Rotting seedlings

Morning folks,

Just wanting some advice about a little problem I am having with one of the containers of seedlings I have on the go.

Bit of background -

The seed is a cacti mix, unsure of what could possibly be in there as it was a gift with purchase and no mention of species was made.

The soil mix is the same I have used in all the other containers and they do no have this problem.

The soil mix is as moist as all the others.

Same cover, same light level, same position.

What has been happening over the last couple of weeks to some but not all of the seedlings is that they get covered in this white fuzz and then rot away.

I have opened the container to remove the rotten cacti as they were close to the healthy ones.
Seems to happen sporadically and in different areas of the container.

Some of the seedlings are chugging along just fine and appear healthy.

My thought is that the seed itself had some spores or something nasty on it and this has manifested itself in the warm and moist conditions.
I'm not worried as I said the seed was a gift with purchase so no dollars lost but obviously would prefer not to lose any plants.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Walker87

walker. ide say your assumptions are spot on. good thinking mate.
based on the fact that all your trays bar this one are fine it would seem logical that the seed mix had a contaminant included. bummer.
all i can say is thoroughly inspect your seeds to see if there is any fruit still attached or included in pakage. the fruit is organic material and harbours biological need nots.

i wouldnt worry to much about it. its very likely the seef mix contains nothing more than can be found at bunnings anyways.lol.

Can try to spray with a diluted mix of wettable sulfur. On top of boiling soil and sterilizing pots I spray with sulfur straight after sowing seeds. Not sure what will happen now they have germinated.

Other option would be to dry them out early. just means it will take a bit longer for them reach maturity.

Thanks Wert,
I did do a check but couldn't see anything still attached to the seed or any excess material.
At least I know it wasn't through any error in moisture level or handling that this has happened. The seedlings that are growing seem to be a fairly varied mix so I would prefer to keep them alive, more so for the curiosity of knowing what they actually are.

Sneaky,
Where do you get sulphur from?
I will consider using it next time, will have to do some research to see if it will have any affect on the seedlings that have already sprouted.
I'm hesitant to dry them out yet, the seed being a mix has germinated at different rates and some have been sprouted for a few weeks others only a few days.
Perhaps that will have to be considered though if this fungus thing is going to rear it's ugly head again.

I had to remove the cover for one lot of seeds I'd planted (alenopsis rubrolineata) as the seedlings refused to stand up and the stems were breaking, out of the 5 that germinated 2 are still standing but since removing the lid they have halted and have not showed any sign of growth in several weeks now.
They do still appear healthy but just refuse to grow. I'm assuming that would be the same outcome if I were to remove the cover for the cacti mix container.

Guess this is all a learning experience, being first time growing cacti from seed.

Thank you for the replies.

Regards,

Walker87

If this sort of thing continues then in future you could consider washing the seeds in ethanol for about a minute before planting. That should sterilise them but it is not without risk of damaging the seeds.

the wettable sulfur can be purchased from any gardening place. Bunnings, Mitre 10 etc. I use it mostly to control algae but i have found it works a treat against damp off and other seedling murderers.

Well I have done a slow uncovering and the seedlings are now in open air.
Hopefully this fixes the problem.
Time will tell.