Hi gang! I've got a very wintery problem on my hands. I'm noticing some mold growing in the soil on two of my plants, I wonder what's the best course of action here? It's been happening for a bit and I don't think repotting my plants multiple times a month every time thus happens is sustainable. I spray hydrogen peroxide and a neem oil solution onto the soil, do you think that should be enough to combat the fungus? Any advice greatly appreciated!
I haven’t had to try it yet but I’ve heard sprinkling some cinnamon on the soil helps with that also if the peroxide/neem oil doesn’t work!
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Photos? Without seeing it to verify its mold and the type, I recommend letting the water dry out more before watering again. Bottom water. Lower the humidity. Stop misting or mist less frequently. Use a commercial fungicide. Give it more light and better air circulation to help dry the soil faster. Ensure the pots are sized correctly to just be big enough hold the roots with minimal excess soil. Extra soil takes longer to dry out creating an environment ideal for both fungus and fungus gnats.
2 Likes Hi! Sorry couldn't take a photo yesterday. Here's how it looks on my philo's soil:
Try changing to a soil with better drainage. You can typically add more perlite or other aggregates to increase drainage in addition to the other recommendations for increasing ventilation, etc.
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No. 1 tip for keeping mold away is by ensuring your plant has good ventilation and, most importantly, drainage! I personally used to have quite bad mold issues with just regular potting soil and I couldn’t find any treatment to work. Since then, I have switched all of my plants to a substrate consisting of houseplant potting mix and perlite, mixed in a 1:1 ratio. This has completely fixed my issue and two months down the line I have got no mold! Just be aware you may need to alter your watering schedule if you do this ❤️
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Can you do that to carnivore plants? My fly plant seems to have mold and maybe too wet??
VFT should be in a tray of distilled, RO or Rain water, and hence always be damp. They are very sensitive to fungicides, especially copper or the bacteria based ones... the only fungicides I've used with them successfully are sulfur based or cinnamon. I did do a test of Sierra Naturals fungicid on a few, and I didn't get any adverse reactions. Just scooping it out and increasing circulation helps too
2 Likes I'd get an fan going, to increase circulation, to help along with the spray you're doing. If it's real bad scoop some out
2 Likes Great thank you. As you may have seen I placed a penny in the pot to rid of soil issues. Old wives tale I heard.
2 Likes I think that runs along the line of the copper fungicide. The copper is supposed to kind of leach out into the surrounding soil. I'd just be careful with any carnivorous, since they don't generally do well with copper. But would be fine to try that in a none Carni
3 Likes @Wolfen, did you take horticultural classes in college? I just was looking at all your beautiful plants and am envious! I’m a retired labor and delivery RN. I can do people, but plants are new to me and you have given me wonderful advice that works!! So glad I got this app! Thank you for your advice!!
3 Likes Thank you. I've taken one botany class, which i actually barely passed 🤣 but I grew up with my great grandma and grandparents gardening. My great grandma owned a small greenhouse she'd supply local stores with plants. I was pretty atrocious at indoor plants until like 6-8 yrs ago. But I went full autism mode and bought books and library rentals on different plants and care. Read way to many scientific white papers!! And a lot of experiments to see what works well and what doesn't. But I really enjoy them.
4 Likes Thank you for sharing your knowledge! I don’t have patience to read all that! Not much of a reader.
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