indoor Mold problems with potted indoor pepper plants

Northpole69

Northpole69

I cannot seem to win the war against white fluffy mold/fungus.  I spray it with 1/9 Hp 3% spray, I spray it with strong (cooled off) brewed chamomile tea, nothing works the white fluffy mold/fungus comes back to the soil surface no matter what.  The HP works maybe for a day, maybe 2 and then blam, the white fluffy shit comes back.  Plus I can never seem to keep the surface bone dry for a prolonged period of time because I have to constantly spray it with water/HP3% spray!  I notice when I use fish emulsion in the soil it springs up the next day or so especially!  I did just repot again with a lot of fish emulsion and it seems like fungus love fish emulsion because everytime I put it in the soil lots of white fluffy mold/fungus the next day or 2.
 
 
I grow my peppers indoors under a light.  How do I kill this white fluffy mold/fungus?????  
 
moruga welder said:
any pics my friend ?
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unfortunately I sprayed them down with the HP spray and the fuzz went away.  It'll probably be back tomorrow when I get home from work though.  Ill take a pic then.  
 
By the way, these plants are really pissed off after the transplant, I hope they get happy again.  Leaves kind of wilted and new leaves arent growing like banshees as they were before, hopefully the energy is going into growing roots.
 
Ive decided to put them in the grow tub for 12 hours a day and the other 12 hours let them hang out on my kitchen table
 
lol, when i saw mold in the heading I knew who it was.  you need to post pics for any real solutions but too wet for too long is my guess.  you need to let them dry out a bit and overwatering new transplants  (which spraying with a peroxide spray counts as watering) will kill them.
 
The mold will just keep coming back unless you let the surface of the soil dry out. Scrape off the mold and increase the air flow. Don't water for several days.
 
Along as the top soil says too wet you will have mold. Try watering from below, if you have good soil the cappilary effect should more or less distribute the water. Putting some sand on top also help to swiftly dry out the soil.
 
Hi Northpole. Out here in Washington mold is our state flower. Anywhere the air flow is not sufficient, relative to the temperature and humidity, it'll mold. Theres a possibility that your home is not ventilating as well as it could be and if thats the problem you might try opening a window a little bit or running your bathroom and/or kitchen fan 24-7 for a week or so to see if that helps. Another option would be to get a dehumidifier.
 
Sometimes just having a fan blowing directly on the plants will do the trick too. It'd be a good idea to make sure your dryer vent pipe is properly connected at both ends. Your refrigerator might even have a water pan under it that catches condensate. Check for water leaks in your pluming and dripping faucets. You could even have a leak under the house.
 
I see on weather underground that the humidity, outside, in Virginia Beach is around only 37% (Compared to 93% here) so I dont think thats your problem. In my opinion the problem is coming from inside your home. 
 
http://www.wunderground.com/q/zmw:23450.1.99999?MR=1
 
Another thing to consider is your soil. Some soil amendments and fertilizers will encourage mold by retaining excessive moisture, especially indoors. Iv seen cottonseed meal, on the surface, mold in my garden outdoors. Theres always the possibility that there was mold growing in the soil when you brought it home too. 
 
Hope you get it figured soon. Have a great day.
 
On edit:
I agree with the advise to stop spraying because its only making the problem worse instead of better. Only water when they need it and dont allow water to drain out the bottom of the pot, use a eye dropper if you have super small pots. A spray bottle can deliver water to the exact spot its needed and you can meter the water perfectly with it to.
 
Post pics!
 
I generally get mold when conditions are too moist with a lack of airflow. Scrape the surface mold like kahuna said and even breaking up the soil the first few inches on the top lessens the risk.(a plastic disposable fork works great)
Also let your soil dry out between watering. Under watering is always easier to deal with than over watering which can rot\ruin plants and you'll have a heck of a time getting them back to normal
 
MarianneW said:
Spray with neem then let it get as dry as your plant can tolerate before you water again.

Edit: thanks autocorrect.
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Neem is the nuclear bomb of organic solutions.  It kills almost everything even beneficial soil microbes which are imperitive for healthy soil.  I would look for other solutions first, and use sparingly when other methods failed.  here comes the sermon :pray:  Nature has developed mutually beneficial inter-species relationships since life began on this planet. Even the things we call problems (parasites, mold, tomato stealing neighbors) have their place in the greater good. as gardeners we are taking an organism (plant) out of the loop and placing it into a type of surragacy.  What we must remeber is that every organism we exclude from the loop becomes a job we now must perform.  Kill your soil and you take on the job of one billion bacteria per tsp of soil alone. too much work for me.
 
moruga welder said:
any pics my friend ?
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It actually looks a lot better than it did yesterday now after spraying it up with HP last night.  All my plants had some fluffy white fungus/mold on top of their soil I was combatting in their SOLO cups before I transplanted them.  This pic is 3-4 days after transplant into way bigger container and I used a ton of fish emulsion liquid and bone meal powder, my whole apartment smells like a barn now.....
 
