If you discover white growth on the surface of your yCubes, similar to the image below, don't panic! Keep reading to learn how to remediate and prevent the growth, but rest knowing it typically will not affect your plants' overall success, and plants in affected yCubes are still safe to harvest and eat.
What is the white fuzz?
The white substance that you see on your rockwool is a type of mold. It is not harmful when on the rockwool, but you can treat it to prevent it from spreading and reduce its appearance.
Mold can be caused by various environmental factors. Mold spores are present in air and water everywhere, and can form a white growth when the right combined conditions are present. For many, simply having normal temperature and humidity levels in their home are enough to let the mold spores begin growing on their yCubes, due to no fault of their own.
Remediation
To treat the mold, you can either:
1. Use a commercial fungicide spray
For example, the SNS 244 Spray, can be purchased here.
- Consider getting the pre-mixed solution. Test on a small area of one or two plants before applying to everything. It takes all the guess work out of mixing.
- With the lights off, remove the yCubes and spray only the rockwool, paying close attention to not oversaturate the yCube. The goal is to only treat the growth present on the rockwool.
- Repeat as often as instructed on the label.
OR
2. Use 3% Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2)
- Add 3% Hydrogen Peroxide to a small spray bottle and apply liberally to mold-affected yCubes' rockwool.
- Do not soak yCubes in the hydrogen peroxide.
- Repeat as needed up to once a day.
Note: Once mold has been treated with hydrogen peroxide, the fuzz won't necessarily disappear, but new growth should be reduced or stopped.
Preventing the growth
1. Increase air movement around your Gardyn
Ventilation can help prevent mold development. Try adding a small fan on low near your Gardyn. Just keep in mind that too much or too direct wind can be stressful for plants.
2. Try not to over-handle your plants
By only handling your plants when necessary (such as pruning, harvesting, or rearranging, etc.) you can help reduce the ability of molds, pests, and pathogens to travel from you to your plants.
Questions? Please reach out to support@mygardyn.com or chat with us.