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jjgrands1

Help; possible mold on jiffy pods

jjgrands1
12 years ago

Sunday night I planted my seeds on the "Jiffy" dirt pods that expand when you put water in their tray. I have quite a few that are germinating, but tonight I think I may possibly see some mold spores starting on a few of the pods. Is this possible? What should I do? Don't want to loose any of them. Please help.

Comments (4)

  • slowpoke_gardener
    12 years ago

    JJ, I used jiffy mix this year and had some mold, even some toadstools or mushrooms, so far I have lost no plants.
    I am very bad to over water, you may have the same problem.

    I most often just use LC1 potting mix on everything. I doubt that one is better than the other, I just got use to using the LC1.

    Larry

  • miraje
    12 years ago

    Right after I planted my seeds last month, every single peat pellet and seed tray started growing mold. It was a white fuzzy mold that I read was not harmful to the plants. I also found a few remedies both on here and elsewhere on the net that you might try:

    -Sprinkling the surface of the soil with cinnamon or cornmeal
    -Removing any plastic covers from them, even if just temporarily
    -Moving the seedlings to a location with better air circulation

    I did all three of these at the same time, so I can't tell you what works and what doesn't. I will say that my mold problem mostly cleared up though!

  • Okiedawn OK Zone 7
    12 years ago

    Better air circulation generally makes the mold go away.

    Cinnamon or cornmeal may or may not work. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes the mold grows on the cornmeal. I often use Corn Gluten Meal as a pre-emergent weedkiller in my onion beds and if it rains a lot just after I've put out the corn gluten meal, the corn meal grows mold. (The mold doesn't hurt the onions.)

    Watering the peat pellets with chamomile tea the next time they need watering may help with the mold. I don't know why it works, but it does work.

    Keeping the room cool (no warmer than 60-65 degrees) and with good air flow usually helps.

    The mold develops partly because of excess moisture. It takes a lot of water to make the compressed peat pellets swell to their full size and peat will hold that water for ages. When I use peat pellets to start seeds, I usually wet down the pellets so they will swell about 3-7 days before I intend to sow the seeds. Then I let the pellets just sit there uncovered for a few days so they can partially dry out.

    Sometimes, no matter what you do, mold happens. While the mold is generally harmless you do want to try to let the pellets get enough air flow and dry out enough that the mold dries up and goes away.

  • chickencoupe
    12 years ago

    I used paper slips as identification tags. I stuffed them in the dirt with the seed pods. They were not clean and a mold formed from them. However, those plants are fine, thank goodness.