Sterilizing terra cotta pots

[Deby53]

I bought a plant from walmart before Christmas & unfortunately didn't look it over very well. It was sick & I'm about ready to give up on it. It has been covered with white stuff. I've sprayed it but the stems are mushy & roots look past saving. My question is, what do I do to sterilize the pot so I can reuse it? I've had it isolated from my other plants. Thanks!
Deby

[gerneveyn]

You could try soaking the pot in a solution of 1 cup of bleach to 1 gallon of water.

sounds like overkill but that may not solve the other problems your plant has. are the white patches bugs? mealy? scale? where do you keep it? dends are pretty resiliant, eventually. more info necessary. or chuck it and buy another one in better condition, a phal is a good starter plant depending on the conditions you can provide.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Sounds like the OP is telling us that the original plant is ready for the trash can, but that she likes the pot. You can sterilize it in the oven, 400F for 2 hrs. from http://www.crittercreeklab.com/ .

[Deby53]

Yup, the plant is ready for the trash can. The pot is fairly new & I want to keep using it. Thanks for your suggetions. Deby

[Ellen]

Has anybody out there tried microwaving? That should sterilize, too, if done properly.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Don't think that would be very good. Microwaving needs water, or a similar polar material that would absorb the energy and heat up. Without water, you will ruin your microwave and do nothing to virus that are essentially dormant genetic material that I doubt has any or enough polar material in its structure.