mold in media bed

[RW]

I started some seeds in vermicompost and when they got 1 inch tall simply transplanted the whole seedling, vermicmpost and all into my hydroton media bed.

A few weeks later and i now have mold all around each seedling and the seedling's have died. Any ideas?

Curious how others transplant seedlings into their media beds successfully.

[TCLynx]

do you have pictures?

 

If you are flooding too high (as in the surface of the media gets wet) then between that and the vermicompost you may have waterlogged the seedlings while also creating a favorable situation for mold.

 

I have used peat pellets that I transplanted right into my gravel beds but in some situations that might keep seedlings too wet too so you may be better off either direct seeding right into the media which works well for many plants or using a bucket of water to rinse the compost off the seedling before planting into the media.

 

Good air movement can help against things like damping off and mold.

[Sheri Schmeckpeper]

I agree with TCLynx. I have good luck direct seeding when possible, and rinsing all media off any seedlings. They go through a little shock sometimes, but recover quickly.

[RW]

Thanks to both of you.  I bet you're right.  For the record, here's the ugly picture. I will make an adjustment to flood an inch lower and try direct seeding. i will remove the top inch or 2 of hydroton and look into sterlizing it before i add it back. When direct seeding, just sprink on top, then thin when seedlings appear?

[TCLynx]

That just looks like algae to me, Either add more media on top or adjust the flood height.  The seedling probably just stayed to wet in the compost and suffered for it.

 

No need to use the net pots in the grow beds either.

 

Yea you can try just sprinkling the seeds around or for really big seeds you might put them down a little deeper.