Algae on soil?

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Alex17

Active Member
I have a bagseed plant that has a considerable amount of algae on the surface of the soil. I really don't care about this plant so I'm going to toss it. The plant was overwatered early in life so I understand why it has algae.

But there is a very small bit of algae on the surface of the soil of one of my OG kush seedlings. Should I be worried about it? This plant has not been overwatered. Its on day 13 and was only watered once so far in its whole life on day 7, the soil is currently quite dry and its about due for another watering.

How do I eliminate the algae besides just removing the tiny bit of soil its growing on? Is the algae even a problem in the first place?

Thanks.
 
purplehazin

purplehazin

Well-Known Member
Taken from ViRedd (an old member):

Its basically a plant and uses exactly what your marijuana plants use to stay alive ... air, water and light. Fungus gnats love algae and lay their eggs in it. The eggs hatch into larvae, which in turn, eats the roots of your marijuana plants. Soooo ... the best bet is to stop the growth of the algae before the gnats find it. You can do that by blocking the light from hitting the tops of your pots and the soil. Use some white plastic, or something similar, cut to fit and put it over the soil. That will stop the algae growth post haste. Good luck.
 
Pureblood89

Pureblood89

Well-Known Member
A one inch layer of perlite on top of the soil will stop algae growth and keep fungus gnats away from the soil.
 
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Alex17

Active Member
Shit, thanks man.

Since I'm watering tomorrow it won't be a problem that the soil is covered, is it? I don't want it to stay wet too long because I'm covering the soil.

Any idea why this happened with my plants and doesn't happen to most people's? I'm not overwatering.

EDIT: Thanks for the perlite idea, i like it a lot better than plastic.
 
purplehazin

purplehazin

Well-Known Member
Alex17 said:
Shit, thanks man.

Since I'm watering tomorrow it won't be a problem that the soil is covered, is it? I don't want it to stay wet too long because I'm covering the soil.

Any idea why this happened with my plants and doesn't happen to most people's? I'm not overwatering.

EDIT: Thanks for the perlite idea, i like it a lot better than plastic.
Click to expand...
What's your humidity? Algae thrives in high humidity...
 
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Alex17

Active Member
I think its worth mentioning that my soil isn't actually soil, its FF Light Warrior which has no nutes. So why can the algae live on the Light Warrior and not the perlite? They will both end up being watered with nutes and therefore have nutrients for the algae to live there...

Does that mean I should go with the plastic?

Its 68 degrees and the RH is 50%.
 
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Alex17

Active Member
Why? I fed them a small amount of FF Big Bloom, they are growing fine. The algae isn't causing any problems I'm just worreid that it will turn into a problem.

So will covering the soil with plastic or something cause a problem by keeping it too wet for too long?
 
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Alex17

Active Member
Its what they are supposed to have, look at the FF Feeding Chart. I was skeptical about it too but I've had many people tell me its the right thing to do.

I can obviously read, I just wanted to understand why the soil turns green when they don't eat.
 
purplehazin

purplehazin

Well-Known Member
Try putting the plastic on only when you're light is on. Take it off when it's lights out. You can also try adding a 1/2" of sand to the top of your soil...
 
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Alex17

Active Member
They are on 24/0. The light doesn't make much heat though, its just a 4ft fluoro shoplight.

Thanks for the help, man. I really appreciate it.
 
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Alex17

Active Member
Ok thanks, I'll go cut some plastic.

So its not going to cause a problem by keeping the soil too wet?
 
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Alex17

Active Member
Yeah, they are in solo cups with holes drilled in the bottom.

How did I cause this problem if I'm not overwatering? Is it like that guy said and I gave them more food than they can eat? Because they didn't get nute burn and are growing fine.
 
A

Alex17

Active Member
I did google it but it just said algae is from overwatering, and I've searched a lot on here and everyone with algae on their soil was overwatering.

Oh well, thanks for your help and answering all my dumb questions.
 
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