Mold in a Plant Pot. How to Get Rid of It?

Mold grows when the soil is permanently soggy and it is never given enough time to dry. This is simply the excess of water. You have to react the moment mold appears. If you don’t, the mold will grow deeper into the soil and getting rid of it will be much harder. What is more, it can attack the roots of your plants.

There are a few ways you can get rid of mold in your plant pots. Mold on the plants, especially their leaves, has to be treated with an antifungal agent.

In the first place make sure it is not calcium deposit from the tap water. The deposit is hard, fragile and slightly yellowish. Mold is white or greyish, sometimes pink and gives off an unpleasant smell.

Make sure that in the winter your plants are in an airy place with low humidity. The window sills are not so good as windows tend to be very airtight which makes the steam condense on their surface. That increases the humidity of the soil in pots and encourages growth of mold.

Put your plants somewhere else or release the overtightened windows a little, make sure the plants have plenty of fresh air around them. Don’t put the plants too close together.

The easiest way is transplantation. Once you decide to do it, use sand, perlite or expanded clay aggregate to make your soil lighter and more water-permissible. This prevents mold growth. The pots have to be either disinfected or simple replaced with new ones.

If you don’t want to go for transplantation (and it is not recommended in the winter), try some of the clues below.

Put on rubber gloves and simply use your hands to remove them mold. The soil left has to go dry before you water it again.

There is one problem – the mold might appear again after you water your plants.

Pour some sand over the surface.

First remove the mold (Clue 1), pour some sand and gently mix it with the pot soil.

It will loosen the soil a little and the mold should not come back.

You can sprinkle some cinnamon over the mold. The problem is that cinnamon doesn’t look good on the soil and, unfortunately does not always work.

Dissolve 3% solution of peroxide in water in 1:10 ratio (for example a teaspoonful of peroxide in 10 of water), then pour the solution into a spray bottle and apply onto the mold directly. Apply twice a day until the mold disappears.

Mix one litre of water with a teaspoonful of apple vinegar (preferably homemade). Follow the same procedure as the one described in Clue 4 – apply twice a day until you see the mold gone.

Scatter some coal or fireplace ash onto the soil surface (remove the mold first following Clue 1). Mix it gently with the soil.

Soggy soil and poor air circulation might encourage growth of fungus and mold. It is also very unhealthy for us. Once you notice some mold on your plant soil, you’d better check if there aren’t any problems with the air circulation in your house.