comment. Personally, I have never known the deposits to do any harm to any of my plants but I am sure someone somewhere has grown a type of plant that WAS adversely affected. I clean my pots when the deposits become heavy, but that is just for the appearance of the pot.

@Tony.795 Жыл бұрын

The deposits on the outside shouldn't affect the concentration inside the pot. The compounds are in solution when there is enough water. They then are being drawn outside with the water and deposit on the outside of the pot because the water evaporates there and everything returns to its solid form. This phenomenon is called efflorescence and can also be observed on brick, concrete and stone structures. Fertilizer will cause that as well or even the substrate itself when watering with water that has a low enough pH level.

@bbbonito 3 ай бұрын

Will this work on plastic containers also?

@plantwithmatt 3 ай бұрын

Yes.

@MzKlara 6 ай бұрын

I had one pot with this white stains on it from minerals in the water. Should I let water sit for a day to maybe let the minerals disburse, or should I boil water and use the cooled water?

@plantwithmatt 5 ай бұрын

If your water contains minerals it won't make any difference if you boil the water or let it sit -unfortunately. The only thing you can do is soak the pots in vinegar when the mineral build-up gets heavy. That will probably mean that you will need to clean the pots using this method, more than once per season.

@anthonyrossetti7509 6 ай бұрын

What about the effects on soil PH?

@plantwithmatt 6 ай бұрын

The change in pH is very small and has never affected any of the plant varieties I grow but to be sure, you could give the pot a good rinse with fresh water or soak it in water overnight to deal with any residual vinegar.

@MichaelCutler-rx1xe 4 ай бұрын

We have a really large terracotta pot that we can't put in a bucket, any idea how we can solve the problem?

@plantwithmatt 4 ай бұрын

Good question! I have not thought about outsized pots before. I would try placing the pot on its side and then placing some old rags or towels that were heavily soaked in the solution over the outside of the pot. Don't wring them out, make sure they are good and soggy. Leave for the solution to soak in and then see if the stains / deposits wipe off afterwards. You might have to repeat the process a few times but it will probably work. Goodluck!

@MichaelCutler-rx1xe 4 ай бұрын

@plantwithmatt thanks for your reply. Unfortunately, it's above waist height and extremely heavy so can't move on its side.

@plantwithmatt 4 ай бұрын

@@MichaelCutler-rx1xe A monster of a pot huh? I would say you have two options. Firstly is to spray the vinegar solution onto it and you might have to spray many times as its going to evaporate quickly. The second is to wrap it with the soggy towels or press them up against it, one part / area at a time. You may have to use thick string or even heavy duty cling-film to hold the towels in place. You can get thick plastic for wrapping from a packaging supply company as its used to wrap up boxes on pallets.

@MichaelCutler-rx1xe 4 ай бұрын

@plantwithmatt that's very useful advice, we will try that accordingly. Many thanks!