White mold on net pot

Hi everyone. New poster here :). I migrated over from GC on the suggestion of a couple of (former) posters over there.

I've got 6 plants growing in a drip-feed DWC hydro set up under CFL's. They're on their 24th day of growing now and despite several attempts to kill them (it's my second grow attempt and first time at hydro lol) they seem to be doing well.

Three days ago, though, I discovered that one of the net pots had a small patch of white mold growing on the side. The mold is growing on the cocoa fiber insert. It's not anywhere near the plant itself. I wiped it down and the poured H2O2 over the entire area. But it seems to be coming back as of this morning, so I need some better ideas. I don't want this spreading into the reservoir and to the other plants.

Relevant data (before anyone asks) -
pH - I try to keep it adjusted to about 5.6, but it's been fluctuating somewhat. I know that some fluctuation is normal, but I'm not sure if what I've been dealing with is.

nutes - using the Lucas formula - currently on 0-5-10 ratio for vegetation. As of this morning the reservoir was at 640ppm.

lighting - as mentioned CFL - a single 32 watt bulb over each plant, 6k lumens total.

temps - are running on the high side - usually around 89-91.

humidity - low 20-25% (I'm in Colorado - that's considered very humid for us lol).

So anyway...suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Not mold, it's salt! :D I've seen that commonly on coco and rapidrooters even- you actually get salt crystals building up as the nute solution evaporates off exposed bits!
Feel it... a bit hard? Crunchy, even?
Keep an eye on your plants for signs of stress, fert burn, lockouts... include a flush in your feeding schedule every so often... and beyond that, don't worry too much!
That shit creeped me out to the first time I saw it and then I was like, oh f'real, it must be time to flush!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by stinkyattic

Not mold, it's salt! :D I've seen that commonly on coco and rapidrooters even- you actually get salt crystals building up as the nute solution evaporates off exposed bits!
Feel it... a bit hard? Crunchy, even?

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No, it's not salt. I *do* have salt on some of the clay pebbles in the other pots, especially around the edges. This is definitely mold - long hairy fibers, not crystals. It's soft and slimy to the touch.

Oh okay then well gross to the max.
Hm. I have never had to deal with mold- with any luck someone more experienced will chime in, but your real problems start when the mold attacks the ROOTS, and I have a hunch that the type of mold to be growing on coco fibre isn't going to want to go after the roots. From what I understand about soil fungi- the mycorrhizal sort- there are fibrous types that would somewhat fit your description, except for the slimy bit- and they aren't harmful; rather, they process dead organic matter and make it nutritionally available to the plants.
So I think that until you get a better opinion on this, you should focus on monitoring the plants' appearance, and just generally keep your system as clean as you can (remove dead leaves, keep air flow moving across the surface of your hydroton)- which are things that you should do anyway. My hunch is not to be too too worried about the mold ...