Mold/white fluff problem on seedlings

10 years ago

Hi,
I have 3 different problems that may or may not be related. It's kind of hard to see from the photos so I've circled them.

1. the first started a while back. I bought some little cardboard pots (Jiffy) and after my seedlings got their second set of leaves I transferred them into the pots. The look great, they don't seem to be suffering but on the outside of the little pots is a blueish mold. Is this something I should be concerned about?

2. I noticed this last week. A couple of my seedlings have little white blotches on the leaves. When I say a couple I really mean 2 out of 50 so not a wide spread problem at this point. And they don't seem to Should I be concerned?

3. I did my last transfer of seedlings from cells to pots last weekend and A) decided to use chopsticks to mark my plants also B) fertilized them. A week later I am seeing white "fluff" around the chopstick and in one instance, around the plant.
Am I keeping them too moist? Is there a problem with the fertilizer? I used it at about 1/3 strength. This is the fertilizer I used. I have compost tea on the way but not until the end of May or so.

Sorry for the upside down image.

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Comments (5)

digdirt2
10 years ago
All the problems are due to the peat pots and you'll find many discussions here about the problems with using them so pardon me if I don't go into great detail again. The search will pull them all up for you to read if interested.

They stay too wet, they wick water away from the plant roots and dry out the surface soil tricking the grower into over-watering, and they grow molds and mildews. So basically yes, you are keeping them too moist/overwatering or watering too frequently. Cut way back on watering and let them dry out more and all the symptoms will do away on their own.

If they can be transplanted out to the garden soon, no problem. If not then you need to get them out of the peat pots and into plastic containers. And when you plant them in the garden be sure to remove ALL the peat pot, do not leave the plants in them and put them in the ground like the manufacturer claims you can do.

Dave
party_music50
10 years ago
agree -- it's the peat pots AND the bamboo chopsticks. :)
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alanna1001
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks!! I'll move them to plastic containers next weekend as I won't be planting them outdoors until the end of May.
digdirt2
10 years ago
Hmmm, started them way too early huh? ;-)

Dave
alanna1001
Original Author
10 years ago
Well I planted the first batch (8-10 weeks before last frost) March 19th based on last frost being may 9 but I've been told that I'd be crazy to plant them outside before the May long weekend which is the weekend of the 21st. It's an extra couple of weeks, it shouldn't kill them right?