I first noticed a strange white plaque on the surface of the soil in the tray two years ago with seedlings of tomato, and then in earnest I worried - you never know what sold me with the seed of the new varieties of tomatoes, and whether this attack does not infect others containers. An "isolated" from the rest of the container, armed with a pair of tweezers and a magnifying glass I overlooking a scientist and expert enthusiastic young naturalist began to study pieces of white flight, and even then quickly realized that most likely it mold. But what was the reason for its occurrence?
Turning to the subject literature, I managed to find out that mold - is not nothing but a microscopic fungus, which consists of a small, branching threads of - hyphae.
Multiply these fungi spores, which can be easily moved directly over the air. These "mushrooms" with pleasure "eat" for breakfast, lunch and dinner any organic residues. The best conditions for the growth of this fungus - warm space with high humidity (remembering that the seedlings are usually I located on the balcony with a lot of bottles to defend the water, I kind of understand the reason for its occurrence).
One of the interesting facts: the vitality of the mold is unbelievable. It found samples and in space, and on the walls of the infamous Chernobyl nuclear reactor. Faced with the "enemy" in his apartment, will have to fight for that to destroy it.
How to get rid of mold in seedlings
In just a few successful seasons and I knew not one mold control - in order to defeat the annoying fungus on the ground in the seedlings, you need to act purposefully and comprehensively. First, you need:
- Assess the current conditions of the seedlings, watering regime change, increase the temperature if necessary (this will slow down the growth of fungus, because it is located more to the reproduction in a cool medium) to reduce the amount of moisture in the air to provide containers drainage.
- Remove plaque mechanically, that is, simply remove the layer of soil on which the fungus. I prefer to do it with a thin spatula, after removing the layer and carefully obezzarazhivaya prosushivaya remaining soil.
- Sprinkle dry soil with a thin layer of wood ash or decontaminated sand.
- In the case of re-emergence of the raid move to the chemical methods of combating fungi (most commonly used oksihom or fundazol).
If you use for seedlings fairly strong "chemistry" there is no desire, it is possible to resort to such a biological agent as fitosporin-M or Planriz-F. However, if you chose "From Biological" way to combat the fungus, you should not forget that the procedure should be repeated again, after about 5 days after the first treatment. The same procedures are carried out with the appearance of mold in flower pots.