Just an update... Drying things out and keeping the trays outside has worked wonders! Here's a before and after of two pots of Echinocereus polycephalus that were covered in the fungus/mold. Now I can barely see it on any of the pots!
Overall I'm getting a lot of germination in most of my species. Pretty happy and very relieved. I don't think I'm totally out of the woods yet, though. I can still see some scant, thin residual fungus/mold on the pots that were the worst infected, but the heat, light, and dryness seem to be keeping things in check.
Zac's Seedlings 2024
Re: Zac's Seedlings 2024
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Zac
Butte County, CA, USA
USDA Zone 9b
Mediterranean climate; hot, dry, sunny summers with rainy, moist, mild winters.
Zac
Butte County, CA, USA
USDA Zone 9b
Mediterranean climate; hot, dry, sunny summers with rainy, moist, mild winters.
Re: Zac's Seedlings 2024
Congrats!! I’m super inspired by the turn around you’re seeing in those afflicted pots! I’ve had very bad/sporadic luck recovering from a fungal/mold infection. If you get a chance, I’d love to hear exactly what you did to get this turnaround.
Location: Los Angeles, CA
USDA Hardiness Zone: 10b
USDA Hardiness Zone: 10b
Re: Zac's Seedlings 2024
I wish I had some magic bullet, but I just put them outside with the vents open and let them dry out some per Keith's advice. They've been outside (under dense shade cloth) ever since and I've been misting then every day to keep them from getting too dry. I tried spraying them with hydrogen peroxide, Physan 20, chinosol, and copper fungicide, but none of those made any difference at all. This is my third year sowing seeds so I feel more like the recovery was luck and good advice than any reflection on skill on my part.
Things still feel pretty tenuous because I can still see thin whispy fungus/mold strands on the top of my top dressing, but they're obviously significantly improved. A lot of the seeds have germinated at this point and the little plants are just kinda doing their thing regardless of the strands so far. Keep crossing your fingers, though. I really don't feel like I'm out of the woods.
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Zac
Butte County, CA, USA
USDA Zone 9b
Mediterranean climate; hot, dry, sunny summers with rainy, moist, mild winters.
Zac
Butte County, CA, USA
USDA Zone 9b
Mediterranean climate; hot, dry, sunny summers with rainy, moist, mild winters.
Re: Zac's Seedlings 2024
I haven't followed along completely with this thread
But I can tell you this, a spray of Chinosol ot Physan 20 would kill all that fungus instantly
It's really quite simple,
if you cover your seedlings, everything needs to start out sterile, and stay sterile until you open them up and keep them open
But you can also grow seeds with open containers that don't need to be sterile, like Kieth.
I have open beds in my greenhouse that I throw extra seeds in, and some of them grow like crazy, but it doesn't work for some types of plants
So for those, I used sterile covered seed pots
But I can tell you this, a spray of Chinosol ot Physan 20 would kill all that fungus instantly
It's really quite simple,
if you cover your seedlings, everything needs to start out sterile, and stay sterile until you open them up and keep them open
But you can also grow seeds with open containers that don't need to be sterile, like Kieth.
I have open beds in my greenhouse that I throw extra seeds in, and some of them grow like crazy, but it doesn't work for some types of plants
So for those, I used sterile covered seed pots
Re: Zac's Seedlings 2024
Well things seem to be going along ok. I've gotten great germination rates on most of the easier species, and rates ranging from "meh" to "pretty good" on the more difficult ones. The fungus/mold that was initially causing all the problems is completely gone, thankfully. I've been keeping the three trays outside with the humidity domes on but the vents all the way open. They're in an area covered with 40% shade cloth with some other plants I'm still working on getting acclimatized to stronger sun, and the trays are also covered with a 30% shade cloth folded into two layers. I got a little temp/humidity monitor from SensorPush that's working out really well. It's sitting in one of the trays, and I've been able to keep the temps in the domes pretty consistently in the 80's. I'm misting the trays in the morning to keep things moist.
