Gardening tool hygiene is often oversimplified in casual advice, and pruning shears are a common example. Soiled blades don't just look bad, they can become a vector that spreads plant disease from one specimen to another. According to an Iowa State University article on how to sanitize pruners and other garden tools, soiled pruning shears aren't merely an example of poor hygiene; it is the tool through which gardeners unintentionally infect plants with various diseases. Moreover, bleach water is not the universal solution that most people think it to be.
The bleach ratio, and its limits
