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Molds Even if you have a really exceptional seed starting medium there will be some problems with mold. The worst that can happen with mold is the development of a long slender type which will walk quickly across the surface of the soil as it grows. This variety of mold will destroy both seeds and seedlings if it is allowed to persist and needs to be destroyed quickly. Briefly raising the acid content of the soil surface will usually stop this sort of mold problem. Many growers recommend sprinkling a small amount of sphagnum moss on the soil surface and drying out the soil surface briefly will help too. We've found that squirting this mold with vinegar is also effective if done twice in 2 days. Too much vinegar will also harm cactus seedlings and it becomes risky to exceed 2 applications of vinegar if seeds are already growing when this kind of mold starts. Garlic oil products designed for repelling insects also can knock out this kind of mold problem too, and these are less likely to harm seedlings than vinegar. Mold can be a very lethal problem to cactus seedlings if allowed to persist in the seed starting medium. They can be brought to the seedlings by insects, but often they are simply the result of a small amount of decomposing organic matter. Seeds that die often turn to fluffy balls of mold and other bits of organic matter in the soil may grow a white fluffy mold too. This problem can usually be fixed simply by removing the bit of organic matter or dead seed before it begins to spread across the soil. As the seedlings begin to grow and the soil can be kept dryer for longer periods of time between waterings, and mold will become less and less of a problem as the seedlings mature. Some seedlings will die and then begin to mold and usually the other seedlings will be unaffected, but it is still a good idea to remove dead moldy seedlings. As a special note: growing Pediocactus and Sclerocactus seeds in a medium that lacks any aggressive kind of mold resistance to begin with will almost always produce little white balls of mold instead of plants. Cacti with larger seeds like Pedios and Scleros are better grown outdoors where mold is much less likely than with indoor growing conditions. These species require more attention to mold prevention that the information given here, but this will cover most mold problems that happen with most cactus seedlings. There are thousands of cactus species that will grow well without molding under lights with sandy soils most people can put together using sand and potting soil.ÊWith the exception of growing Pedios and Scleros most mold problems can be handled if the seedlings are checked daily and the mold problems are addressed quickly. |
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