Benji Ficus Soil Issue

[docb91b]

Howdy all,
I have a little benji ficus in a small pot next to my South West facing window. I used that EB White bonsai soil from Armstrong Gardening (a SoCal nursery). I noticed that this soil really retains moisture inside my house and only needs watering about weekly. Tonight I noticed a very fine white mold on the surface of the soil... I am assuming it is keeping too much water. I scraped the mold I saw off and have put the little plant outside the same window. I am thinking about letting it dry out a bit, an not watering with as much water at watering time.

Is my current action plan accurate? Any suggestions?

D

 

[timetravel_0]

I have a torch bougainvillea that I'm keeping indoors in a similar sounding location.

It's in 50/50 lava and pine bark. With the mix, it requires watering every other day or so. I recently went away for a week and wrapped the pot and soil up to the trunk with a plastic bag, secured by rubber bands.

When I returned, I found nice fresh white roots put out on top of the still moist soil, in addition to what sounds just like your mold. Since the bag has been off for 3 days now, the mold has started dying back and doesn't seem to be an issue.

Are you checking the entirety of your soil for moisture before watering? You might be able to scale back the waterings to prevent the mold- or simply use a fungicide.

 

[pgstroud@aol.com]

A good fungcide

I have a torch bougainvillea that I'm keeping indoors in a similar sounding location.

It's in 50/50 lava and pine bark. With the mix, it requires watering every other day or so. I recently went away for a week and wrapped the pot and soil up to the trunk with a plastic bag, secured by rubber bands.

When I returned, I found nice fresh white roots put out on top of the still moist soil, in addition to what sounds just like your mold. Since the bag has been off for 3 days now, the mold has started dying back and doesn't seem to be an issue.

Are you checking the entirety of your soil for moisture before watering? You might be able to scale back the waterings to prevent the mold- or simply use a fungicide.

One good fungicide often overlooked but safe to use is to crush one aspirin (325 mg) very finely & mix into a gallon jug of water. Shake well. Do not use this too often, but it will serve as a fungicide when needed. If using green moss on a plant to enhance its appearance, carefully lift it up or just water around it so that the aspirin water fungicide runs beneath it. This is so this home-made fungicide, as is true with any fungicide, will not kill the moss.