The easiest, most convenient way to treat garden utensils is with Lysol disinfecting spray. Recommended by the Garden Professors.

Semi-sterilize? Huh, sorry, but is that akin to sort of pregnant? IME, it's either sterile or it's not, period.

I just wipe w/ alcohol & be done w/ it. I think you may be overthinking this, sorry, just my 2 cents.

@karensternberg According the studies I found so far, even if you use Clorox, true sterility takes at least four minutes of surface contact. Comparing Clorox, Hydrogen Peroxide, Lysol, and Alcohol, alcohol is by far the least sterile. So I think you are setting up an incorrect standard for sterility.

I understand your point about convenience. But you are contradicting yourself by demanding sterility ("it's either sterile or it's not") and then using the least sterilizing material possible (alcohol).

Clorox definitely kills most pathogens on contact. It's definitely more effective than Lysol or Hydrogen Peroxide. But that effectiveness comes at a price. It's very toxic stuff. It smells and it's gas is harmful to the lungs. It's potentially harmful to plants if it gets into the soil. I use it as a very effective weed killer.

Hydrogen Peroxide, to contrast, is nearly harmless to humans and plants both. It's cheap cheap cheap. The question is whether it is good enough for this application. That's not overthinking. That's just a simple question.

Hydrogen peroxide kills tissue, I don't recommend application on open plant or human wounds.

Bleach does take around 5 minutes but you only need a small quantity. It can be diluted and used.

One of the big downsides to bleach is corrosion. It tears up steel implements. Bleach is obvious so it gets recommended. But Lysol works really well and isn't corrosive.

If you want to be perfect, get a pressure canner and autoclave your tools between cuts.

@Nil13 I definitely want "safe, easy, and good enough" over "perfect".

I just use alcohol.

Me too, alcohol. I use the little pre-wrapped alcohol packets you can buy in the store since I don’t cut much. If alcohol is good enough to wipe an arm for an injection, it’s good enough for a cactus.

I just use alcohol, too. When I used to grow orchids, I was told to use either Clorox or to flame the blades with a torch. I used to have a small one that's used for creme brulee. Not that I ever made creme brulee. Another alternative was to use disposable razor blades.

The recommendation of horticulturists is to use alcohol or a household disinfectant like Lysol. They provide adequate sterilization of plant pathogens without the corrosive effect of things like bleach or TSP and are easy to use in the field.

Remember this is plant care, not surgery on humans, and the need to be as precisely sanitized in the garden compared to the operating room leaves a lot of room for flexibility.

I have always used alcohol for this purpose and in my business, I come into contact with some pretty deadly plant pathogens and have never encountered an issue when cleaning tools with alcohol.

UV sterilization is also an option. I have a portable unit for water treatment.

Wouldn't soap and water work just fine too?

I am skeptical flame is very effective because most pathogens are quite resilient and the temperature/duration is so brief. Also if bleach corrosion is a concern to tool longevity then ruining the metal temper may be too.

I use alcohol, but I have used ammonia in a pinch. I suppose you could also buy Betadine (iodine) swabs, but that seems like overkill to me.

Lysol spray triggers some sort of allergic reaction for me, but I can and do use the wipes around the house. So that is a good thing for me to know.

After surgery, I sprinkle with sulfur. Cinnamon is good, too, but in our humid weather it molds! Who knew? LOL

Interesting that no one here is using hydrogen peroxide. It's cheaper than Lysol and probably equally effective. You can load it into a generic spray bottle and it is convenient. You cannot expose it to light for a long period, but just load the bottle the same day you are going to use it. Why are people avoiding hydrogen peroxide?

Hydrogen Peroxide is also corrosive. Issue with H2O2 is how quickly it breaks down. Once a bottle is opened and some of it is used, even if kept in the dark it will continue to break down (albeit more slowly). Therefore, by a small bottle and use it all within a short period of time.

The issue with degree of sterility depends upon just what one is trying to prevent. For fungi and bacteria, simpler, less thorough methods are typically fine. However, with viruses more complete methods may be necessary. With orchids, the main concern is the transmissions of certain plant viruses. Several of these pathogens would not be affected by alcohol or the flame from a butane/alcohol flame. (The latter don't get hot enough.)

I typically use disposable razors. They're cheap. Afterwards, I dry them off and toss them in a tin which goes in the oven. Next time I bake, they get "cooked".

If it helps, the Clorox company sells hydrogen peroxide for use as a professional disinfectant in hospitals.

@dchall right, hydrogen peroxide is the standard cleaner in hospitals. Unlike Clorox, it is relatively benign and if you get some on your hands and accidentally swallow that, it is not really worth worrying about. I find I can spray hydrogen peroxide liberally on everything, including my skin and my plants, and I have never had a skin reaction from that.

I think peroxide has a bark that is worse than its bite, whereas something like Clorox is just really aggressive and you don't want it on your hands at all. Peroxide matches the gardening activity for me because I just don't have to invest a lot of time worrying about the procedure for its use. I can be very sloppy with it. I can fail to clean it up. It degrades to water quickly in the environment.

I imagine thousands of plants are cut off with zero sterilization and do just fine. But if it's a special plant and a person really wants to propagate a new one, it's wise to do.