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Clear "slime" fungus

This stuff is originating in some of my water trays. I use distilled water and the effected pots are under a fluorescent light. Water typically sits in some of the trays for long periods because I don't want to soil to dry out.

I can't take a pic because it's clear and I can't get a clear shot of it, but in the water trays it looks like a squishy shapeless version of the top of your typical jellyfish, and behaves like mucus (when I pick up a pot, it often "hangs" like a strand of mucus). This "mucus" slime fungus is thicker than water but thinner than Jell-O. It also clings to the outside of the lower portion of the pot that's submerged in water.

It has no color whatsoever. When I say clear, I mean clear.

I'm pretty sure it's infested at least the inside bottom portion of several pots.

I was going to use Green Light Organic Neem II into the water trays and into the soil to try to combat it.

Any feedback or if anyone knows what the stuff is by the description I gave, it would be greatly appreciated.
 
Could be an aquatic fungus, or the beginnings of some sort of algae. With most slimy growths of any sort I find that agitating them daily with my spray bottle seems to deter and eventually kill them. I'm not sure that neem would kill it... is neem indicated for non-animal pests?
~Joe
 
Thanks for the reply seedjar. :)

Could be an aquatic fungus, or the beginnings of some sort of algae. With most slimy growths of any sort I find that agitating them daily with my spray bottle seems to deter and eventually kill them.

I've been agitating it for weeks and it just keeps coming back; I suck it out of the water tray (a lot of it is often "loose" floating below the water surface, not attached to anything) with a plastic syringe, and I also wipe off what's clinging to the pots, which is usually all over it.

I need to try something that'll hopefully be a more permanent fix.


I'm not sure that neem would kill it... is neem indicated for non-animal pests?
~Joe

Looks like it, but does seem more for insects for certain. Try a sulphur-based fungicide instead, perhaps?

Green Light Organic Neem II: "24 OZ, Neem Oil With Pyrethrin, Use In Vegetable Gardens, Fruit & Nut Trees & Ornamentals, Provides Immediate Knock Down Of Targeted Insects, Including Ants, Aphids, Mealy Bugs, Spider Mites, Scale, Whiteflies, Beetles & Many Others, Fungal Control For Powdery Mildew, Rust, Leaf Spot, Anthracnose & Blight, Controls Insects, Fungal Problems & Mites."
 
Try cinnamon before you go through the trouble of putting something toxic in there. I guess neem is relatively benign, too. It could also be that this stuff is living in the media of a certain pot, and that's why it always comes back. As a last resort you might try repotting those plants.
A little bit of scientific investigation can go a long way. Do you have a pH tester available to you? (I certainly don't, heh, but wishful thinking.)
~Joe
 
I have the same thing in my trays. It's never caused any traumatic issue to the plants but it is rather unsightly. I've tried removing it and letting it be and the only difference I've found is that it will turn green (algae IMO) after a while.

The only method I've found of removing it has been to clean the tray out with a bit of elbow grease. It will come back though after a few weeks.
 
We were talking about something like this at one of the LACPS meetings. Ivan Snyder identified it as some organism (mold/fungus/algae I don't recall) that was used in cooking as a thickener before agar, cornstarch, flour or arrowroot were commonly available. I can email him or I'll see him this Saturday at the next meeting and get the species/genus name.

Just scoop it off.
 
Try cinnamon before you go through the trouble of putting something toxic in there.
~Joe

What's this I keep seeing about using cinnamon? Do you just pour some over the soil and/or into the water trays as a means of controlling fungus?

I don't have a pH tester, no...


I have the same thing in my trays. It's never caused any traumatic issue to the plants but it is rather unsightly. I've tried removing it and letting it be and the only difference I've found is that it will turn green (algae IMO) after a while.

The only method I've found of removing it has been to clean the tray out with a bit of elbow grease. It will come back though after a few weeks.

Glad I'm not the only one who's seen it. If the only issue is unsightliness, I'm not as concerned.

Thanks for all the replies.

Since I'm pretty sure it's crawled its way up into the pots, my main concerns were that it would
a) Start affecting drainage or
b) make a home around the roots of my plants and cause problems.

Sounds like that's not likely.


We were talking about something like this at one of the LACPS meetings. Ivan Snyder identified it as some organism (mold/fungus/algae I don't recall) that was used in cooking as a thickener before agar, cornstarch, flour or arrowroot were commonly available. I can email him or I'll see him this Saturday at the next meeting and get the species/genus name.

Just scoop it off.

NoN, I'd be curious to know the species if you find out.
 
That same stuff is rampant in my greenhouse trays! I think it's a kind of algae.

I don't really bother with it; it doesn't seem to hurt the plants in any way.
 
The volatile oils in cinnamon are a reliable natural fungicide. Especially handy if you own a car that has problems with the moisture seals, like I do. :D
~Joe
 
  • #10
Ivan thinks it is Nostoc a cyanobacteria (algae).
 
  • #11
I found that when I rinse my media really thoroughly, it gets rid of most of the nutrients that the slime (algae, I guess) feed on. Perlite also tends to encourage the slimey algae to grow, so I use sand:peat mixes now.
 
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