White bloom in the ground of flower pots. Causes of white plaque in pots and methods of getting rid of it. Bad smell from soil in a flower pot

White mold forms in flower pots. Besides worrying about how to get rid of it, the question arises: what is the reason for its occurrence?

Factors Contributing to Mold Formation

The main reason for the appearance of white bloom on the soil is a fungal infection. There are several conditions required for its development. Mold in a flower pot is caused by both low temperature and high humidity in the room, and improper watering (excessive or frequent). Clogged drainage holes at the bottom of the container for plants, a substrate that does not correspond to the variety of plantings, also contribute to the development of the fungus.

Mold in a flower pot often appears when the autumn days are cloudy. During this period, plants absorb less water, and the amount that remains in the ground due to a decrease in air temperature evaporates slowly. When moisture accumulates, it creates favorable conditions for the development of infection.

Preventive measures and ways to get rid of mold

To stop the formation of fungal plaque in the pot, it is recommended to reduce the volume of water for watering the plant and the frequency of the procedure. For the speedy evaporation of excess moisture, you can gently loosen the substrate around it so as not to damage the roots of the flower. It should be remembered that improper care can lead to the development of infection in both anthurium, which requires a lot of moisture, and in a cactus, which is unpretentious. Having found out why there is mold in a flower pot, one can come to the conclusion that its appearance does not depend on the state of the plant, but on external factors.

To fight the fungus, you should clean the bottom holes of the plant vessel, ensure good drainage, and reduce the frequency of watering. Perhaps the flower does not have time to absorb the entire volume of moisture, as a result of which it evaporates and forms a salt coating on the surface of the earth. It is better to water the plant less often and more abundantly than sparingly, but often. This contributes to the complete flushing of the soil layer.

Change of scenery as a way to save the plant

If changing the watering regime does not bring an effective result, the mold in the flower pot can be defeated in another way. First of all, the plant should be transplanted into a smaller vessel. If the root system does not allow this, then you can only replace it.Before transplanting, it is recommended to thoroughly wash the pot and scald it with boiling water. Ideally, boil it completely in a saucepan or bucket for a while. Then you need to dry the vessel, pour drainage material on its bottom. In order to get rid of microorganisms that form mold in a flower pot, new soil must be calcined on a stove or steamed over boiling water before planting a plant. This rule also applies to soil purchased from a specialized store, since it can also be contaminated, which means that it requires processing. For steaming, the soil can be placed in a colander over boiling water.

Often, indoor flower lovers are faced with such a problem as white bloom on the surface of the soil in a pot. In itself, this fact is not dangerous, however, the reasons causing it can be quite serious. In the article, we will find out why the ground in a flower pot is covered with a white coating and how to cope with this unpleasant problem.

Let's get acquainted with the common causes of the problem.

Most often, white bloom occurs due to excessive watering. The soil is regularly waterlogged, the water actively evaporates: as a result, salts settle on the surface of the substrate. Especially often this phenomenon occurs if watering is done with hard water, from the tap.

If waterlogging is significant, prolonged, in addition to white bloom, more serious consequences are possible: root rot, the appearance of black soil bugs. The plant in this case not only does not bloom, it stops developing and may even die.

Plaque is also likely with poor, insufficient watering.

Hard water

Indoor flowers, regardless of their type and variety, should be watered with soft, settled water, without hard admixtures of salts and bleach. Often it is the presence of impurities in the irrigation water that leads to the formation of a white coating on the soil, consisting of salts and lime.

Externally, salt-limescale looks like whitish small granules, which can be easily removed from the pot. Immediately under the bloom - clean land. Usually, flower growers do this: they remove the plaque along with the top layer of the earth, then add fresh soil.

Special water softeners can be purchased in stores.

Dry air

In this case, moisture from the flower pot evaporates too quickly, salts begin to accumulate on the surface of the substrate. Dryness leads to the fact that the soil becomes excessively salty: this fact negatively affects the development of the plant.

Too much fertilizer

Regular overfeeding of plants in a pot will inevitably lead to the fact that the surface of the earth is covered with a white bloom. In this case, the plaque will consist of salts and minerals that the plant could not assimilate.

Wrong choice of substrate

When purchasing a ready-made substrate in a store, you should be careful. If you purchase soil for seedlings to grow an indoor flower, the appearance of a white bloom subsequently is not surprising. The fact is that a large amount of stimulants and dressings are added to the soil intended for seedlings during its production, so that the seeds hatch faster.

Unsuitable pot

It is known that a pot is suitable for indoor plants, which only slightly exceeds the volume of their root system. If you choose a container that is too large, the roots of the plant will not be able to cope with the volume of the substrate, to process the moisture and nutrients entering the pot. As a result, a white coating appears on the surface of the soil.

How to treat

It is necessary to get rid of the problem based on the reason that caused it. That is, first you need to find out why the plaque was formed, and then eliminate this reason: water less, make more modest fertilizing, transplant the plant into a suitable-sized pot, etc. There are also universal tips that will help in any case.

Mulching with expanded clay

It is necessary to check expanded clay from time to time whether a suspicious plaque turns white on it. If this happens, remove the powder from the pot and rinse it with water. Then put it back in the old place.

Sand mulching

Instead of expanded clay, ordinary river sand is also used as mulch. The advantage is that the sand, in addition to protecting it from white bloom, also loosens the soil, improves its structure.

Removing the top layer

If you want to get rid of plaque instantly, just remove it along with the top layer of the substrate. Then add fresh soil to the pot.

