Mold on sphag in Masdevallia pots.

[Paul Mc]

I am assuming this means I have an overwatering issue and is not normal.

I just noticed it today and I look at them everyday to see if they need watering or not. I've been going about every 3 days between watering, but am beginning to believe that this may be too much based upon the white fuzzy mold growth I'm seeing.

[RosieC]

I don't think this is normal. Mine get Algae but not mold.

I water when I think the moss is just starting to feel dry to the touch. It seems to work well. I also use porous clay pots on some and with those I water when the clay has gone dry but the moss is still just damp.

[Paul Mc]

I'm using pourous white clay but the pots never seem wet. I had read your post before about feeling the sphag to see if it was starting to feel dry to the touch and was following that recommendation. Perhaps I need to let them dry out a just a bit more than what I had originally assumed.

[Daethen]

I wonder if the white clay is allowing the same type of wicking as red clay. My clay (red) always feel damp and many times you can see the level of wet after being watered. Some clay even though not glazed acts like it is.

[RosieC]

I'm wondering the same thing about the clay. There are 'frost resistant' clay pots in the UK. They look just like porous terracotta clay... but they are NOT porous. I'm wondering if these white ones are the same.

If they are porous you would see a definite and quick colour change when you poor water on the clay (it would go darker). If you touch one to water at the base you should see the clay start soaking up the water and going darker higher up than the water is touching.

As to feeling the moss, yes I would say probably let it go a bit drier. It's very difficult to explain what level to let them go to. But one thing I was told before was to feel the moss every day several times a day until it dries completely. Then try and remember what it felt like the day before... that is what it should feel like when it's ready to be watered.

[RJSquirrel]

you get mold bec you dont have enough air flow and/or you had some spores in the moss. when you fertilized it they started to grow. more air and light is the killer of mold. Mold grows in moist damp places high in humidity and no air flow and little light. my guess is your moss doesnt smell so good either. if you smell your media and it smells funky..IT IS FUNKY...

[Paul Mc]

LOL... I have not smelled the media, but I will now. As sensitive as my nose is to smells though I would have thought I would have smelled it.

The clay pot it is in are the Cool Pots that have been mentioned several times here. They were mentioned very lovingly several times by vendors and people in my OS meetings so I bit the bullet. They are purposefully porous to allow for some cooling of the plant inside when moist on the inside. I think it's called evaporative cooling (sorry, I'm not very technical minded so this might be wrong).

I have reduced the amount of times I'm watering to see what affect it will have. The moss is drier today than I usually ever let it get and things seem to be doing fine and the mold drying up.

[RosieC]

Those cool pots are definitely porous and they are partly where I got the idea for using porous clay.

I realised when watering mine yesterday that I let them get dry-ish feeling but not crispy dry which is how they go if you let them dry too much. Glad to hear your mould seems to be drying up slightly.

[Paul Mc]

I'm very glad to report that the mold seems to be going away, and there are new growths emerging on both of them. Before, I had huge leaf drop and bud blast on one, then it produced several new growths then all but one of those died. But since I've reduced the watering they seem to be actually enjoying more. WOW, what a learning curve Masdevallia's are, lol...