by Stefan
Mold on clay pellets
8:31 am in posts with pitcures!, questions, Seeking Advice by Stefan
Hello from Switzerland
I started a 
windowfarm a month ago, and it is going very well up to now. But growing mold on the pellets worries me, which is the reason for this post. So following questions are going through my head:
1. Is this normal (mycorrhiza)?
2. If not, what can I do against it?
3. Will it affect my plants/health/apartment?
I have my farm on an 15min/2h rhythm. One of the plants I transferred from soil to hydro culture, the other I germinated myself.
Thanx for any advise
Dacardi
I don’t think that’s mold. I think that’s just mineral build up on the pellets. The nutrients in the water are not volatile, and won’t evaporate, unlike the water. So they constantly deposit small amounts of the minerals on the clay.
This will be especially visible if you have hard water at home.
Net result – no problem, just don’t suck on the clay pellets later on.
Thank you danpowell for your answer
I had a white crust of mineral deposits earlier on the pellets. But if you enlarge the pictures you can see, that those are real fungi hyphea (those small hairs).
Yeah that is mold. I’d pull them out of the farm, remove all the clay pellets and clean them.
Wash your plant lightly as well. Clean the roots and the bottom of the plant. Be very careful though.
Usually I just clean mine in regular water and I never have mold build up like that. You may want to use something like a diluted white vinegar solution to clean them. Get rid of all the mold (may have to scrub), then rinse them in water.
Then put everything back in the farm. You may see your plants wilt from the shock. They should re-establish in a day or so.
Whoops! Sorry, should have investigated a little closer before I spoke!
Constant problem with the internet.
i’m a microbiologist and definitely this is a mold.
nothing to worry, probably is a saprophytic fungi, which means he degrades the organic mater in clay pebbles, because they were cooked wrong