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Satan Mold Pictures--Please Identify!

Continued from: http://www.terraforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=125410

I found it growing at the bottom of my hamata terrarium today... :-(

Since it had grown in mass down there, I was able to get some descent pictures of the stuff. I'm not even sure that it is mold. Please help me ID it and find an effective way of eradicating it before it spreads anywhere else!

In order to completely kill it, I will need something that will be able to permeate all the media in a pot--maybe even something I could dunk a plant into pot and all.

Pictures:
January102011054bb.jpg


January102011052b.jpg


January102011054b.jpg
 
Spider mite/ springtail webs?
Havent been in the hobby in a while; but i'm pretty sure that's not mold.
 
I KNEW I've seen stuff like this before...took some digging, but I found this thread where people were affected by what looks like the same stuff...apparently its a fungus:

http://www.terraforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=124717

There was another thread that had me suggesting RTU GreenLight Neem II (Neem w/ Pyerethins) or that its from tiny spiders >.>
 
It doesn't look like mold to me. At first I thought I had spider mites but two things contradicted that idea: Spider mites don't like wet medium and generally the webs can be seen on wet sphagnum media. They make these webs at night, so try cleaning them up during the day and see if they return overnight.
The second is that I saw what appeared to be tiny black spiders on occasion moving through the media.
 
I was panicking for a minute--I thought it had gotten into the hamata pot, but it looks like I got the hamata out before that could happen. *sigh of relief*

I thought about webs, but if it is from any kind of spider/etc it is something I've never heard of before. I had spider mites last spring, but this stuff does not seem to attack larger plants. Instead, the fibers smother little ones. If left unchecked it can spread very quickly. I know the stuff in the pictures wasn't there a week ago.

I tried Green Light Neem II. The mold at the top dies, but then it comes back up from deeper down in the pot.

After the heli incident, I got a small fan to help with circulation in the room. Hopefully that will help prevent future out breaks.
 
Spider mites like to live on the plant, not the media. Generally on the soft, growing tips. They'll form a mass so thick that the whole grow point will be encased in silk.
 
Brokken: I just removed some of it from the terrarium (which is now on the other side of the house). I'll check it tomorrow to see if any came back.

Edit: That's why I don't think these are spider mites. It covers everything, old media, gemmae, utrics, moss. And I found fibers in the media at the bottom of the heli pot. The only part of the heli it bothered was a little bit of already dead material.
 
How much fresh air is getting to the plant? I got that sorta stuff when the terrarium is completely sealed but having some kind of open ventilation cured it overnight.
 
i second liz's comment. i think it's a fungus as well, and if what we are seeing is identical to what Joseph is mentioning, then that fuzz is actually a good thing! @raven: have you been spraying your pots with trichoderma?
 
  • #10
Raven,
another way to look at this problem..

instead of fighting the symptom, fight the cause.

*something* in your growing methods is making a nice environment for this mold..
and its impossible to completely elimate mold anyway..it cant be done.
any moist environment will have *some* mold..

One thing that came to my mind when looking at your photos is "winter"..
it could just be a result of unusually dark and cool conditions..you probably wouldnt have this mold in the summer in bright sunlight.

I get surface mold on my CP pots in the winter, when conditions are pitch darkness and 35 degrees for three months..I get zero mold on the same pots during the growing season when the pots are in full sun between 50 and 90 degrees..so its all about the climate. (and the mold I do get during winter dormancy goes away by itself within days of bringing the pots out of the darkness!)
you can see some photos of the mold here:
http://gold.mylargescale.com/scottychaos/CP/page2.html
about half way down the page..that mold goes away by itself after a few days of sunlight! ;)

what is the overall conditions your pots are in?
light, temp, air circulation?
often just bright light alone prevents surface mold..

I think trying to beat the mold itself is the wrong way to go..you will never win that war.
you need to fight the cause of the mold..and thats usually easier anyway! ;)

Scot

---------- Post added at 07:49 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:36 AM ----------

Raven,
I went looking for a description of your growing setup, and found this:

63594_478935676774_654101774_5971256_2086323_n.jpg


yeah..I think this is the main cause of your mold problems..
too dark, too cool and too humid.
many of your plants are REALLY far from the lights, and are in very dim light..
it might not seem like it to our eyes, because human eyes adjust to low light, but in reality plants more than a foot away from those bulbs are in very low light..
and being close to those windows is probably also making it quite cool..
cool+damp+low light = mold.

IMO, you should remove plants from the bags, and you need to create different micro climates.
check out Jim Scott's ping racks from that same thread:

http://www.terraforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=125252&page=2

his plants are inches away from the lights, and no bags, and the bulbs also create some warmth.
his plants live in a summer day..your plants are in an overcast autumn afternoon! ;)

Sorry Raven, but I think the mold is a direct result of your growing conditions..
its not optimal for the plants you have..especially in the winter.

Scot
 
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  • #11
swords...When I got the mold the heli was out in the open. The utrics were in the corner, so they probably got little air flow, and the hamata terrarium was uncovered, but it was quite tiny and the bottom part did not get any air flow. There is a fan on now, and I think I'm just going to ditch the terrarium. Hopfully that should cure the air flow issues.

amphirion...I have not. I think the mold came from something I brought in from outside, as I described in the last thread.

Scotty...

I have to say I disagree with a big part of that--it is anything but dim in my room. I actually had to move the lights up and away from my plants after winter started, because my neps were starting to burn a little. Even now many of the plants are getting dark red leaves, and all of the plants pitcher continuously. The sundews are also growing quickly and becoming quite dewy, and the heli is putting out several new pitchers (apparently despite the mold and recent transplant). They are very healthy (check my last picture thread if you don't believe me)--and because they are so healthy, it seems to me that the light must be more than sufficient.

Also, the only reason some of the plants are in bags is to acclimate them or to allow gemmae/seeds to germinate. Many have already gotten past that stage and are out in the open, and others have bags that are riddled with holes and are almost ready to come out. It's not a permanent thing by any means.

However, I think you may be on to something with your formula. Most of the things the mold attacked were in places which got little air flow (like the bottom of my tiny hamata terrarium).
cool+damp+low air flow=mold? Maybe.
 
  • #12
well ok! :)
if you think its enough light..
I was only basing my opinion on that one photo..
based on that photo, it looks like quite low light to me..
all your plants are 1 to 3 feet away from the lights..which would be quite dim light on the plants.

just remember that the way *you* percieve the light level is irrelevant! ;)
your eyes adjust to low light and make it appear much brighter than it really is..

Scot
 
  • #13
I completely understand what you're saying Scotty, but I'm not basing it on how bright the lights seems to me, but instead on how happy the plants seem :)

And remember that they do get a lot of light from outside. More in winter than in summer really (because the trees block it out during the summer).
 
  • #14
I have this same mold stuff too! It hasn't killed anything yet but it only happened after I made my terrarium completely covered with moss. It's too stale and humid in there. :scratch: It spread around an area where I know I accidentally dropped a beta pellet or two...

Good luck on vanquishing it! I am trying to too. I think that if I added a fan, it might help.
 
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