White mold on the soil of Day Avacado

[blupit007]

Hi Charlie,

  I know this is a hibiscus only forum, but I have an issue you may be able to help me with.  I have a Day Avocado plant that until recently I have been using your fertilizers on.  I bought it at a place near my house, they recommend using a citrus / avocado specific fert.  I applied it last week, and along with a ton of gnats, I have white mold.  Is it because of this fert?  Over watering?  It is supposed to be cold tolerant up to 20º.  It is in my house in a sunny window, but near the door.  It is not colder then 35º at the most. 

  What can I do?  I was thinking of putting some bleach in a spray bottle and just spraying the surface a bit.  Would that clean it up you think?  I attached photos of the mold, plant, and fert.   It doesn't seem to be effecting the plant at all, yet...

~Thanks, Kristen

[roadrunner]

Hi Kristen.

 I'm sure Charlie will have a much better answer but the experiences I've had with dry organic fertilizers including Growmore, Fox Farms, and Gardens Alive! is that some molds can form on the soil surface with their use, but usually don't last long and haven't been harmful to any of my plants. The mold may be from some of the beneficial fungi included in the fertilizer. That's my humble uneducated guess.


dave

[Louis]

hi krinsten,

this is usually caused by fertilizer. i use fish emulsion at times and i get the mold almost immediately.

i cant see that it causes any harm. maybe charlie can offer his comments.

louis

[blupit007]

It think it is the fertilizer as well.  It only started right after I put it on 2 weeks ago.  It is really stinky fert, I think it has a lot of poo in it

[Charlie]

Kristen, you have pointed out one of the drawbacks of putting organic matter in the pots. Stuff loves to grow in it. What that "stuff" is will vary and most of it seems to do no harm but........... For awhile I was ordering our worm castings in a mix with compost that was supposed to feed the organisms in the castings better. I like the idea but it caused algae to grow in our pots much worse than ever before along with some mushrooms. I quickly switched back to "pure worm castings" without the compost and prefer it that way.

Your idea of spraying bleach should take care of the mold. If you have to do it often you might want to use hydrogen peroxide instead. A little bleach won't hurt anything but the chloride can be a problem if it builds up.

Charlie

[blupit007]

Thank you Charlie, and everyone else.  I will try the bleach, and if I have to do it again, I will switch to peroxide.