astrophytum caput-medusae seedling hair?

[CactusJonny]

Hello!

I've begun growing some astrophytum caput-medusae seedlings that I got off of the internet, and after 7 days they started coming up. And today I noticed there was a white fuzz coming up with two of the seedlings (3 have sprouted so far).

FUZZ ASTRO.jpeg (27.57 KiB) Viewed 1594 times

This is what they're growing in.

ASTROBOX.jpeg (35.62 KiB) Viewed 1594 times

I wanted to check in and see what that was? Is it mold?

Thank you!
Jonny

[Jangaudi]

it looks like mold yes. Covering your soil with inorganic material can be of great help, like fine pumice or sand. Your soil looks very wet also, so taking off condensation off the glass or plastic can help too. And if seeds have sprouted, it's good to take out the empty seed coats, as they usually mold first. Not sure if your can save this seedling, but the mold could be as of yet only be on the seed coat, so try take it out with a tooth pick.

[Shane]

I was on the fence as to whether it's mold. Young roots tend to have a pretty fuzzy look too. But I agree with Janguadi that it looks more like mold

[CactusJonny]

Thanks you both!

I tried pulling the white fuzz away with tweezers, and covered everything with rocks. Then sprayed with a tiny bit of hydrogen peroxide - which I read somewhere for dealing with mold. Fingers crossed.

[Vingames1]

That is one of the hardest cactus to grow from seed. It’s better to practice with some mammillaria or something first

[CactusJonny]

I have had some success with some mams, as well as with capricorne + myriostigma and never had a problem with mold. However this is the first time I tried with that dome rather then some plastic wrap over top. Also, all of those seeds came from my own plants, rather then shipped.

Is there a main difference when growing caput-medusae, would you say?

[Steve-0]

I'm going to play Devil's advocate ( cause a newbie can say stupid stuff about what they don't know )

...and go with Yes, seedling hair or root fuzzies or what have you.

"The white thing is a funicle (= umbilical cord) like by all Astrophytum." from another query on another forum.

flipping a coin now

[Jangaudi]

hmmm, of course it could have been root hair, but that usually just shows up a bit at the base, or where the root is still exposed and can be clearly determined as root hairs. On this picture it looks like massive grayish fuzz engulfing the seedling.
So what ever happened to your seedling cactusjonny ?

[CactusJonny]

I ended up covering the seeds with some sand, and giving it a spray of hydrogen peroxide, after the fuzz started growing over the sand (which made me think it had to be mold, it was pretty aggressive).

Just had a poke around now, and although the mold is gone, it also seems as though it's unlikely any seedlings made it out alive. Either death by mold, or death by being over-loved...

Live and learn, I'll try again when seeds are avail.