On Wed, 06 Aug 2003 17:02:54 GMT, Heidi wrote:

Hi,

Does anyone have any recommendations for cleaning pruning shears?

I wipe with alcohol.


After
I cut back much of my boitritis ridden JFK, I dipped my pruners into
straight bleach, wiped off the excess moisture, and left them in the
open position in my garage. The next day my pruners were entirely
rusted.

Welcome to the club. I washed mine once and left them to dry in the
dish drainer. Here is what you do: take a soft cloth and apply
vegetable or olive oil, it took the rust right off of my Felcos.

[...

Should I water down the bleach? Store the pruners inside ( I think the
humidity level in my garage is pretty high--I once tried to store my
gardening gloves in a zip lock bag--the next day they were covered with
mold!).

Heidi, it you use bleach, wipe with it, then wipe dry.



Thanks for any tips!
Heidi

P.S. The JFK has bounced back and is just starting to produce new
healthy blooms. I first cut back the diseased growth and sprayed
Daconil on what little was left of my plant. The Daconil did not seem
to nip the boitritis in it's spotty bottom, so I then tried HALT. The
HALT did the trick and fast.

I wish I could believe JFK is worth all the effort. I have never heard
a single good thing abou this rose. But if you love it, then good for
you for babying it. To each our own!