How to “disinfect” pothos?

[Bugs and Herps]

I’m about to set up a bioactive for a gargoyle gecko. I’m ordering most of the plants from the Bio Dude but he was out of stock of pothos so I picked some up at a local nursery. Problem is, I don’t know if there are chemicals in that pothos. The nursery doesn’t use pesticides on their plants but the staff person I asked wasn’t sure if their supplier uses chemicals or not. So if it did have pesticides it’s been without them for a while, but I still want to be safe so I’m gonna use different soil, wipe down the leaves, etc. If anyone on here has any more advice on how to get rid of potential lingering chemicals I would appreciate it.

 

[viper69]

I've heard soaking plants in 10% bleach is good. @Frogdaddy am I right on this?

 

[Scorpiobsession]

I've heard soaking plants in 10% bleach is good.

You can clean the roots in 10% bleach but I'm not sure about the stem and leaves.

 

[Frogdaddy]

I've heard soaking plants in 10% bleach is good. @Frogdaddy am I right on this?

You can clean the roots in 10% bleach but I'm not sure about the stem and leaves.

The bleach is to try and eliminate any invertebrate pests or eggs on your plants. However the soaking and rinsing will help to remove any unwanted chemical residue. You can soak the whole plant in a 10% bleach solution. I've used this countless times to disinfect plants for vivariums. Even supposed clean plants.
Generally the tougher the leaves and stems the better it can withstand the bleach solution. Pothos has a pretty thick and waxy leaf and stem.
All you need is a good 5 minute soak and make sure to rinse really really well. I would use a container you could submerge the whole portion you're disinfecting and then let fresh water overflow for a few minutes to rinse, fill up the container again with fresh water and add a big dose of aquarium dechlorinator. Let it sit for 10 mins and smell for bleach. If you smell bleach repeat the rinse process again.

 

[Bugs and Herps]

Thanks so much, I will use the bleach method!

 

[moricollins]

Here's the method I use for my plants:
https://www.neherpetoculture.com/plantprocessingprocedures

 

[The Snark]

I'm assuming 10% household bleach and 90% water. = .5% chlorine by volume. 50,000 PPM.

 

[Matts inverts]

Try to remove all dirt and rinse with water until clean. Then you get a bucket of water with ten percent bleach and you put the plants in for a couple seconds, then you flip the plant over and put it in the water. Then you want to rinse off the plants and put them in fresh new organic soil. Bio dude has a video if it wasn’t explained good