Mold

[speedyturtle]

Hi everyone,

There are some mold show up in the cuttings I am trying to root. I use the covered with plastic bag method. Does anyone can guide me what I can do to avoid the mold.

Thanks,
AL

[Laaz]

Instead, wrap them in parafilm...

[speedyturtle]

Aug 26, 2019 5:12:08 GMT -5 Laaz said:

Instead, wrap them in parafilm...

It is too late for wrapping. They are in the pot for a week. I read online, ppl said hydrogen peroxide is help. Does anyone tried that before?

Thx,
AL

[david]

The root of the problem (pun intended) is that the soil you used did not drain fast enough. I have never had a mold problem wit cuttings. I use a fast draining soil and I place my cuttings in filtered sunlight to start them. Once mold gets a start you can wipe it off with a alcohol soaked cotton ball....its hard to kill. Best practice is to remove the conditions that allow mold to grow. Dry out soil, sunshine and humidity control. I might try a little sulpher based fungicide (wetable powder) on them also.

[david]

SPEEDY: The addition of sand will make whatever you are using for soil drain faster. The objective is to get the water off the top of your soil as soon as possible.

[speedyturtle]

Thanks for the tip David. I will try that next time. I opened up a bigger hole from the plastic bag, hope that will help the ventilation and keep the moisture level down. I guess I didn't squeeze the coconut coir dry enough. Maybe next time I'll use sand instead of coconut coir as a soil.

[kumin]

In the past I did a lot of rooted cuttings in a shade house. I used a heated sand bed (coarse sand for drainage) along with intermittent fog/mist to maintain moisture and provide cooling. The shade fabric not only provided shading, but also served as a windbreak to reduce desiccation. I never rooted Citrus, mostly rooted hollies(easy)and Magnolia grandiflora, slower and more difficult. The favored conditions are warm substrate (sand) and cool stems to force root initiation while discouraging stem growth until roots have formed. Stem growth before root initiation will deplete cutting energy reserves before roots get a chance to develop.

[speedyturtle]

I just leave them inside my garage with a heat mat on the bottom.