Wet pallet

Disinfection

If the ground is covered with mold, it is necessary to fight the scourge by spraying the ground with fungicides. There should be at least two such procedures with a 10-14-day interval. If mold persists or is too much, transplant the flower into fresh substrate.

Fungal infection

Sometimes plaque in a pot appears due to a fungus that has settled in the soil. Plaque in this case is more like a whitish fluff or mold, and the smell of rot will come from the ground. Most often, the appearance of a fungus is caused by excessive moisture in the soil, keeping the flower in inappropriate conditions.

Suitable conditions for the growth of the fungus are air humidity reaching 85-90% and a warm temperature of + 20-25 degrees. Stagnant, unventilated air, a minimum amount of sunlight also contribute to the appearance of mold with fungus in flower pots. Note that the fungus is fatal to the plant: if measures are not taken in time, the flower may die.

Measures need to be taken urgent and radical: a simple replacement of the top layer of the earth is not enough here. It is necessary to get the flower out of the pot, rinse its roots, treat it with a disinfectant, then transplant it into a new container with fresh soil. The old soil is thrown away, and the pot in which the plant was located must be thoroughly rinsed and disinfected.

But if the fungus or mold is bred in a plastic pot, it is better to throw it out: the spores of the fungus are very difficult to remove completely in this case. Pottery and clay can be disinfected.

Tip: Treat the soil with an antifungal fungicide to prevent fungal growth.

Prevention

We will find out what measures will help to avoid the appearance of a whitish bloom in a flowerpot with flowers, we will find out.

First, you should be careful about watering. You do not need to moisten the flower if the top layer of the earth has not yet dried out. Such excessive watering of plants leads to waterlogging of the soil, stagnation and various negative consequences.
If the water is hard, you can soften it by adding a small amount of lemon acid (half a teaspoon per liter). If there is no acid, be sure to settle the tap water for about a day before watering.
The pot must be chosen the most suitable for the size of the plant. Too large flowerpots and pots are undesirable to use, however, as well as overly tight.
Provide good drainage for the flower. Below, under the ground, it is advisable to lay a small layer of expanded clay. Choose a pot only with drainage holes - otherwise, stagnation in the soil is very likely. Consequently, mold, fungus and other negative signs of waterlogging will appear.
Loosen the soil regularly to make the soil more permeable.
In order to prevent the formation of plaque, it is recommended to do disinfection by watering the ground with potassium permanganate once a month.
Remember to regularly ventilate the room where the plant is located.
Use high-quality soil, preferably ready-made, from the store. Look carefully at the composition and purpose of the soil when purchasing.
Use expanded clay, sand or charcoal as a mulch layer.

We found out why white bloom appears in the flower pot. There are several reasons and most of them are somehow connected with improper agricultural technology. By starting to care for the plant properly and providing it with the necessary conditions, you can avoid the appearance of white bloom and grow a healthy, beautiful flower.

This problem is probably familiar to many who are fond of houseplants. Sometimes it happens that the top layer in pots with your favorite flowers starts to turn white little by little. It doesn't look like mold. Then why is the earth covered with such a raid, and what is it missing?

Why is the soil in pots covered with a white coating?

I think many people understand that most of these problems in the same home floriculture usually reflect our mistakes in caring for plants. A similar "white shroud" is an ordinary salt crust. It can be white, and sometimes white and yellowish. In such a crust arises in pots simply - when the physical evaporation of water from the soil significantly prevails over the evaporation of the same water of the plant itself. Again, there are several reasons for this, as always:

Perhaps the texture of the mixture in the flower pot is too heavy. That is why its high (sometimes even excessively) capillarity arises, and because of such capillarity, the water is more intensively pulled up to the soil surface.

Again, errors are not excluded when watering the plant. Perhaps you water immediately with water that you just poured directly from your tap. You do not need to do this, let it at least settle down a little.
Drainage at the bottom of the pot can be difficult. If this is the case, then again evaporation from the very surface of the soil in the pot will be the main way of spending moisture.
Perhaps you have simply over-fertilized the mixture or you have already purchased such a mixture. Indeed, many manufacturers of such soil mixtures are guilty of this, especially if they make this mixture for vegetables.
We "went too far" with dressings.
And a simple reason that immediately occurs to many is the banal dryness of the air itself. It is because of the dryness that the evaporation increases many times over and the salts are thus “drawn out” to the surface.

In addition to all these points, white plaque can easily appear due to fungal microflora. This microflora is again created by our diligence, which we excessively show when watering. Therefore, to get rid of such plaque, water your flowers correctly. That is, when the top layer of earth in the pot is already dry.

What to do and how to get rid of it?

In order for such a white (and any other) plaque to be less, you just need to cover the soil from above with expanded clay. Of course, such a plaque may appear on expanded clay after some time. Then they just remove it, wash it well and put it back in place.

Another option is to sprinkle the soil in the pot with river sand. After that, the top layer, together with the sand, should be loosened. The very addition of sand and the subsequent loosening of the soil is very beneficial for the roots of your plant. Also, you can remove the top layer itself and simply add good leafy earth or no less good humus in its place.

The easiest way is to remove all this "whiteness" along with the earth, and then add new ones there.

If the water in your home is hard (and it is for the most part), then filters should be used. You can also water for irrigation and soften. To do this, simply put a rag bag in the jar, where you need to put a little peat.

One of the options for the appearance of such a raid is dry air, which is not uncommon in our apartments in winter. Because of this, we begin to water the plants more often, and for this reason the soil is covered with such a bloom. (How is everything interconnected !?)