Mold (?) on peat pots

I have some young tomato seedlings about 2-3" high that look healthy right now. However, there is a substance which I think might be mold growing on the outside of the little peat pots. When I pick them up, I can see a powdery substance in the air. How can I get rid of this and save the plants? Do I use peroxide and water, or should I remove the plants and put them in plastic pots instead? I had potted them up from the little pellets which I decided I don't like and won't use again. Please help me save my little tomatoes! Could this have been caused by lack of air circulation?

Can you post a picture? If it were mold, it would be more likely that it would be inside the pot in the wet soil rather than on the outside where things are drier. Or if you have a really bad case of mold, it could be on the outside in addition to the inside, but I can't imagine it growing only on the outside of the pot and not inside as well. So I suspect it's something other than mold, but a picture would tell for sure.

I've been meaning to buy a digital camera for quite a while, but keep putting it off for one reason or another. It's definitely on my " to do" list, however. So, I can't send a photo right now. The substance is a light mustard color in places and white in others. I'll probably try carefully cutting off the peat pot and seeing if I can transplant the plants without damaging the roots, as they are still young. I read in another thread about someone using bleach. I don't want to try that without some instructions, though.

If it's really just on the outside of the pots I'm going to guess that it's salt/hard water deposits of some sort and not mold (kind of like how the clay pots get that white stuff on the outside of them over time). If it was mold, you might see some of it on the outside but you'd have more of it on the moist wet soil than you have on the outside of the pot. Also if it's sort of flaky rather than fuzzy that would also suggest mineral deposits of some sort rather than mold.

It does seem to be fuzzy, so I really think it's some kind of mold, although we DO have a problem with lime deposits here. We're less than a mile from a river and caves. Assuming it's mold, what do you recommend? As soon as I run my errands this a.m., I need to do something to salvage the plants. I really appreciate your advice.

I'm still surprised that it would be mold if it's not in the soil, but if it is then I'd get them in new pots with fresh potting mix (shake off as much of the old soil as you can in the process although with seedlings I'm not sure how easy this will be to do). And when you water the plants in their new pots, use some peroxide or chamomile tea.

I get it on the outside of my peat pots,too.It's because you've got the pot well wetted and probably under a dome cover.It doesn't seem to hurt anything,unless you're allergic to molds.

I have bright green mold on my peat pots all the time. Doesn't hurt anything unless it gets too think before the seed germinates. I just stir the soil surface a bit with a toothpick when that happens. Just think its very St. Paddy's dayish today :)

The bright green stuff is algae not mold.

I had some moldy-looking substance on the outside of some 5" peat pots - looked like wet comet cleanser. It was where the pot was touching the plastic tray I had them setting in. All I did was tear those bits off the pots before planting into the ground. Does not seem to have affected the plants at all.

This message was edited Mar 17, 2008 11:00 AM

I just noticed that one of the pots has this "mold?" on the soil. On the rest, it is contained to the outside. I'm going to take advantage of this beautiful weather and work outside and re-check them tonight. Neither the plants nor I seem to be suffering any ill effects right now, but seeing that dust when I pick one of them up isn't very reassuring. Tonight I may try to re-pot them in fresh soil. I thank all of you for your advice. I've opened the window to allow fresh air in the room, as I was not using a fan and ventilation was poor.

Update: I re-potted the little tomatoes in plastic pots. Some of them had 2 to 3 to the peat pot and I was able to separate them. They had very good root systems. I watered them with a peroxide solution as you suggested, ecrane3. Thanks, again.

Do any of you know how to tell the difference in a Roma and a Better Boy by identifying the leaves? I'm afraid I have mixed them up without labels.