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I have had a rather large terrarium set up without any problems for over a year. In the past several weeks, I have noticed a lot of white mold on top of and throughout the soil. What can I do to correct this? Should I take all plants out and replant them in new soil or should I just discard everything and start fresh?
Posts: 1 | From: maryland | Registered: Jun 2003
| Logged: 67.200.155.29
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Hi Sadie, Is it possible that the problem may be mycelium rather than mold? (there are very few white species of mold) Mycelium is one of the growth stages of mushrooms and fungi. It looks a little like fine white threads on (and in) the soil.... Whether the problem is mold or mushroom, I would remove the lid and let your terrariun dry out to see if the culprit dies off from the lack of humidity. If little mushrooms sprout up, remove them before they go to spore again, scrape as much of the mycelium away as you can, and you can probably "weed" the problem away. If its a mold problem you might be smart to replace the soil with a new sterile mix, but I wouldn't chuck the plants themselves. Rinse the plants (primarily the roots) in room temperature water to (hopefully) get rid of any mold spores that might be lingering in the soil, before you replant them. Wash any ornaments from the terrarium with a mild bleach solution. Good luck! Posts: 11227 | From: Cedar Hill Washington | Registered: Aug 2002
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