Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Did you miss your activation email?

Username: Password:

Author Topic: Advice on Trichocereus seedling mould welcome!  (Read 4016 times)

OfCows

  • Senior Member
  • Karma: 10
  • Posts: 219
  • Trading Score: +75
  • Glad to be here!
Advice on Trichocereus seedling mould welcome!
« on: May 11, 2018, 06:36:46 PM »

Hi,

I'm currently growing seedlings of various Trichocereus species, using the the Takeaway Tek.

I'm a month or so in with relative success, but have noticed one or two of the seedlings have succumbed to a very localised white fluff-type mold. Could anyone confirm my best course of action in order to salvage the remaining seedlings?

Currently my best thinking is to open the infected tubs, pluck out the poor little mouldy blighters with some tweezers and then seal the tub back up...or is there a better way I'm unaware of?

:) Thanks,

OfCows
« Last Edit: May 11, 2018, 07:15:06 PM by OfCows »
Logged
A man's errors are his portals to discovery...

flip

  • Member
  • Karma: 3
  • Posts: 21
  • For every winter, there will be a spring.
Re: Advice on Trichocereus seedling mould welcome!
« Reply #1 on: May 11, 2018, 08:09:14 PM »

Ah, fungus.

Alright, you're in luck (kinda) as it's white and fluffy it's not a fast runner that's going to spread across the entire surface and attack the rest of the seedlings.

With a clean spoon, I'd dig in and remove the dead sprouts.  That's the fungus's food source that we want to deprive it of.
IF you can determine that there's a mycological matt that's formed under the soil surface, things might get a little more complicated.
But this seems like it's localized.

Look for matting across the surface of your soil medium after the removal of the affected/dead sprouts.

Depending on the development of your seedlings an if they've developed real roots or they're still "fuzzy" at their base.
IF they're still young and "white fuzzy" you can't try out the tub with air exposure.

That's one of the first and easiest things to do with a surface fungus that's living due to the high humidity, is to dry it out.

IF the fungus is diving down into the soil (based on your spoon removal of the substrate) then the drying out isn't going to do the job.

In both cases, I use a little Atheletes foot powder it.   don't pour it on heavy.  but a very light dusting all over the affected areas.

You might try to blow some vs shake and pour...  a powdery mist to coat the affected areas.

That's worked in the past on my seedlings of all types.

It's about as gentile as it can be and if done right will not affect the young seedlings.
As a preventive, air out and lower the humidity in the containers as the plants have germinated and as long as their fine root hairs aren't damaged you'll be fine.
Logged
Ignorance and hubris will be the downfall of us all.
Peace and Respects

OfCows

  • Senior Member
  • Karma: 10
  • Posts: 219
  • Trading Score: +75
  • Glad to be here!
Re: Advice on Trichocereus seedling mould welcome!
« Reply #2 on: May 11, 2018, 08:14:45 PM »

 :D Wow, thank you so much for such a detailed response Flip, I'm going to follow your advice later today so will report back as needed - hopefully this can help me to salvage my new babies! It's currently localised to the individual seedlings I mentioned only (at least visibly) so I'm optimistic we can save them...
Logged
A man's errors are his portals to discovery...

OfCows

  • Senior Member
  • Karma: 10
  • Posts: 219
  • Trading Score: +75
  • Glad to be here!
Re: Advice on Trichocereus seedling mould welcome!
« Reply #3 on: May 14, 2018, 03:42:56 PM »

Hi Flip, I gave you some karma for this, seems to have saved the majority of the babies! Cheers...
Logged
A man's errors are his portals to discovery...

flip

  • Member
  • Karma: 3
  • Posts: 21
  • For every winter, there will be a spring.
Re: Advice on Trichocereus seedling mould welcome!
« Reply #4 on: May 14, 2018, 06:31:27 PM »

 :)

You've very welcome.
Logged
Ignorance and hubris will be the downfall of us all.
Peace and Respects

Solipsis

  • Member
  • Karma: 1
  • Posts: 50
Re: Advice on Trichocereus seedling mould welcome!
« Reply #5 on: July 01, 2018, 10:05:08 PM »

Next time: spraying with an antifungal will help preventing mold / damping off, at least for a while (and after that while you may be ready to start acclimatizing to periods of draught carefully)
Logged

Inyan

  • Senior Member
  • Karma: 13
  • Posts: 259
  • Trading Score: +28
  • Find what makes you happy and do it.
Re: Advice on Trichocereus seedling mould welcome!
« Reply #6 on: July 03, 2018, 09:50:25 PM »

Or one could simply germinate your seed in a bog and continue to grow them to maturity like the following. And should you decide to graft... bog grafting works great as well.

I've got 99 problems but fungus isn't one of them in my bog.
Logged
Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

OfCows

  • Senior Member
  • Karma: 10
  • Posts: 219
  • Trading Score: +75
  • Glad to be here!
Re: Advice on Trichocereus seedling mould welcome!
« Reply #7 on: July 04, 2018, 04:08:33 PM »

Hey Inyan - hope all's well with you! Those photos are great, so pretty :D
Logged
A man's errors are his portals to discovery...

OfCows

  • Senior Member
  • Karma: 10
  • Posts: 219
  • Trading Score: +75
  • Glad to be here!
Re: Advice on Trichocereus seedling mould welcome!
« Reply #8 on: July 04, 2018, 04:09:13 PM »

;) Thanks to Solipsis too - your input is much appreciated!
Logged
A man's errors are his portals to discovery...

Inyan

  • Senior Member
  • Karma: 13
  • Posts: 259
  • Trading Score: +28
  • Find what makes you happy and do it.
Re: Advice on Trichocereus seedling mould welcome!
« Reply #9 on: July 04, 2018, 05:50:31 PM »

I thought those photos might drive home the fact that Trichocereus can grow just fine in water logged soil and without damping off. I keep my seeds in soil that is flooded with both organic nutrients and water and I never have any problems on that front. I have experimented with growing them in all sorts of media in water... one of which was composted cow manure which admittedly slowed the growth down a bit as it was too dense for good roots to form
Logged
Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

OfCows

  • Senior Member
  • Karma: 10
  • Posts: 219
  • Trading Score: +75
  • Glad to be here!
Re: Advice on Trichocereus seedling mould welcome!
« Reply #10 on: July 04, 2018, 10:16:14 PM »

They certainly did! I've realised this recently as I've switched to a slightly different method for Trichocereus germination since starting this thread, as suggested by several members here. Much more water in the containers than I used in my initial attempts, but I currently have ~100 williamsii seedlings and ~100 bridgesii seedlings growing on my living room table, so that's been educational! Off to Spain next week for a short holiday so I'm intending to plant a load of stuff at family houses too, so they can caretake until we move...and  :-* I get to see my cactus babies!

;) Enjoy!
Logged
A man's errors are his portals to discovery...