Anyways, here is the plant that has it the worst, I am assuming it is growing underneath the soil coming from the solo cup rootball as it had been having issues with mold that I was combatting every few days.  I truly think Fish Emulsion has something to do with making this white fungus/mold thrive because I noticed when I tried using it with the SOLO cups the day or 2 after was kind of the same way.
 
Anyways, here is the worst one:
 
http://s428.photobucket.com/user/Kurt_Easton/media/20151124_173005_zpspud4yw5e.jpg.html
 
 
Obviously cut down watering yada yada, what can I do to kill it and stop it from respawning back so much?  Or will it die down as the fish emulsion leaches out the soil?
 
Thanks for all your help everyone!
 
Topsmoke said:
Neem is the nuclear bomb of organic solutions.  It kills almost everything even beneficial soil microbes which are imperitive for healthy soil.  I would look for other solutions first, and use sparingly when other methods failed.  here comes the sermon :pray:  Nature has developed mutually beneficial inter-species relationships since life began on this planet. Even the things we call problems (parasites, mold, tomato stealing neighbors) have their place in the greater good. as gardeners we are taking an organism (plant) out of the loop and placing it into a type of surragacy.  What we must remeber is that every organism we exclude from the loop becomes a job we now must perform.  Kill your soil and you take on the job of one billion bacteria per tsp of soil alone. too much work for me.
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Yeah, of course. If it were outside, absolutely. This is inside in a small pot that he's not trying to build a food web in and the fungal part of the balance is out of control, indicating that the other parts of the soil system aren't working, likely because they aren't there. This is a problem with several different solutions, they may as well know about their options.
 
MarianneW said:
Yeah, of course. If it were outside, absolutely. This is inside in a small pot that he's not trying to build a food web in and the fungal part of the balance is out of control, indicating that the other parts of the soil system aren't working, likely because they aren't there. This is a problem with several different solutions, they may as well know about their options.
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i ordered neem oil last night online
 
http://www.gardeners.com/buy/neem-oil-spray-aphid-and-fungus-control/8586855.html?SC=BNA7200A
 
Ya its pretty bad, worse than I realized, the fungus is all the way through the plant soil to the hole on the bottom.  Is it too late?  
 
Any serious help would be appreciated...
 
http://s428.photobucket.com/user/Kurt_Easton/media/20151124_221556_zpsdmv1ndf3.jpg.html
 
The soil is like a brick too, I just dumped 8oz of applecider vinegar, hp and chamomile tea and its just sitting on the surface, the mold on the bottom hasnt even gotten touched by the liquid on the soil.  
 
 
Was it too much bonemeal?
 
What do I do?
 
MarianneW said:
Yeah, of course. If it were outside, absolutely. This is inside in a small pot that he's not trying to build a food web in and the fungal part of the balance is out of control, indicating that the other parts of the soil system aren't working, likely because they aren't there. This is a problem with several different solutions, they may as well know about their options.
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thats my point exactly, why wouldnt you try to build as much of a food web as possible? even in a pot healthy soil is jammin with life. Much love Northpole69 but you need to ease up a bit and let the plants do their thing without interfering. your over-thinking this Bro.
 
Topsmoke said:
thats my point exactly, why wouldnt you try to build as much of a food web as possible? even in a pot healthy soil is jammin with life. Much love Northpole69 but you need to ease up a bit and let the plants do their thing without interfering. your over-thinking this Bro.
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that white fungus all over the drainage hole is normal?
 
whats the makeup of your potting soil ?   1/3 perlite  min. one can't emphasize that enough . i have yet have a container come close too those .      :onfire:
 
moruga welder said:
whats the makeup of your potting soil ?   1/3 perlite  min. one can't emphasize that enough . i have yet have a container come close too those .      :onfire:
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Scotts potting mix and seed starter mix.  I think I way over did the bone meal and the fish emulsion doing the transplant into the bigger container on an already existing (small) fungus issue of the solo cup root ball
 
Northpole69 said:
that white fungus all over the drainage hole is normal?
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No, not normal. That means there's lots of rot for fungus to eat. My guess is that you're not trying to experiment with complex organic gardening indoors in pots, you just want to keep your plant alive this winter so you can plant it out in the spring.

How is your plant doing through all of this? If you've got that bad of a fungus issue, you may want to pull it out, toss the old mix & pot, wash off all mix from the roots, dip the roots in neem mix, and repot in a new pot with new mix, sans all of the additives you used. After you repot, water from the bottom occasionally and toss in some dissolved fertilizer sometimes and you'll have better luck.

I'm allergic to mold, I get why you wouldn't want festering moldy pot in your house. I wouldn't either!
 
The mold at the base could be localized as there is zero air movement there and its moist so not all is lost. Look up Daconil, powerful stuff but rated for use on edibles...just wouldn't go crazy with it and follow the instructions. Good luck.
 
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