White fuzzy fungus on my wood mount

[Turtle]

This morning I noticed I have a white fuzzy fungus growing on some areas of my grapewood mount. I do not see anything in the moss or on the orchids; just on areas of exposed wood. Can anyone identify and suggest a treatment?

[myshka]

i've noticed the exact same mold growing on a few spots... i applied some anti-fungal spray, but it's too soon to know if it worked.

[Louder Than Hell]

I'm sorry i cant help you but i take this chance to make my question.
If it's the medium or the mount and not the plant having a mold on it (like in this case) is that dangerous to the plant in short time terms?

[Turtle]

I knew I had read something in conjunction with Garrett juice, I just could not recall what. Now that I've found it, I'll throw it up here.

Horticultural cornmeal (either as a direct soil additive for terrestrial plants, or in a tea for spray) is an anti-fungal agent. Has anyone tried using this?

[Becca]

I have this on one of my epiweb mounts. I use physan 20 and it usually takes care of it, but it seems to be re-occurring so I just continue to treat it. For me it is a problem of high humidity and lack of air movement. It hasn't caused any problems so far since I usually catch it and treat it right away.

[phearamedusa]

I don't know if this would be the same mold or not, but terrariums get a white mold/fungus when they are first getting established. It seems to occur on some of the wood features, but doesn't harm the plants. check out dendroboard.com in the construction section, they don't use anything in the tanks once they are set up for fear of killing the poison dart frogs.

[Ross]

This mold is quite common and pretty harmless to the plant. Left to grow it will lead to decay in the mount. It is usually associated with high humidity or constant wetness. Physan 20 mixed as for treatment of pots or benches (check label for actual proportions) will make short work of it. As Becca suggests, it will return, but repeated applications usually does the trick for a few months.

[orchideric]

Whoa, watch the Physan use. Physan is an algicide/bacteriacide and is not a fungicide. It acts as a surfactant dispelling water and very effectively drying out a surface. Hence, it dries out the fungus and stifles it but does not directly kill the fungus.

For treating non plants - benches, walkways, greenhouse panels, pots, etc. - use 1 Tablespoon per gallon of water.

For treating plants - and mounts with attached plants - use 1 teaspoon per gallon of water maximum.

Better yet, fans are really inexpensive at Walmart and the equivalent. Simply increasing air movement might do the trick.

Hope that helps, Eric

[Turtle]

Just to update, I'm going to be trying a cornmeal treatment on this mount. Plan is to add a dose of the cornmeal juice to the watering bucket at every watering in a hope to stave off and prevent further fungus blooms. I'll let you all know how it turns out.

Ross, the mount is in a terrarium, so the constant humidity is a factor. There is airflow from an installed case fan, but most of it is direct to circulate around the bottom of the tank. This mount is hung high so may not be receiving full benefit. I may consider installing a second one when I next have the tank empty for cleaning.

[Louder Than Hell]

Both of your tanks are huge!
By case fan you mean the computer ones? How are you powering them up?