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Does this look like mold? And what do I do?

Physics202

Physics202

First time starting from seed.  Once sprouted, I put them in the solo cups.  Each solo cup has 3 holes in the bottom, and I have been bottom watering.  I do have a fan that I put on for a few hours a day.  They sit under a T5 that's on for about 12 hours.  I've only watered the plants twice in the week that they have been in the solo cups (Once when I first transplanted, and then once again a couple days ago).  I see some white makes attached to some bits of the soil... Is this mold?  I'm assuming it is.  Now what do I do to kill it?  Peroxide solution and spray?
 
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The mold is harmless if its just the white fuzzy stuff, its probably just bits of wood rotting. If you don't like the look of it scrape it off or till it in gently. Your on the right track with your grow. Don't worry about peroxide, I try to avoid using anything that can harm the microorganisms in the soil. With your watering a good soak and a longer drying period will help drive the roots deeper.
 
This is quite a relief... I'll probably remove the white fuzzy sections.  I was imagining the mold spreading to the plant and destroying it.
 
I have a fan 24x7 on my seedlings. It is on about 4 feet away. Just a steady breeze. Just to keep the air moving.

I wouldn't worry to much. I don't use bark based planting soils for this reason. I use Sunshine #4. Peat moss & Pearlite. My seedling pots have no bottoms on them. Water can just run thru. I will post pics. It also allows you to see the roots. I only water my seedling when the soil is dry. About every 4 to 6 days. My garage is about 77 degrees F with between 37 to 55 % humidity. My plants seem to love it.
 
I have this on some of my seedling's soil every year, never ever had a seedling dying or even underperforming from it.
 
I've had seeds hook in worse mold than that, you know the greenish blue kind?  Yeah.  I still try to knock it out if possible though.
 
I've got the white fuzzies on some of mine too, I poked at it with a stick until it went away, seedlings seem unharmed...so far. I think in my case it's usually the empty seed pod going fuzzy, which is because I let the soil get too wet...shame on me...
 
Here are the pics I promised.

Here is the temp & humidity in my garage. Numbers on the left are current. Numbers on the right are highs & lows from the last 24 hours.

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Here is one of my peppers in a small container. I compact the Sunshine #4 into the container. I then pre wet the soil. In then sets in place. I then take a pepper seed that has a hook, and place it into the container just barely below the surface.

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Here is the what the bottom of my seedling pots look like. It helps me see if the bottom is also dry. You can see the roots in this pic. Plant is big enough to transplant.

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Container has enough taper at the bottom, compacted soil will not fall out.
 
That's a pretty cool set up with the bottoms of the pots cut off.  From this point do they go into the ground, or do you put them into other pots with cut off bottoms.  I think next year I'm going to do things a little different.  I won't be using soil with bark in it.  The fact that it molds just bothers me and I can't imagine it's good, even if It doesn't harm the plants per se.  Thanks for the responses all.
 
Physics202 said:
That's a pretty cool set up with the bottoms of the pots cut off.  From this point do they go into the ground, or do you put them into other pots with cut off bottoms.  I think next year I'm going to do things a little different.  I won't be using soil with bark in it.  The fact that it molds just bothers me and I can't imagine it's good, even if It doesn't harm the plants per se.  Thanks for the responses all.
Click to expand...
I did not cut the bottoms off. I bought them that way from my local hydro shop. He sells a lot of them. I will transfer them the a 5 or 6 inch square pot till they flower, from there to a 15 or 20 gallon pot. Only these seedling pots are like this. The rest have holes for air pruning. I reuse all my seedling pots. I sterilize them in 10% hydrogen peroxide. Then rinse them with water. From there they go into the dishwasher on a hot load with sterilize cycle. No problems with bacteria, fungus, or virus.

Here the humidity in my garage is going down from an air change.

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I picked up the digital thermometer and humidity gage for under $10.00 at Lowes.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_396632-53921-00309_0__?productId=3830957&Ntt=acurite&pl=1&currentURL=%3FNtt%3Dacurite&facetInfo=

I like this one so much, I picked up a second one for inside the house.
 
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