Help, Mold!

[Ocelaris]

I think there was a miscommunication, there's no water on the plant... It's just that the air is too moist, keeping the base of the plants always moist, and also the roots too moist, which lead to decay of the root systems.

I'm not sure what contributed to the outbreak of mold, because everything seemed to be doing very well for a few weeks (paphs) and then started going down hill when the fuzzy mold started in. It's such a small environment that it's easy to have everything to change drastically.


I'm not sure I understand how it can not be too wet. Doesn't mold grow when moisture + nutrients exist? Or does mold only grow on algae byproducts which are decomposing? I can't say I've ever seen mold grow in a fertilizer... I know you say that Algae is harmless, but I'm going to have to disagree if it's creating byproducts which mold is growing on, and encouraging... I may be wrong in this direction, but the algae is thick enough that it's blocking regular water movement when flushing. Before when the medium was clean and clear, it wasn't a problem, but as soon as it started to get infected with algae, and creating by products, is when everything seems to have started to go wrong.

Just my thoughts and observations, I'm not blaming the hydrocoton media, I've used it successfully often, just never with clear pots, which I may try switching to opaque pots after cleaning the plants up.

[Ross]

Just spray Physan 20 on the areas of mold. It will require at least applications a week apart. Also get more air movement. I don't grow under S/H so have no comments there, but your observations on the mold seem correct to me. Mold spores are always around in the air, and mold needs available moisture to get started and thrive. Find a way to lower the humidity and all should improve. BTW, as I stated earlier mold in a orchidarium that is very humid is hard to control - I know from experience. Blow some outside air through the enclosure and the mold will slowly dwindle then disappear.

[Becca]

Originally Posted by Ocelaris

I think there was a miscommunication, there's no water on the plant... It's just that the air is too moist, keeping the base of the plants always moist, and also the roots too moist, which lead to decay of the root systems.

I'm not sure what contributed to the outbreak of mold, because everything seemed to be doing very well for a few weeks (paphs) and then started going down hill when the fuzzy mold started in. It's such a small environment that it's easy to have everything to change drastically.


I'm not sure I understand how it can not be too wet. Doesn't mold grow when moisture + nutrients exist? Or does mold only grow on algae byproducts which are decomposing? I can't say I've ever seen mold grow in a fertilizer... I know you say that Algae is harmless, but I'm going to have to disagree if it's creating byproducts which mold is growing on, and encouraging... I may be wrong in this direction, but the algae is thick enough that it's blocking regular water movement when flushing. Before when the medium was clean and clear, it wasn't a problem, but as soon as it started to get infected with algae, and creating by products, is when everything seems to have started to go wrong.

Just my thoughts and observations, I'm not blaming the hydrocoton media, I've used it successfully often, just never with clear pots, which I may try switching to opaque pots after cleaning the plants up.

I grow several plants in s/h and in an orchidarium. I keep the humidity around 60-70% and I only have an issue with mold growing on one of the plants. I really think you need more air movement in the orchidarium. I run my fans 24/7. I noticed you have a fogger in your orchidarium...how late into the day are you running this (sorry if you posted this info previously). Also, are you letting the humidity drop at night at all? How often are you running your fans? I had problems in the past when I did not use an orchidarium with plants in s/h....due to lack of humidity then, the water was evaporating to quickly through the s/h medium causing root rot problems and mold issues. Since having the proper humidity, I no longer have this issue so I really don't think that the s/h is to moist, the plants will put out roots that will adapt to the s/h. Perhaps the plants that are in it haven't adjusted or just not happy in it? Hope my rambling thoughts help!

Also, I have algae in several of my s/h pots and it doesn't effect the plant what so ever!

[Ocelaris]

I have a 120mm computer fan blowing all the time, but it's probably not enough, had looked at some other fans on charley's greenhouse, but I have a ton of computer fans lying around...

I just changed the humidistat so that it only comes on when the humidity drops <60% humidity during the day... that before it was running all the time, and exhausting the humidity so it would drop it down to 50% when it got over 80%... but it always fluctuated around 70%... technically the same thing, but this I think will be better, less moisture going in. I also have an exhaust fan always pulling air out of the orchidarium.

Again, i've opened the bottom part totally to the house, so the mold HAS to stop, no? it hasn't in the last 2 days, but hopefully it will stop...

It could be the fogger, it is terribly moldy, I change the water every day or two, but it definetly gets nasty, I now have a bucket outside that the fogger sits in, and blows humid air in through a tube.

[Ross]

I'd dump the fogger. That's probably the source of the mold spores. You should be able to hold +70% humidity without it running and with just the interior fan running 24/7. I think you should be able to maintain humidity enough for your plants -you don't have anything needing really high humidity like 90%+ right? Then you can play with running a second PC fan thru-wall for cycles during the day and night. How about 1 hour every 6 hours? (Or 4 times in 24 hours). This should kill the mold.

[Becca]

I agree with what Ross said. I have a fogger as well, it is more of a pain in the you know what and makes a big mess and I have to clean the top glass off alot!