Studies suggest that when Penicillium sp. It is commonly found in soil, seeds, and grains where it nourishes as Saprophytes. Indoor plants are a primary source of growth for this mold. While this mold is useful for soil, it is extremely harmful to humans and can cause many respiratory diseases. Trichoderma is a fungi genus that is found in nearly all soil and other parts of plants such as seeds, grains, etc.
Moreover, it also prevents other harmful fungi from attacking the plant and boosts the growth of the plant. Although not very common, but other molds found in potting soil are; sooty mold, grey mold, and powdery mildew. If you love gardening and pot new plants now and then you may have come across moldy potting soil. The mold you see on your potting soil is white mold which thrives in humid and moist conditions. This may be caused by overwatering the plants, inadequate drainage, and using old or impure potting soil.
It means that the soil is not receiving enough air which encourages the growth of mold in it. Another reason could be the lack of sunlight. Insufficient sunlight results in damp and moist conditions that promote the growth of mold. I don't want moldy stuff in my apartment either and the neem oil really smells bad too.
Thank you for this helpful information! I have a question I hope you can help with. One of my potted plants got infested with mold, I planted two kinds of basil. One of the basil plants was basically dead while the other seems to be fine. I want to replant the basil that is ok with a new basil plant, new soil and all.
Using your cinnamon trick on the basil that was with the infected soil, would it be safe to have in the new pot with the new basil plant? Or should I have two separate planters? Not only did this solve my mold problem, but finally my "allergies" from the past few days make sense!
I had forgotten about airborne mold spores Zach, I am glad I found your site. I will try the cinnamon treatment on my moldy plants. Thank you for the information! Hello, I live in an apartment on the second floor and really don't think that I have any light coming in the window and don't want to take a chance and put it outside with the kids or someone may steal it, and I'm not sure what part of the day there would be any kind of sunlight on the balcony if any.
Is it possible I could put it under a desk lamp that uses a 15 watt lamp maybe a florescent bulb as it is a long bulb, not sure. Thanks for the tip about Cinnamon, I'll definitely try this. I have several Anthurium potted plants side by side and only one displayed wispy white strings on the soil, which I figured were spiders, so sprinkled heavily with Orange and Lemon peel Spice World.
The are in bright light but not sun which will burn the plant, I have a TheraPure increasing ventilation and they look extremely healthy with lots of blooms. Does this sound like mold? What else can I do? I had a new plant last week for a Christmas present a Poinsettia within days all the leaves dropped off, and the soil is already mouldy, does this mean than it was stored in the wrong conditions in the store.
I will try your remedy. Our house cleaner told us that there was white mold on our orchid plant, so we took it out side and threw all the old dirt and mold away. Gave it a good new supply of Miracle Grow, cleaned the pot, washed the roots of the plant and repotted it adding the ground cinammon. My housecleaner saw it today and suggested I ask Google what to do. What did we do wrong that made the mold show up again. We water it from the cold water at the kitchen sink as we do the other plants and they do not have the white mold.
This plant was given to me by my best friend who passed away in June and I do so want to keep it safe and flowering. Thanks for your info. I love different ideas on how to take care of life with household products that are all natural I do have a question how often should we put the cinnamon in our plants once a month?
Thank you so much I also knew this trip and my plants are growing beautifully now!!!! This was very helpful! I am going to try the cinnamon trick, but another problem I am having is the mold is growing on the actual pot. What kind of artificial light would be helpful? I put a fair amount of cinnamon on the earth of my large leaf plant was give to me when I lost my husband so don't know what it is called but it did have large cup size white flowers but I have transplanted it with the best earth and I watered it every two weeks now I am wondering if I can water over top of the Cimmon and how often should I water this plant?
What if you have brownish orange mold in your soil? It turns to powder wen u touch it. Will cinnamon work on this too? I had heard that using a splash of sprite in your house plants helped with the growth, because of the sugars and such!
Virginia - Yes, you can sprinkle the cinnamon over the soil even if your plants have already been watered. Just plan on letting the soil dry out a bit before you water again. Wear a dust mask while removing the mold to protect your health. After removing the mold, add an anti-fungal solution to the soil. You can choose to sprinkle cinnamon or baking soda to prevent most of the mold from reappearing. Try not to sprinkle too much anti-fungal and distribute it evenly. If there is mold on the plant, remove it immediately.
Take a paper towel, dampen it a little, and start wiping off the mold from the leaves gently. After each wipe, make sure to freshen the paper towel. Replace the paper towel when all parts have touched the moldy surfaces to avoid spreading mold spores.
Cut off any leaves that still have visible mold on them. Last edited on 28th of April It is no secret that mold likes dark damp places. By brightening up the space where your houseplants are positioned, you can keep mold under control.
Place your houseplants in a bright room with decent natural indirect sunlight. Open the blinds or curtains during the day and position the plants near the windows. To help the soil, you can position your houseplants so that the sun shines on the soil, for a certain amount of time each day.
It is important to plant your houseplants into well-draining soil and to make sure that the pot or container used has sufficient drainage holes.
If the water can drain out of the pot correctly, there is less chance of mold finding the potting medium suitable for growth. Mold often grows when the surface of the soil remains damp for an extended period of time. When dead leaves and twigs fall from your plant, they typically lie on the surface of the potting soil and keep the soil beneath it damp. This is a prime growing environment for white mold. To minimize this possibility, cut dead leaves off the plant and trim stems regularly too.
If any do fall from your plant, make sure that you remove and discard them quickly. Mold does not like good air circulation very much and will certainly find a darker and damper place to go, if your houseplants are in a well ventilated room. Note that a well ventilated room is not a drafty room. Some houseplants do not like drafts and changes in temperature, which can happen in a drafty room — therefore, this is not the type of air circulation you need.
Unfortunately, you cannot hold onto bags of potting soil forever. If you have open bags of potting soil in your garden shed or outside, you can expect pathogens such as fungi, and insects to find their way into it.
Sealing your potting medium bags tightly is essential to ensure that the contents are protected. That being said, potting soil should only be kept for 1 to 2 years — and no longer. After this time, it starts to break down and loses its ability to retain moisture while draining correctly. Getting rid of mold in houseplant soil is not too difficult, but having mold in the first place can be a sign of other problems with your plant.
Follow the tips in this article to get rid of mold in houseplant soil and take the time to adjust conditions to keep your plants healthy and happy. Repot The Plant To Get Rid Of Mold If you are not willing to try to remedy the mold problem yourself, you might want to eliminate the problem completely, in one fell swoop. Remove Mold From The Plant And Spray With A Fungicide If the plant is contaminated with mold, it will keep contaminating the soil that it grows in, especially if it is consistently damp.
Repot New Houseplants immediately With Sterile Soil To Get Rid Of Mold Contamination When you buy new houseplants or receive them as gifts, you will undoubtedly be eager to get them into their new positions, decorating and adding a bit of color to your home.
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