Jeyes fluid

B3

I'm thinking that people believe  that the worse it smells, the better it works. That's why they add a pungent  smell  and a brown dye to disinfectant which works just as well if it's clear and odourless.

pansyface

Er, maybe, but in this case it’s made from coal tar and it really is brown and foul smelling.🤔

B3

And that's why people think it works

pansyface

It clearly “works” if the manufacturers feel it necessary to issue the following warnings, among many others

Lyn

Some people used to love Wright’s Coal Tar soap, I couldn’t stand the smell of it. 

amancalledgeorge

I rather like Pears soap which again divides opinion...but using such indiscriminate poisons for gardening purposes seems perverse. 

gerddi.ephraim

wow. It kills every living thing, except damping off. Thanks. Will revert to the washing up faff. and will check out the link. Appreciate the tips etc.

gerddi.ephraim

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=151
The recommendation is to use new trays for seeds. Out of the question for me, so will have to disinfect the ones I use every year.

amancalledgeorge

I'd use a weak solution of bleach if you want to make sure any spores are eliminated @gerddi.ephraim but definitely reuse the trays...a total waste to keep using new ones.

Singing Gardener

I've never even washed my seed trays and pots and have no problem with damping off. The only time I used to get damping off was when I used water from the water butts to water the seeds rather than tap water.