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Is fungal growth on seed harmful?

After five months, the first of my boschiana seed is popping out!

I have a quick question though, it seems that for the seed that I spread on peat Moss, there is this fungal growth that is appearing on the seeds. Is it threatening and should I try and remove it? Or is it harmless and I can just leave them alone in there?

It does not seem to appear on the seed that I spread on sphagnum moss but the problem with that one is it is alive and I think it will overgrow the seedlings after a while. I will need to trim it back and I might lose some of the seed in the process.

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when putting nep seed down , first thing i do after wetting of cause is spry with a systemic fungicide , i use fonguard , and treat Evey month or as i see the fungus or mold appear , which can be often in warm temps like i have , if the fungus or mold take hold of your seed it kills it or make it sterile , i believe , ones i have had infected never germinated ever , but ones with out fungus or mould or treated did germinate well
J
 
Thanks mate. I'll try that. Any particular brand of fungicide I should look for if I cant find fonguard? I live in Canberra and I'm not sure all the brands are available here.

Do you use it full strength or dillute it? I'll try soon.
 
Sorry B.T
wrong spelling , its Fongarid by Garden King , you can find it in any Bunnings or large hard ware store or garden center , instructions in packet , its in 2 mg sashes its a systemmic fungiside too so works well

J
 
Brand names differ in different countries. What is the active ingredient ? Should be on the label.
 
Hi J,

I went out and bought myself some of that stuff. It was a bit more expensive than I had thought it might be but I need it to save my stuff so I paid for it and made some into a bottle.

The fungus collapsed almost immediately but I don't know if it was because of the fungicide, or simply because it was getting wet. Over the next few days I will have to take a look and see if it comes back or not.

I will keep the whole bottle of mixed liquid fungicide and maybe I can reuse it in the future. Does it spoil after a few months?

The fungus covered almost everything so the seeds look clean now but I wonder if any more of them will even grow or not. I may only be left with what has sprouted.

I still have a tiny bit of the seed left in the fridge that I have not yet planted but this original batch was harvested in May, and I had to wait for July when I moved to Canberra. Since July it has taken four months to sprout. I'm not sure if the ones in the fridge are viable or not.

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Hi bt
yes this is what happens , the mold disappears all most instantly , its great stuff , yes expensive but mate very very much worth it !, just a few things , don't put so much seed in one container , i would spread that amount over 3 or 4 containers , first if you get the mold it affects all the seed near to the infected one ,then spreads quickly , 2 its darn hard to separate them later , , 3, germination rates can vary a lot the faster ones can over take the slower ones , just what i have seen .
If your mold has affected your seed longer than a few weeks i feel that seed may be dead or sterile by now , they need to be treated the day its seen as soon as you see it , i check mine Daly some time 4 or 5 times a day , i keep that bottle close and use it often , as my green house is warm and very high humidity , ,if you give the containers good light is lowers the mold starting too i seen and helps with the seed growth , , from what i see here the more light they get the faster they grow , seem only natural , seen this in the wild too , the seed growing plant in the open grow much faster than the ones in shaded areas , being high land plants that is !! the lowii at Ganuung Murud ,one in heavy shad were a lot smaller than the one in open areas , same with hurrelliana and tentaculata too ,alls o seen this with rajah , murudensis and any others in the jungle high lands only , low lands are differnt and dont grow them here .just my obsviations in my travels there
J
 
Gosh that's a bad sign! Mold and fungus has been there for at least three months. I decided to do something about it now because I saw seedlings sprouting. I think that a lot of the seed is no longer viable if that's the case. I shall keep my fingers crossed and see what is going to sprout. Maybe what has germinated is all I'm going to get, but I shall wait and see.
 
Many of the above suggestions are quite valuable; but something I would add as a preventative measure in the future, is to inoculate your "pre-sterilized" compost with Trichoderma. Since I have used this measure, I have had no issue with pathogenic fungus with any of my Nepenthes or Heliamphora seed batches; nor have I had to treat compost with any fungicide in recent memory.

To echo snapperhead51, I would also thin the seeds a great deal to spread your risk -- something very commonly done in establishing tissue culture and good advice all around; and judging from some of the photos, the compost appears to be overly-wet . . .
 
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thanks for the interesting product BB
will check this out , dont seem to find it here in AU at first quick search
J
 
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