Fungicide on seedlings?

[Waiting]

My neighbor started her seeds using some potting soil from a bag that sat around open for a couple of years, now there's lots of white mold growing. Is it ok to hit it with some fungicide?

Thanks,

gary

[Scooty]

which fungicide?

[Worth1]

One part hydrogen peroxide to 9 or10 parts water more or less will work fine.
It doesn't have to be exact.

[clkeiper]

are they covered? put an oscillating fan on the starts and fry them out some.

[Ironwood]

If you are talking white mold on the leaves it is most likely powdery mildew from the cool temps and low RH. Spray with 1 tsp baking soda to a gallon of water.

If it is on the soil I would think it is beneficial. If it bothers you follow Worth1 advice.

Happy growing!

[bower]

I would follow Worth's advice and just fine mist the surface to crush the mold, repeat if it returns. I have seen white mold on potting soil surface a few times, and also found some damping off of the affected seedlings later on. So I think it is not benign and/or a sign of other problems.


You can also dust the surface with cinnamon after misting. It has some (reported) antifungal activity but also is rich in salicylates which give the plants a little immune boost, may help to prevent trouble. And smells good, of course.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by bower

I would follow Worth's advice and just fine mist the surface to crush the mold, repeat if it returns. I have seen white mold on potting soil surface a few times, and also found some damping off of the affected seedlings later on. So I think it is not benign and/or a sign of other problems.


You can also dust the surface with cinnamon after misting. It has some (reported) antifungal activity but also is rich in salicylates which give the plants a little immune boost, may help to prevent trouble. And smells good, of course.

I learned the hard way about cinnamon.
It killed the yeast in some of my homemade cinnamon rolls.
I used too much.

It made cinnamon rocks

[Waiting]

Thanks for the replies. The mold is on the surface (and probably below) of the potting soil. It doesn't look benign, the plants seem to have stopped growing after it appeared. I'll tell her about the bleach. I have some "Green Cure" I thought we might try but we'll try the bleach first.

[greenthumbomaha]

I've never experienced this personally, but I have had green mold grow when I used paper cups for an extended length of time. If the above low cost treatments don't work, I would suggest tossing the batch, disinfecting the tray , and starting fresh. You have lost nothing but a few seeds. The cost of buying a fungicide would far outweigh buying a few mini peat pots and having a nice fresh environment to do further gardening. You might consider working outside or using a mask when you spray the mold as a precaution. It is a good idea to protect yourself when working with potting mix in general, but many here take shortcuts. Unfortunately respiratory infections have been reported by a few of us , but we all seem to think it won't happen to us. Guilty myself.


- Lisa

[Waiting]

Thanks, Lisa. I just bought a bunch of dust masks and will make sure she wears one.

[decherdt]

I have switched from cinnamon to dilute peroxide and am happier with peroxide. Less of a mess and no surface crusting. I even pre treat the cells of seed starting mix with the peroxide days ahead sowing

[oakley]

I also use dilute peroxide.
Vintage soil is such a no-no. Tragic really. Totally destroys early root growth. At least my experience. Happened to me in 2017 using a starting mix from big box store. Old stock.
I started peppers and some toms early. Nothing corrected the problem.

I had to order from amazon and start over. The new trays flourished and the others I kept
tending for a while but ended up tossing.

If I ever see soil trouble especially in young starts I start over immediately. Not worth the
worry. Always good to have back-ups anyway. Seeds are cheap.

[Gardeneer]

I dust my seedlings soil top with cinnamon, mainly to prevent fungai. I do water from bottom. So the top stays relatively dry. An ocasional small fan running can help.
Now, that is for indoors. Once outside i just spray for fungal diseases.

[clkeiper]

Originally Posted by clkeiper

are they covered? put an oscillating fan on the starts and fry them out some.

*DRY them out. not fry them out. the edit button isn't there to fix that now. sorry. that looked terrible. I would never recommend one frying their plants to fix a problem.

[Waiting]

Originally Posted by clkeiper

*DRY them out. not fry them out. the edit button isn't there to fix that now. sorry. that looked terrible. I would never recommend one frying their plants to fix a problem.

Took me a minute but I put the "wheel-of-fortune" side of my brain in gear and figured it out