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New heli... sad looking. Any tips?

  • #41
I don't really think it can be the trichoderma. I've been using the same stuff on the rest of the helis, my cephs and neps for over a year without any sign of negative consequences.

Like I said, the only thing that sets this situation apart is the brand of peat I used and the overall condition of the plant to begin with.
 
  • #42
Well, the first little minor didn't make it... obviously. I just got the replacement from the vendor, and I have to say that it looks really good. I'll try to get pics up when I get home from work.
 
  • #43
If I were you, I would seriously review the medium before potting up ;)
 
  • #44
Already done. I've gotten rid of the new brand of peat moss I used on the last one. Gonna stick with LFS and APS for this one and see how it goes.
 
  • #45
Ok not sure why peroxide will harm plants. I know folk who use it on orchids straight from the bottle. As soon as the bottle is opened it starts breaking down to water and oxygen. I have used it straight on orchid seeds before flasking. Never used on anything but orchids though.
 
  • #46
I guess it depends on the strength of the hydrogen peroxide. I'm sure that my plants would not appreciate being 'treated' with neat 35% hydrogen peroxide that I have ;)
 
  • #47
I have used 1% peroxide solution to sterilize the soil ingredients as one of the washing steps (it is safer than Bleach solution and will not mess up pH), made sure to wash the soil very thoroughly after because peroxide speeds up decomposition resulting in bunch of soluble organics in solution. It has not worked for me 100% (even though I kept soil in H2O2 solution up to a week) and it is quite expensive (1L of 3% solution is more expensive than a 1Gal of RO water).

Be careful in using diluted solution on the plants. When I was starting this hobby I used diluted H2O2 on the soil which went bad with plants in it already. Burned the roots, plant went into some weird hibernation and never recovered.
 
  • #48
and ron dampens his substrates and nukes it in microwave for his drosera seedlings
Which can make it a lovely sterile medium for later fungal and bacterial colonization... might be a good start for Trichoderma though ;)
I have struggled over the years to give seed a chance to germinate & grow before the semi-inevitable onslaught of moss (& other inhabitants). The quasi-sterilization of the media followed by a quick inoculation of Trichoderma seemed to make sense when I thought about it. The results in practice confirmed my theory (mostly**).

** I have a protocol I follow to try & keep other 'stuff' from infecting the media before the Tricho gets a good head start. Sometimes I'm in a rush or get lazy and then all sorts of stuff colonize it. If the Tricho gets a good head start, treated moist media can go for some time without growth from other invaders...
 
  • #49
I have struggled over the years to give seed a chance to germinate & grow before the semi-inevitable onslaught of moss (& other inhabitants). The quasi-sterilization of the media followed by a quick inoculation of Trichoderma seemed to make sense when I thought about it. The results in practice confirmed my theory (mostly**).

** I have a protocol I follow to try & keep other 'stuff' from infecting the media before the Tricho gets a good head start. Sometimes I'm in a rush or get lazy and then all sorts of stuff colonize it. If the Tricho gets a good head start, treated moist media can go for some time without growth from other invaders...

Could you say more about your protocol?
 
  • #50
Could you say more about your protocol?
LoL - when i was writing that, a little voice told me that sounded a lot more official than it really was ....

I place a plate over the bowl w/ the media so the rim of the plate is below the top of the bowl before I start to microwave. I keep the plate on until it cools down. I then sprinkle freshly made Tricho water over the batch - re-cover and leave alone for 2 - 3 days.

I've only used this approach a few times (maybe 5-6 times) & one of the times, the media exploded with stuff. As someone has mentioned, nuking the media breaks it down so I wouldn't recommend this for regular potting - better as a starting media for new seeds & plan to transplant after a few months. I also recommend trial runs with non-rare seed. ???
 
  • #51
Good to know, Ron. Thanks for that.

Here's the new minor. I haven't had the chance to unpot it and give it the trichoderma bath, but will do so tonight. This one looks much better than the last.


6264755991_5dd843809e_b.jpg
 
  • #52
That looks much nicer. How is the old plant doing?
 
  • #53
The first one didn't make it. The fuzz didn't get any worse, but the plant deteriorated quickly. The new one is still alive and adjusting well to my terrarium!
 
  • #54
If the picture above is of how you received the plant then it seems happy in the medium it is potted in, which looks like a good medium. You could give it Trichoderma by watering it in, without having to repot and that would be less stressful on the plant.
 
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  • #55
much better looking, now that is what the first one should have looked like...

agree with mobile, since it came potted up.... just a normal watering with standard strength Trichoderma brew
 
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  • #56
I hate to ask another stupid question, but would either top or bottom (tray method) watering be preferable in this case?

That is how I received the plant. Now I'm glad I haven't had time to repot it...
 
  • #57
i prefer top for good gas exchange (or flood and drain, same result only lil diff technique)
 
  • #58
Cool, thanks. That was exactly what I did, actually. Top watered with trich and let it sit in the little bit that drained out (1/4" or so at the bottom of a small saucer) over night. Good to know that I shouldn't repot. That was on the agenda for this evening.

Thanks again!
 
  • #59
Top watering is preferable. As Butch mentioned, it helps with gas exchange and it also helps wash out any build up of salts from fertilising or other contaminates.
 
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