Live Plants in Quarantine?

[lisordactyl]

Hey!

I'm just wondering how you effectively quarantine live plants? I'm thinking about getting a few marimo moss balls for Cliffords new tank, but when I googled 'quarantining plants', I didn't manage to find one answer and some methods seemed questionable to me - bathing the plants in vodka, for example :lol:

I would be grateful for any suggestions!

 

[Jennewt]

There are several methods for sterilizing plants, but all of them have some chance of damaging the plant itself. I hadn't heard about using vodka, but that actually sounds plausible. The two methods I've seen are diluted bleach and potassium permanganate. I've never actually used either method, I've just kept new plants separate for a couple of weeks and looked closely for any obvious invaders (snails, hydra, etc).

 

[lisordactyl]

When I thought about it a little more, it did seem that a lot of quarantining involved 'sterilizing', so I guess vodka does kind of make sense, though I couldn't imagine buying a bottle of Smirnoff for it :lol:! I also read about using diluted bleach and washing powder. I was just concerned as it seems like they'd harm the plants and as you said there's a chance that could happen.

I think I'll just do what you do and keep them separate for a few weeks and keep an eye on them for problems & invaders