Most of the seeds that have germinated are starting to show their first spines, like these Echinomastus johnsonii here.
So now that the seedlings are getting their spines, would it be time to fertilize them? I use MikeInOz/Steve Johnson's fertilizer regimen so the nitrogen in that is already really reasonable (<50ppm), but I could do an even more dilute feeding if necessary.
There's another thing I'm wondering about. I've had several seedlings get what looks like rust fungus on them and within a couple days rot and die. It's primarily been my Echinocactus polycephalus which I know from bitter experience just how hard these can be to grow. This is probably just par for the course, but I'm wondering if this is something that might be fixed with letting the trays dry out even more? I don't know. I know seedlings need a moist environment, but how moist is too moist? Clearly in the beginning of this batch of seedlings I was way too most, so what do I know. As it stands I'm misting the seedlings in the morning, and 24hrs later the DG top dressing on most of the pots is dry to the touch so I actually thought I wasn't keeping things moist enough.
Thanks to everyone's help while I muddle through this.
Most of the seeds that have germinated are starting to show their first spines, like these Echinomastus johnsonii here.
So now that the seedlings are getting their spines, would it be time to fertilize them? I use MikeInOz/Steve Johnson's fertilizer regimen so the nitrogen in that is already really reasonable (<50ppm), but I could do an even more dilute feeding if necessary.
There's another thing I'm wondering about. I've had several seedlings get what looks like rust fungus on them and within a couple days rot and die. It's primarily been my Echinocactus polycephalus which I know from bitter experience just how hard these can be to grow. This is probably just par for the course, but I'm wondering if this is something that might be fixed with letting the trays dry out even more? I don't know. I know seedlings need a moist environment, but how moist is too moist? Clearly in the beginning of this batch of seedlings I was way too most, so what do I know. As it stands I'm misting the seedlings in the morning, and 24hrs later the DG top dressing on most of the pots is dry to the touch so I actually thought I wasn't keeping things moist enough.
Thanks to everyone's help while I muddle through this.
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Zac
Butte County, CA, USA
USDA Zone 9b
Mediterranean climate; hot, dry, sunny summers with rainy, moist, mild winters.
Zac
Butte County, CA, USA
USDA Zone 9b
Mediterranean climate; hot, dry, sunny summers with rainy, moist, mild winters.
Re: Zac's Seedlings 2024
As it stands I'm misting the seedlings in the morning, and 24hrs later the DG top dressing on most of the pots is dry to the touch so I actually thought I wasn't keeping things moist enough. "
That's what I do and probably your soil is moist right under the top dressing this you don't want to dry out yet. The difficult species IDK they are difficult outside of the desert.
That's what I do and probably your soil is moist right under the top dressing this you don't want to dry out yet. The difficult species IDK they are difficult outside of the desert.
Re: Zac's Seedlings 2024
Another thought regarding rot-prone species, if anyone has an opinion..... Would the droplets of water on the seedlings from after I mist them be a source of rot? Should I be bottom watering to keep the bodies of the plants dry?
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Zac
Butte County, CA, USA
USDA Zone 9b
Mediterranean climate; hot, dry, sunny summers with rainy, moist, mild winters.
Zac
Butte County, CA, USA
USDA Zone 9b
Mediterranean climate; hot, dry, sunny summers with rainy, moist, mild winters.
Re: Zac's Seedlings 2024
Hello Zac,
I don't think remaining droplets of water will present any problems. It might be better (considering CAM will be activated in seedlings that are exposed to differences in night/day moisture) to spray them in the evening, though. I prefer to bottom water all of my seedlings in a way that, when first flecks of moisture appear on the surface, i remove pot with seedlings from the bottom dish containing water. I noticed that this method promotes root growth in seedlings - I like to think it's because they strive to reach deeper layers of soil that retain moisture longer, but I don't really know if that's the actual reason. Since you have multiple pots of seedlings, you may form the test groups and try different methods (spraying vs bottom watering, or both) and find out what works best in your conditions.
Best of luck,
Nino