Smart Pot Mildew

[MadMike]

Greetings everyone. This is my first year using Smart Pots on a couple plants and decided to go with a 15 gallon and 7 gallon to see what happens. The areas are both sunny for a good 8 hours each day with afternoon winds. My 7 gallon appeared to have some powdery mold blotched along the outside of the container all around. It was white with light green color in a few areas. I don't use nutrients since I have them in Fox Farms soil mixed with some good compost. The water here is hard but not burdened with too much salt. I know this because my plants were fine last year. I decided to spray some SNS 244 Fungicide on the exterior surface of the pot where the suspected mold was. The plant appears very healthy but am wondering if anyone else has experienced this with Smart Pots. Should I transplant into another pot? My other 15 gallon looks great and shows no sign of mold on the fabric. The ones in the ground are mammoth and green through and through.

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

The light green patchs could well be a sign of over watering, with the light patchs being residue from your hard water more than likely.

 

[MadMike]

The light green patchs could well be a sign of over watering, with the light patchs being residue from your hard water more than likely.

That thought entered my mind as well. I did let it go about 5 days with no water, and then dug down about 3 inches to find little moisture, so I watered. The weather has been crazy here lately. It went from high 90's during the day to low 70's within a week. When it's hot, the pots lose moisture fast.

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

It may be a side effect of using material based pot ? i know that clay pots suffer with a green algae growth on the pot it self.


On the bright side of things hard water contains trace Mg - magnesium & Ca - calcium which you are unlikely to suffer from these defeciencys if using tap water

 

[MadMike]

By withholding water for 4-5 days and spraying the SNS-244 on the outside of the pot, the powdery residue is almost non existent. Thanks for easing my concerns.