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Post by sykosarah on Jan 27, 2014 6:12:49 GMT
So, I look at my pots and see that some have a grey film on them. I don't know if this is the beginnings of botrytis or powdery mildew, but my sulfur clearly isn't suitable for a developed infection. Neem oil is rendered ineffective because of the preexisting sulfur on the media, and hydrogen peroxide will form a highly corrosive compound when mixed with sulfur. Anyone have suggestions on what I should do? Sulfur was reapplied yesterday, and I don't know if I could perform an emergency transplant without spreading the danger to the new media. Is there a safe fungicide that will not react with sulfur or be rendered useless by it? Note, I don't know what that film is, and so far it doesn't appear to have begun to grow on any of my plants. Because they are seedlings, I can't remove the surface media without killing many of my seedlings.
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Post by carnivorousstu on Jan 27, 2014 10:34:13 GMT
Is the pot getting enough air circulating around it? If it hasn't begun to grow on the plants, try removing as much of it as possible and replacing it with fresh soil or even sand. Sand is really good for keeping down mould, perhaps try applying that to the surface of the medium? Make sure you get horticultural sand or the stuff they use for sandblasting
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Post by sykosarah on Jan 27, 2014 13:19:59 GMT
I don't have any sand like that, and like I said, the plants are too numerous and small for me to effectively remove it. I will try to see if I can buy sand...
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Post by paulbarden on Jan 27, 2014 14:25:40 GMT
Photo?
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Post by sykosarah on Jan 27, 2014 15:15:09 GMT
It is too close to the color of the sphagnum peat moss I use to see in a photo, what it looks like again is a very thin grey film, it is only on the surface. I too watered one pot, and it floated. Unfortunately, I couldn't remove it that way, because some of the seedlings also floated O-O oops. But then have reestablished themselves ok since then. The problem is that whatever it is, I need to get rid of it. I have set my little fan on low, so all my drosera are getting a weak breeze now, should that be sufficient air flow?
It is so hard to find good fungicides in my area this time of year.
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Post by sykosarah on Jan 27, 2014 15:17:55 GMT
Ans sulfur only works to prevent, it can't treat existing disease very well, neem oil and sulfur cancel each other out, and I am closed up in a dorm so I wouldn't have wanted to use neem oil anyway. The only other option I know of, hydrogen peroxide, reacts violently with sulfuric acid, which is what sulfur fungicides form in the soil. As in, an insanely corrosive material that is also more than halfway towards making an explosive. I am probably on a watch list now attempting to see if it was safe to mix them.
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Post by hcarlton on Jan 28, 2014 4:29:40 GMT
I get the same issue on occasion, Physan often does the job.
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Post by sykosarah on Jan 28, 2014 7:41:57 GMT
But I heard drosera are sensitive to it, and is it compatible with sulfur?
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Post by paulbarden on Jan 28, 2014 17:09:01 GMT
I found that chronic fungal problems were the result of improper cultivation techniques, such as low light and inadequate air circulation. If you are providing optimal growing conditions, fungal infections shouldn't be such a persistent problem. IMO.
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Post by sykosarah on Jan 28, 2014 19:30:27 GMT
I am providing plenty of light, but I am unsure about air circulation. I have a fan doing a light breeze on them for part of the day now.
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maiden
Full Member
Heliamphora, the magic plant from the lost world.
Posts: 137
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Post by maiden on Jan 29, 2014 4:34:16 GMT
Ventilation, ventilation, ventilation :-)
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Post by sykosarah on Jan 29, 2014 5:23:46 GMT
Hard to control when you live in a dorm and it has been below 0 outside for more than 2 weeks (so I can't open a window, both I and my plants will freeze).
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Post by sykosarah on Jan 29, 2014 5:28:53 GMT
My decision is that I am going to do a transplant with fresh, more well-cleaned media, and I am going to see if I can get some sand too, and have a thin layer of that on top. No sulfur this time, so I am going to cure the fungus as I see the fungus rather than us a preventative that prevents the use of curatives.
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