soil mold? HELP!

[joedirte]

ive been growing my own for a couple months now and my plants seem happy.i planted in this "organic sunshine" composted soil in 1 gallon pots. grow area is very well ventilated, under fluros, 89F and 65%RH.
then tonight, through the drainage holes, i noticed some white spots on the soil that appear to be mold. is it?! WTF! i didnt sign up for this! if it is mold, is it dangerous to my plants? how do i get rid of it? how did it get here? does it have a name? i looked all over the FAQs and they only talk of root rot(which may ensue.) any suggestions?
oh and this is only on 2-3 of 10 plants but it will probably spread if i dont do anything ( i dont know what to do)

joedirte Reviewed by joedirte on 06-20-2008. soil mold? HELP! ive been growing my own for a couple months now and my plants seem happy.i planted in this "organic sunshine" composted soil in 1 gallon pots. grow area is very well ventilated, under fluros, 89F and 65%RH. then tonight, through the drainage holes, i noticed some white spots on the soil that appear to be mold. is it?! WTF! i didnt sign up for this! if it is mold, is it dangerous to my plants? how do i get rid of it? how did it get here? does it have a name? i looked all over the FAQs and they Rating: 5

[DrSpoof]

not sure how to get rid of soil mold but I will say that you need to knock your RH down below 60%, thats prolly part of the problem right there

DrSpiggs

[keeko]

not sure how to get rid of soil mold but I will say that you need to knock your RH down below 60%, thats prolly part of the problem right there

DrSpiggs

agreed, knock down your temp and humidity

[joedirte]

thanks ima get a dehumidifier soon and i think i may have to replace my AC because it does not have a humidity setting/dehumidifier feature.
a small, couple pint dehumidifer oughta work for a 180 sq ft closet i hope

[Revanche21]

not sure but I would guess that using some hydrogen peroxide mixed with some water would do the trick. I use it in my DWC so im sure you can use it in your soil setup.

[joedirte]

k so i got a 45 pint dehumidifier for a 150 bucks. ive placed it next to my AC unit and got my temp down to 78F and RH down to 50%.
now all i need to do is kill that mold. im thinking about spaying the infected sites with a 5% bleach solution (or hydrogen peroxide,) keeping the soil relatively dry, and hopefully transplaning soon into some better soil. any suggestions appreciated.

[keeko]

id stay away from the bleach......a little mold on the surface isint too much to worry about. with organic soil its common to get fugus growing on top of your soil if you dont let it dry out well enough.

[blink_inc]

How effective is the drainage.
You say you can see the soil so the holes must be big enough.
What size are the pots and do you have drainage holes on the sides as well as bottom?
My initial thought is that your soil is not draining properly.
Do you have fans in the area?
Do you let the soil dry out between waterings?

[joedirte]

couldnt find any peroxide so i sprayed the drainage holes with a 5% bleach sloution (the holes are about 1"x1/2" and a 1gallon black pot) and for now that seems to have killed the mold. ill let you know if i see any funny side effects.

transplanted one of them and i did see a few little blotches of white mold growing on teh sides of the root ball. not really infecting the roots, so i just pulled away a little more dirt than usual, and into "super soil" (and 40%perlite). i did not see any mold on the surface of the soil.

i think i was watering too much at once (a 1/2 gallon between 10, 2 week old seedlings) because i didnt want to waste my nutrients. which brings me to my next question. can you mix a half gallon of nutrient soultion and use it over the next couple days? will the solution hold its nutritional properties and not spoil? im using fox farm grow big and big bloom, thrive alive B1 and a half teaspoon of epsom salt. thanks for your help everyone.

[blink_inc]

Ia the white "mold" actually mold or is it salt buildup? Have you looked at it under a magnifier?