Fungus? Help needed

One tray that I set out has been slow to germinate. Today I came home to find a white fungus on my germinating mix. As only 2 seeds had germinated, I still had the cover on.
Can anyone please tell me what this is and what I should do?
Thank you.
Dave

How wet is your mix? Often, fungus or algae will grow on the surface like you describe if potting mix is overly wet. It should be just barely moist (the cover keeps plenty of humidity around for newly germinating sprouts). Unless your potting mix looks practically dry, I would suggest taking the cover off for at least a day so that things can dry out a bit.

I also poke a few holes in my humidity domes so as to get a little air circulation... If I can see just a breath of "mist" condensing on the inner surface of the dome, I know conditions are about perfect, but if I see lots of mist or big droplets of water condensing, I know I have too much moisture and I need to let things dry out a bit.

You might also pick off the fungus from the surface if you can do so without disturbing the seeds... that will help the mix dry out and will let air get down into the potting mix.

Once things start germinating, bottom watering (so the soil surface stays a bit on the dry side), and adding hydrogen peroxide when you water(1 Tablespoon of 3% hydrogen peroxide per quart of water), and maybe even a fan for better air circulation will all help guard against fungus and other things that can cause damping off (eg, sudden seedling death).

Good luck!

Thank you Critter. It didn't seem overly wet but I did take the top off.

If you end up having to start again, be sure you sterilize your seed starting mix (fresh out of the bag doesn't mean sterile). I use the microwave, as described here, http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/589725/

thanks again critter! And I'll be sure to use the critter containers I learned about last year. ;^) Do you remember that?

LOL!

Someone suggested a chamomile tea & hydrogen peroxide spray. Have you tried this?

Both weak chamomile tea and the hydrogen peroxide solution I mentioned above seem to be good anti-fungal agents... but I would hesitate spraying anything unless you're sure the surface isn't too moist.

Good luck!