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soil Green algae on soil surface

NorTexChiliJs

NorTexChiliJs

Okay ORGANIC chiliheads,

My question is about the common green growth that forms on the soils surface of our seed trays and small containers. Maybe indoor or hydro growers have similar problems.

I had a few seedlings with this growth and I buried the plug and stem almost to the cotyledons. And of course, that did not solve the problem... :( :(


I have heard about corn meal... BUT Cornmeal is an antifungal which means it will kill the mycorizae and other "beneficial" bacteria in the soil..

I have seen the hydrogen peroxide solution but have "heard" that hydrogen peroxide kills living cells, So I'm assuming that isn't great either????



Are there any strictly ALL-ORGANIC gardeners out there who have a solution for this??

Thanks for any info!

Happy growing!!



edit for spelling
 
I'm not a total organic grower, I try where I can but am not strict, but here are my thoughts.
If you have some algae or moss on your soil, before planting you should scrape it off to prevent it from still growing.
I get a bit of slime on my rockwool cubes when starting indoors but when I plant them it doesnt keep growing. I have heard you can use cinnamon powder to prevent it.
I'm not sure how bad your problem is, but perhaps if it is bad you might be overwatering? Pic would be good.
 
i get algae on my rockwool as well, it dosent hurt anything. if it bothers you, kill it with chlorine, or cover all the soil with panda plastic or something similar to cut off the light.
 
A real diluted solution of peroxide then cover the area with some newspaper. I have to do the same thing today for one tray.
 
i wouldn't do the cormeal thing, then you'll get the white fuzzies.

i love algae, i keep a healthy amount in my aquarium then fish it out into a pail with some aquarium water, give it a touch of molassess and in a few days use it for watering. i am currently drying the last batch to mix into my soil.

i do get it agrowing naturally on my rockwool and occassionaly on my soil plants, i am guessing you are top watering your plants?

algae grows from a combination of light, water and nutrients(these may be already in your soil or it could be from fertilizer you have added to the water). it could be the nutrients that remain on the top of the soil....shows the benefit of bottom watering as a lot of nutrients may never get to your plants roots.

i just use a tooth pick and turn the soil.
 
I was just thinking about that too. I am also getting green algae on the soil in my seed trays. I'll prob remove with qtip and not top water them anymore. What does cinnamon do?
 
NorTexChiliJs said:
I have seen the hydrogen peroxide solution but have "heard" that hydrogen peroxide kills living cells, So I'm assuming that isn't great either????

Are there any strictly ALL-ORGANIC gardeners out there who have a solution for this??
Click to expand...

Organic solutions:

oscillating fan--keeps top of soil drier
bottom water--keeps top of soil drier
chamomile tea--use weak solution supposed to prevent fungus

and....

hydrogen peroxide. I always thought it WAS organic, consists of hydrogen and oxygen (H2O2). Organic heads, please correct me if this is wrong!

I use one Tablespoon (of the 3% solution most commonly found on the pharmacy shelf)--put that in 300 ml purified water--a cup of water and change) for most purposes. Use a spritzer type of spray bottle to apply.
 
Datil Patch said:
Peroxide will kill the mycorrhiza.
Click to expand...

ok, thanks for that. Does that mean a 1/20th dilution of a 3% solution of hydrogen peroxide is a killer of beneficial cool critters in the soil and thus negates it as an organic substance?

Not trying to be cute, just wondering.... :cool: This is my first year growing seeds indoors and before now had heard a lot of positives.
 
i cant comment on whether or not peroxide is organic, but i think its logical to assume that a peroxide concentration able to kill the algae will kill the soil fungi and neat nitrogen fixing bacteria.
 
Siliman said:
ok, thanks for that. Does that mean a 1/20th dilution of a 3% solution of hydrogen peroxide is a killer of beneficial cool critters in the soil and thus negates it as an organic substance?

Not trying to be cute, just wondering.... :cool: This is my first year growing seeds indoors and before now had heard a lot of positives.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure peroxide will kill pretty much anything, bacteria, fungi...

...But, it doesn't kill everything everywhere. It has to be in high enough concentration for a sufficient period of time to get into every nook and cranny of the soil. So if you just need it to kill some algae, which should be on the top of the soil, I think it could be achieved without harming the rest of the soil critters by just spritzing it on the top.

I have no idea whether or not that would be considered "organic" though.
 
@Datil Patch, QQ and Flakes: thanks for the insights. I made an ASSumption about H202 that bears more research. Though I'm not an organic purist, I think I will be cutting back and re-thinking this stuff. I want them little tiny fellers down in the soil working for me.

@NorTexChili, pardon the mini-hijack....still got Chamomile as an option.... :cool:
 
PepperJam said:
I was just thinking about that too. I am also getting green algae on the soil in my seed trays. I'll prob remove with qtip and not top water them anymore. What does cinnamon do?
Click to expand...

I can't quite remember why they say cinnamon works, I think it is like an antibacterial thing. It's supposed to help damping off too. Wish I could remember where I read it.
 
The algae on the top of your soil won't hurt your plants. In fact, it's actually telling you your soil is staying too wet. If you want to get rid of it just let the soil dry out a couple of times between waterings and it should disappear.

Alan
 
My friends, you need to spread a little "Vermiculite" over the top. You just need to cover the top. It's a trick that a lot of the big growers use. I saw it on a youtube video.
 
Old fashioned sun should take care of it, letting the surface dry out, that is, if you're in an area that gets useful sun.
 
Organic doesn't really mean anything, except that in chemistry organic is any chemical that contains carbon. So, who really knows what "organic" is supposed to mean when it comes to gardening, there is no consensus...so the "organic" labeling obsession people have these days doesn't make any sense to me. Hydrogen peroxide is present in rainwater, so it seems pretty natural to me...
 
Avon Barksdale said:
Organic doesn't really mean anything, except that in chemistry organic is any chemical that contains carbon. So, who really knows what "organic" is supposed to mean when it comes to gardening, there is no consensus...so the "organic" labeling obsession people have these days doesn't make any sense to me. Hydrogen peroxide is present in rainwater, so it seems pretty natural to me...
Click to expand...

As far as I understand it, "organic" would mean you only use what "occurs" naturally - and in the way it occurs. Like - if there's peroxide in rainwater, you use rainwater, not peroxide...if there's nitrogen in poop, you use poop, not some sort of nitrogen fert. :lol:
 
My thoughts on “organics” are simple:

To be an “organic” gardener, one doesn’t use manmade chemicals and or compounds. Now, manmade doesn’t include the harvesting of “organic” materials. It is the manufacturing of these chemicals and or compounds that are then added into the gardening products. If I were a commercial grower then I would be obligated to define the term “organic” in much greater detail.
 
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