ThorsDottir
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Joined: Fri Dec 09, 2011 12:58 pm
Location: Central FL

Mold question.. and another question..

I went out in the garden to pick some peppers and strawberries and just generally check on everything, when I noticed a fuzzy white mold growing on the top soil of several beds.

I am a homebrewer and have frequently seen people say they put their used grains after the boil into their garden, as well as dumping the mead lees or beer trub onto the soil. The mold is coming directly from the grains- I've been doing this for months and had no issues, but its rained solidly for over a week here and now I have mold. I went in and removed all of the surface mold I could see, as much of the grains as I could get, and the one strawberry plant that had mold actually on it.

The plants with the trub and lees didn't have mold, but once my husband missed and poured some ON the plant instead of around it, and they all have yellow burned spots on them. The trub/lees contains dead yeast from finished fermentation- again though we were told lots of people do this and nobody else seems to have a problem with it harming their plants.

Is there anything further I can do if more mold comes up tomorrow, and does anybody have an alternate viewpoint on my having been advised to use these brew cast-offs as fertilizer?

Apologies if this is in the wrong forum.. but its an organic garden with both fruit and vegetables so I got confused.

Any help appreciated.


Edit: posting a photo of the yellow spots I THINK were from pouring the cast-off lees directly on the plants and not the soil. I have cucumbers popping up so it seems to just be aesthetic? Or is this from over-watering caused by a week long downpour?

[img]https://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b217/darqrayn/010.jpg[/img]

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!potatoes!
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in general, I wouldn't worry about the grains growing mold. as it dries out, the mold will die back, I doubt it will negatively effect plants in the long run.

if those spots were definitely from dumping, I'd expect it to be from alcohol or low pH or something. they're not appearing on new leaves that have come out since the dumping, have they? the spots could be coincidental, too.

if it was my house, I'd compost grain waste first if I had it - but I don't - we brew mead and wine, and usually use the lees as a base in soups. but we compost it when we don't.

ThorsDottir
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Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Dec 09, 2011 12:58 pm
Location: Central FL

I was thinking that earlier, maybe I should have composted the used grains and hops.. it hasn't been an issue at all until now, but we were also in a drought until a tropical system rolled through and decided to stay.

The yellow spots, I don't know what to think. Since you brew as well, I'll be more specific.

Plants I've dumped the bottom part of the must or wort after the initial brew, before racking and pitching yeast, don't care (no yellowing, no mold, no adverse reactions at all). BUT the one place we put actual LEES on (those cucumber) the plant itself, with the dead yeast bodies following a 2-3 month ferment, it has those yellow spots.

I looked at the cucumber leaves harder following your response and its confusing. Some of the new leaves are totally miserable and dead or dying. The ones directly hit with the lees are a little "mad" but no signs of dying. That kind of leads me to believe its a coincidence and more likely to be over-watering due to the weather here in central Florida.

Would you have thrown out the strawberry plant that had mold growing up the stem? Is there an organic solution to this if it doesn't stop raining and dry out and becomes a more than one-time problem?

ThorsDottir
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Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Dec 09, 2011 12:58 pm
Location: Central FL

I went out this morning, I removed 2-3 dime sized spots of mold- I'm assuming its just something I missed yesterday as opposed to new growth.

My cucumber leaves are looking worse, shriveling up, and I'm wondering if I should remove the ones that look horrible or let nature take its course?

ThorsDottir
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Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Dec 09, 2011 12:58 pm
Location: Central FL

[img]https://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b217/darqrayn/Spring12267.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b217/darqrayn/Spring12265.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b217/darqrayn/Spring12266.jpg[/img]



I want to think this is all kinds of mold. But I still can't help but wonder if its as simple as leaf burn from the mead lees being poured directly on the plants, and then over a week of solid rain. :?



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