Remove Mold from Garden
Plants are susceptible to mold. Fungus infections mainly target the blossoms, leaves, stems, and pods of plants exposed to waterlogging. For white mold, leaves will become yellow wilt and die, and flowers and pods may rot. For black mold, which is also found inside homes, leaves weaken and become susceptible to pests and diseases.
Host crops are mostly at their weakest during flowering, but seedlings are also externally susceptible. Mold typically invades the garden early in the spring or mid-summer and grows unnoticed for a long time.
All forms of fungus release spores in cool weather. The wind can transport spores to the rest of your garden, where they may affect other plants. This is why it is vital to remove mold quickly.
Control and prevention of mold in gardens
- Uproot then destroy affected plants as soon as you notice them
- Dig out, remove and replace infected soil
- Add salt around the infected soil.
- Remove dead leaves and improve drainage in your garden.
Prevent Mold
Mold starts to grow immediately after its spores land on a wet organic surface, and it can spread within two days. It colonizes in about twelve days and grows at a rate of one square inch every day.
Sources of mold could be your potted plants or the grouts in your home. Learn how to clean grout from tiles to prevent fungal infestation. Mold thrives in the kitchen and bathroom grouts because these areas provide consistent moisture.
Remove the water that remains in the shower after showering using a mop, and air the room for 15 minutes to dissipate the humidity.
Keeping the bathroom and kitchen dry prevents the moisture from penetrating the grouting to the extent where mold can form. Use a concentrated grout cleaner if your grouting shows signs of a fungal infestation.
Do not overwater your potted plants. Use healthy and sterile soil for your potted plants. Make a habit of cleaning the potted soil to remove debris and dead leaves. Also, improving ventilation and accessibility to sunlight can reduce the risk of fungal growth.
In your gardens, ensure to drain the soils (dig trenches) and space your plants to avoid crowding. You might want to avoid cultivating in areas with insufficient air circulation.
When watering your crops, try not to pour water on top of them. Water the soil, not the plants. Also, experts advise watering the crops early in the day to dry before nightfall when the risk of mold growth is higher because of lower temperatures.
You can also use an environmentally friendly fungicide to control the infection. Spray the plants right before the budding stage, then spray again later on.
Control weeds. Weeds can host the fungus and spread it to the plants.
Consider removing all crop residue immediately after harvesting. The reason is that when residue is left, it provides damp organic matter that molds need to grow. White mold spores can stay dormant till the next planting season, and that’s a risk you don’t want to take.
Get rid of the infected plants. When your garden is infested with mold, you can’t save the affected plants. Uproot all the sick ones and burn them, do not add them compost pile. The fungus can spread even from your dead uprooted plants.
Remove garden debris at the end of the growing season. Pull up all seasonal plants, rake up leaves and remove them. Fungus feeds on dead plants.
Practice crop rotation. Plant new crops in various areas of our garden each year. Plant the tomatoes where you had the daisies. If the garden is too small for crop rotation, let it remain fallow for a year—this helps to starve and kill the fungus.
