Black mold on peat/paper pots

[TomatoGirl]

So this year I have been using peat pots (I’m staying with a relative so aren’t growing many this year, and so I bought a small kit that included these). I just replanted my seedlings in to fresh peat/paper pots and noticed some of them had black mold growing on the bottom.
The seedlings were started in pucks that I put inside the peat pots to make transplant easier. So I removed the outer mesh and any loose soil, and repotted in fresh peat pots with potting mix.
My questions is will my seedlings be ok?
Is there anything else I can do?
Will I have mold spores in my plants now?
HELP!

[TomatoNut95]

Hello Tomatogirl! I am new to this forum. I have never been fond of peat pots, so I never use them. Sounds like you did the right thing on trying to refresh the soil. I had a similar situation- I purchased a pepper plant that was in a peat pot a couple of years ago. After getting it home I noticed what looked like little maggots on the outside of the pot. I peeled away the pot and washed the dirt off the roots of the plant. The plant continued to thrive. Good luck with your plants!

[pepperhead212]

Many years ago I did an experiment with peppers in peat pots, vs. the usual, transplanted from a plastic pot. The ones in the peat pots were severely stunted - I dug them up, eventually, and peeled the peat pots off, as few roots had grown though, and the pots weren't decomposing well. The replanting helped, so I would suggest peeling those pots off, before planting, and would not recommend them for anything. Maybe they are OK for something with vigorous roots, which would eat away the pot, but I just stopped using them.

[TomatoNut95]

Yeah that 'plant the pot with the plant' thing-doesn't work. The peat pot doesn't compose fast enough and the plants roots seem to stay in the pot. I always peeled off the peat pots off those Bonnie plants. Thankfully I don't think Bonnie uses peat pots anymore; they're all plastic now.