Furry astrophytum asterias

[mcdieimp]

Just a quick one. I cracked and did my 2019/2020 sowing before Xmas and have a range of seedlings coming up.

The Astrophytum seeds popped up in 4 days and have been in the baggie since 14 Dec. However, two of the asterias have come up furry. Fungus?

If so presumably this was in/on the seed rather than the substrate (microwaved twice) and should be ejected asap?

Thanks

[Aiko]

Hard to tell based on this pictures. Can you be sure it is not the roots? some seedlings grow fluffly roots at first. But if it is clearly fluffy all over instead of just on one side of the plant, then I am pretty confident it is fungus. Best is to remove the two seedlings so it does not spread easily to the others. If you are not sure, just put them in their own pot with soil and see how it goes.

[mcdieimp]

Okay, out of the baggie and they're just fur. I've removed them both and the seedling inside was mostly mush.

The rest are back in the bag. I'll need to pop out and buy some cinnamon to try to prevent any more being affected...

Thanks for the guidance.

[Jangaudi]

astrophytum seeds can be hard to sterilize when sowing due to their shape, and later on it's usually the empty seed coats that start molding. If the seed coats are detached already from the seedlings, you'd better take em out.

[mcdieimp]

Thanks.

Taken them out and spotted a third one starting to fur up. All the ones that have gone are asterias (they are the 5 +2 furry on the left); the 10 on the right are capricorne (from a different seller).

[7george]

Furry is not good. Keep things smooth. Real spines will appear in several years.