The Ethnobotanicals started from seeds have been flourishing for several months under my indoor set up. In an effort to utilize nutrients I moved to watering from below.. However these sessions proved to be too lengthy as not only are my babies wilting but white fuzzies have appeared on soil surface.

As watering method was from the bottom I fear the mold has infiltrated throughout the soil and amongst the root system..

Obviously something must be done but I fear the trauma of completely transplanting them.. is there anything I can do to kill off the invaders and sustain their current home? I haven’t watered them since in effort to dry things out but they aren’t looking too happy..

Advise would be greatly appreciated.

I suggest you give the roots a clean and transplant them. Just be careful not to stress them too much.

I use watering from below with mj and it works great, but wouldnt use it for plants with slow growing root system.

Sending good vibes to your babies !

Once I started scraping at the fuzz it became apparent that only top layers were affected, so I did a partial transplant and added verm to the continental divide super soil.

Propping stalks with chopsticks we shall see how it goes over the next week or so. Makes me nervous having cakes in the same room

Looking forward to contributing to related forums if I’m ever promoted as a member

Thank you for the response, soaking in all the good vibes and sending out my own :}

what in specific are you growing?
will be important in giving you advice

Only half of my project was affected, specifically the datura, skullcap, passion flower, and catnip- everything that is taking off and will more than likely need a bigger home soon enough.

On a side note what was not contaminated was the grass like plant that emerged from a ‘bundle flower’ seed packet.. Not sure what it is but it holds the most presence within my garden.

I also have an aloe clone which was taken from a 98 year old mother plant in Bermuda.

Both my HBWR and a few mimosa hostilis did not survive transplanting.. plan to pc the soil and start over with something new.

Overall I believe the issue is lack of air flow and space which is becoming short supply, its dead of winter yet

i dont have any experience growing these plants indoors but i have years of experience growing weed.

sounds to me your problem is overwatering + temperature related. roots dont like cold damp soil it suffocates them and root rot will soon take hold.. try getting a heater in there if temps are dropping low.. or use a higher powered bulb like a metal halide if your not already this will give the plants plenty of blue spectrum light and keep them warm. im guessing they'd prefer the blue end of the spectrum to the yellow/red as your not flowering them!

do some reading into what types of soil each of the plants your trying to grow prefer, some will likely prefer a lighter free flowing soil mix with good drainage.

and just remember dont over water let the pots dry out a bit between watering so the air gets in, small plants especially hate being overwatered the opposite is better you want them to be sending out tap roots searching for water,

dont kill them with to much love!

when you say watering from the bottom you werent leaving the pots standing in a tray of water or something similar?

Indeed I left them too long in trays of water.. passed out and the next morning revealed trouble.

They are under red and blue fluoros.. Each plant was researched and potted accordingly. The temp is a steady 75, but the set up has poor air circulation so in lieu of consistently fanning the undersides of everyone I believe I need to invest in a couple different kind of fans.

This is my first stab at official indoor growing, it’s quite intimate but kind of missing Florida

Well, it's difficult to say without reference pictures, but at first glance, pooled water + cold temp + poor air flow + white ashy fuzz in the surface = botrytis fungus.

That also agrees with the layer being thin on top of the substrate... that's the fruiting bodies of the fungus. But it won't just show up overnight, the extra damp hours might have contributed but the fungus was already there. So, IF the problem is botrytis:

Watering from below is not a bad idea in that case, but since your plants seemed to be overwatered, and as others have suggested, do your best now to improve air circulation at all levels (soil and surface) and decrease watering and air humidity. When you water again, do it in the morning. This is important, that overnight watering helps the fungi and not the plants.

Also, check for affected areas in stems and leaves. If you find any, remove them and don't leave any dead bits on the surface of the soil. Avoid unnecessary cuts and wounds in the plant tissue, these are gateways for the fungus to enter the plant. Try to keep the environment and your tools clean, and maybe avoid pruning for a while if it's not strictly necessary.

If the fungal infection appears more serious, you can use diluted fungicides. Iprodione is specific. Eco treatments that might be useful are nettle and absynthe.

Good luck with that!

if your garden is small then an oscillating fan will be fine, although its always best to have some kind of extraction fan sucking air from the top of the room and out of it a 100mm inline fan is most likely more than enough

something similar to this this which i googled was the cheapest one so spending more is better if you can afford it. but some cheap flexi ducting and duct out of the space, this will create enough negative pressure in your room to passively draw in fresh air, add a small oscillating fan and youll be set

this will only work well in small setups though.. bigger and youll need to use a fan that size as an intake and buy a slightly larger one around 125-150 ml as your extraction.
good ventilation and air exchange is essential indoors.

also if you dont want to worry about overwatering/underwatering i cant recommend these enough.... there incredibly easy and simple to use. ive used them with upwards of 60 plants T'd off on a ring. and they are a godsend you can keep a tank topped up in the corner and go away for days not needing to worry, no mechanical electronic parts,

peace of mind...