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Container Gardening

White fuzzy stuff on plant stems

14 years ago

Hi,

I am correcting my earlier posting, since someone advised me that my original posting was incorrect. (The helpful poster advised me that my plants probably have some kind of disease that is not damping off).

I am a newbie, and can use your experience on this. About 2-3 months ago, I planted 3 oregano seedlings in one 16 inch pot with Miracle Grow potting mix. They are growing. However, in the past week, the oregano stems got covered in white fuzzy stuff, really bad.

Can i save the plants? Should I try to just pour a layer of sand on top of the potting mix and plants? Will that help, and will the plants push through the sand? Or repot the plants in a pot of sand? I've never bought sand before. Is there a specific kind to look for in the gardening department of Lowes or Ace Hardware or somewhere? Or should I throw the plant out?

Is it safe to eat the leaves if the white stuff is only on the stems?

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Comments (3)

kathi_mdgd
14 years ago
The white stuff is probably either aphids or, mealy bugs.In either case you'll have to treat the plant.Since we can't see what you are seeing,i suggest you google both of those and see if you can determine what exactly it is.Can you possibly post a picture??
Kathi
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
14 years ago
I suggest that you find a way to post an image here or send a picture directly to me. It can be very difficult to describe a symptom when you know very little about what the possibilities might be. That's why you see so many conflicting theories.

"White fuzzy stuff" can lead to many assumptions, most of which will be incorrect.
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durhamgardener
Original Author
14 years ago
Kathi mdgd and rhizo 1,
thank you both for trying to help!

I am probably one of the few without a digital camera or a phone cam. I totally agree that my description is probably not very clear, especially since I am a newbie and am not probably using the correct terminology. Today, it looks like the plant may have died. So, I've put a new post asking for suggestions of what to plant with my brown gardening thumb.

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