FlyTrapCare Forums

I've been starting a lot of seeds lately. I've been using pots of 50/50 peat/perlite with a 1/4" of pure peat at the top. Usually it works well but in some cases, I get a growth of powdery mildew (or something similar) on the surface even before the seeds germinate. Since I can't see the ungerminated seeds, I don't want to do anything that disturbs the surface. And yet I want to check the mold. I know cinnamon is a good antifungal so I did some reading and armed myself with a formula for cinnamon "tea" and a spray bottle. These are the results:
The offending pot before spraying "Before" closeup After spraying, when the surface dried off a bit Two days later (the greener color is basically due to a different lighting setup) I think you'll agree that the mold is pretty much gone. My remaining questions are "Will the cinnamon adversely affect seedlings?" and "Will it hurt germination in any way?" I going to have to wait on the germination question but I took before and after shots of a pot of spatulata seedlings and I'm not seeing any damage: Two days later: All in all, I think that I'm going to be using the cinnamon spray. If there's any adverse effect on germination, I'll update this entry.

(And I don't know why there's another copy of this pic attached:)

Any updates on whether the cinnamon affected the germination/health of the seeds?

I wish I could give a definitive answer but I can't. The pot slimed over with algae and any possible germination was smothered. I still regularly use cinnamon for any mold/fungus on plant media but I simply don't know about germinating seeds. To avoid this problem, I've switched over to water germination and a much drier medium during the initial rooting stages - which seems to be working, so far.

Do you sterilize the media before planting the seeds?

Not particularly well, apparently.

I rinse and boil, multiple times for seeds. Also keep media covered between cycles. Loosely covered after planting. It helps, but not perfect.