cloning problem....mold

[maryjanesdad]

hi again,

long story short, i never had a problem with mold on any of my clones. as of late, i notice mold on the top of the root plug and at the very bottom of the stem, where its inserted into the root plug. mold has not affected all of them, but i need to nip this.

whats causing the mold? i mean, i know mold can be caused by moisture, but this has NEVER occurred prior. i even changed the location of the dome but same shit. i change the dome and keep the plug moist as i always have in the past.

please help

 

[limey]

Hi, mjd!

are you misting? sometimes over misting can promote mold. Mist once a day at most and in between, keep your propogator well sealed to keep the moist air in.

Also, try keeping the plugs wet by allowing them to soak up water from below (by standing them in shallow water for a bit when they start to dry), rather than watering them from above. This will prevent the area around the stem becoming excessively wet.

Once mold is establsihed it is hard to shift but try wiping it off with a slightly damp cloth or similar.

When you have got these clones out into vegging proper, give you clone space and all the kit you use in it a very thorough clean with bleach, to kill off any spores from the mold that you have now, in case there are any spores floating around. will reduce the risk of this happening again in future.

Hope that helps!

 

[stinkyattic]

Immediately before taking your clones, THOROUGHLY disinfect your dome and tray with foaming bathroom cleaner like Scrubbing Bubbles. Get that foam on there good, and let it sit 15 minutes, then rinse off very half-assedly. I like to also mist the tray and dome with Lysol, then let them air-dry to get the vapors mostly gone.
Mist only the DOME and not the PLANTS.
Use a tall dome, and don't crowd the plants. In a standard 12x24, I like to put 7 rows of 4 rapidrooters, with no insert, just sitting on the dome floor upside down. Less surface area inside the dome means less risk of having missed a spot cleaning!

 

[maryjanesdad]

Hi, mjd!

are you misting? sometimes over misting can promote mold. Mist once a day at most and in between, keep your propogator well sealed to keep the moist air in.

Also, try keeping the plugs wet by allowing them to soak up water from below (by standing them in shallow water for a bit when they start to dry), rather than watering them from above. This will prevent the area around the stem becoming excessively wet.

Once mold is establsihed it is hard to shift but try wiping it off with a slightly damp cloth or similar.

When you have got these clones out into vegging proper, give you clone space and all the kit you use in it a very thorough clean with bleach, to kill off any spores from the mold that you have now, in case there are any spores floating around. will reduce the risk of this happening again in future.

Hope that helps!

hi, i actually do exactly what you say as my regular routine. i even let the styro foam plug holder drip dry a bit so no excess water pools in the tray. i never feed from the top. i mist once a day, but yesterday as i was feeding my clones, i noticed dew on the leaves of some of the clones....but that wasnt from misting, it was from the humidity.

my EZ clone works fine at least for now, but taking clones manually with root plugs and a dome seem to not wanna work for me.

 

[maryjanesdad]

Immediately before taking your clones, THOROUGHLY disinfect your dome and tray with foaming bathroom cleaner like Scrubbing Bubbles. Get that foam on there good, and let it sit 15 minutes, then rinse off very half-assedly. I like to also mist the tray and dome with Lysol, then let them air-dry to get the vapors mostly gone.
Mist only the DOME and not the PLANTS.
Use a tall dome, and don't crowd the plants. In a standard 12x24, I like to put 7 rows of 4 rapidrooters, with no insert, just sitting on the dome floor upside down. Less surface area inside the dome means less risk of having missed a spot cleaning!

I did. i disinfected the tray, dome and the styro foam plug holder as well. the styro foam holds 55 plugs, i only use 25 of them so i dont think there overcrowded. what do you mean upside down? you place the root plug in the holder upside down????? can you explain?

 

[stinkyattic]

I'd avoid re-using the styrofoam trays if you suspect pathogens, because it is a porous substance that may be difficult to clean properly. If you do use it, I'd hit it with a disinfectant like Lysol that uses an alcohol as a solvent to really get into the crevices. Also try running it through the dishwasher... haha! Yeah... I have to clean perlite and hydroton out of my crap trap on the regular

Edit: no plug holder at all. Just bare RapidRooters (the softer, spongy ones -I forget the brand- don't stand up on their own), with a slit cut into what should have been the bottom. This also improves contact with the medium; the pre-punched home is too big for pot.
Last, try dip-n-grow or another fungicidal rooting compound.

 

[PharmaCan]

Rapid Rooters are conical shaped. Placing them upside-down puts the wider end on the bottom, making it more stable. (I guess, I've never done it this way.) Stinkyattick isn't using a holder, she's just setting the RR in a tray.

PC

 

[stinkyattic]

^^^Sorry the pics are dark, but that shows the shape and orientation of the plugs as I prefer to use them.

 

[maryjanesdad]

^^^ Ahhh i see the light. ill try that out. at this point, i would stand on my head and drink through my nose if it fixed this problem.

thanks again stinky, i really appreciate your help.

 

[limey]

stinky to the rescue again! - that's sound advice, I wouldn't have thought of that.

 

[jcisnew]

With an ez cloner there is no need to mist and there is no need for a humidity dome, if you have a mold problem, either will make it worse. Mold spores thrive in humid areas and once it shows on the plants you must take action.
Clean your entire grow room with a 10% bleach to water solution and dump the reservoir and clean the entire ez cloner inside and out with the same solution. If left unattended the mold will just get worse and cause more difficult problems.
More importantly.. get rid of all clones that have any sign of mold.