Using soil after cleaning greenhouse with Jeyes Fluid.

I use Jeyes Fluid to clean my greenhouse at the end of the season. This job is planned for tomorrow. The greenhouse has soil beds which obviously get soaked in the Jeyes solution ( don’t use a large amount). I use some of the soil to pot up plants to be sold in my charity plant sale but can’t remember if I need to wait after cleaning before using it? I should remember as done it for years but can’t! By using the top 2 or 3 inches of greenhouse soil it allows room for me to replace with manure or other soil to prevent any build up of disease that might affect my tomatoes etc. It is also reasonably warm and dry to work with over the winter months. Hope someone can advise me. Thanks.

 

Can you cover the beds with plastic sheeting @hailbopp? Those cheap ones used for home decorating might work.

 

Thanks, I do have some plastic sheeting and could use some cloches which would cover most of the soil but would make the cleaning a bit tricky. Maybe I could cover some of it and use that first, leaving the soil that gets soaked for a while.

 

I assume the new jayes is less toxic than the original, you used to be able to "sterilise" soil with the old one but you had to leave it a few weeks before planting.

Does the instruction have anything about it?

The amount that actually gets into the soil is minimal I would have thought bearing in mind the dilution.

 

Thanks, clown, never thought of looking on the tin! I’ve had the Jeyes for about 6 years as only use it for the greenhouse. Will go and have a look. Do you know when Jeyes changed formula?

 

If its black its probably the old stuff, if its green its the new stuff.
The can still says original.

 

It’s black, hardly dare say that word for fear of being accused of being racially prejudice! You’re certainly a fund of useless oh sorry useful information. Presuming therefore my Jeyes is actually of some use being old stuff and I may need to wait a bit? Nothing on the tin to advise one way or tother.

 

Yes, well I think before they changed the formula they actually stopped telling you all the old things it used to be used for.

old can on left, new one on right.

 

I guess it's like armillotox which used to claim it could kill honey fungus, then just became a general disinfectant. Probably due to "Elf and Safety"

 

Can you remove the soil before cleaning the greenhouse @hailbopp ?

 

Yes - as @pete says, the new stuff is less 'toxic' @hailbopp, if that's the right word, It's also less effective! I mainly use it for the bins, or old containers or similar that might be really manky. I don't use a lot, but I got some of the new stuff a few years ago, and it definitely isn't as effective.

I wonder if you could use the plastic sheeting, and then water the edges where it would run off, just to dilute it, and get it away quicker? Maybe if you can't remove the soil, you could pile it up into the centre of the beds a bit, so that the exposed soil would be deeper too.

 

Of course there is always the option of being careful and not going at it like a bull at a gate and splashing it everywhere.

It can't be super toxic as I used to water brassica with it in a vain attempt to ward off club root.

 

Maybe this will assist you in deciding whether/how it may be used for your purpose: OLD FORMULA 2013
https://www.birdbrand.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/DI007-1-JEYES-FLUID-MSDS-2004908_EN.pdf
NEW FORMULA 2022
https://www.futures-supplies.co.uk/...ZGPubopaGmTdWB54Dd1LGcJQLmFKOnmw5GjmuUV3umblV

 

The older formulation was essentially a by product of coke production, like the original cresote and contains a range of chemicals from coal tar.
The modern material is mainly D-Glucopyranose, oligomeric, decyl octyl glycosides (comes from corn syrup) and C12-16 Alkyldimethylbenzylammonium chloride a biocidal surfactant plus formic acid and lactic acid to adjust the acidity. All of these chemicals can be found in many household products.
Also the original was sold as an outdoor cleaner and the modern modern material is described as a hard surface cleaner.
The regulations changed and all of these garden chemicals had to be tested and certified to be sold to the public. For cheap things like Jeyes Fluid, winter tar oil wash, creosote, Armillatox and Dax Root Out it wasn't economical to put through the testing and to be honest the first 4 I mentioned would not have passed under any circumstances. So Jeyes fluid and Creosote were reformulated to pass the tests which pretty much means they are relatively safe, but not that effective.

 

Might as well use dettol.