Is the mold on the surface of the soil, or is it actually on the plants themselves? I've had mold appear in a few containers before but it never actually hurt the seedlings and it didn't spread to other pots or flats. As soon as the weather warmed enough to put them in the greenhouse the condition cleared. I haven't ever had to treat mold so I can't comment on how well peroxide/No-Damp might work. I wonder if your growing medium was contaminated with mold spores before you sowed/transplanted your seedlings. I've had weed seedlings, ferns, and mosses appear on the surface of pots, despite the product stating that it is sterilized. In that case the problem will probably continue regardless of what you do since the entire medium may be full of spores. Cultivating the soil will simply bring new spores to the surface. If your seedlings are strong enough to be transplanted (I know it's a lot of work to do it yet again), you could heat sterilize your potting mix in either the microwave or oven, let it cool, wash your seedlings off with the peroxide solution, and pot them up in the hopefully mold free mix. If you think they wouldn't withstand the stress, you might try putting a 1/2" thick layer of pea gravel on top of the soil over the mold in hopes that it would prevent the spores from splashing up on the undersurface of the plant leaves and infecting them. Also, it might be a good idea to water by setting the plants in a tray of water and letting them uptake from underneath as opposed to watering them from above. I hope you find something that works for you. Kate

Sue, that is a very valid point and I agree completely that it is extremely important for a woman to have the means to provide for herself should something happen, whether it be divorce, death, incapacitation, or something else. As everyone knows, there simply is no way to guarantee everything, so you can never completely protect yourself from all contingencies, but it is very unwise to simply trust in the fates (or whatever) to see you through. It is imperative to have some sort of plan in mind for securing an income should something happen. My parents were adamant about all of us kids getting an education, regardless of career plans. I'm very glad about that. I had a degree when I was married to my first husband but didn't use it. I worked part-time managing a clothing store, a fun but low-paying job. When it became apparent that I had to get out of my marriage, I realized that my husband would make it extremely difficult, would do whatever he could to avoid paying anything, and that my job would never provide for my family. So, I stayed married an extra year and a half while I got another degree with better income potential and a teaching credential. It was somewhat underhanded but it was literally my life and the well being of my children at stake. I had a good job when I was finally able to get out of my marriage. It was still very tough. When I remarried (stayed single for 15 years by choice), I wished to retain my own accounts and my name. I have good insurance should anything happen to dh, a good prenup that sees to my needs and those of my children from my first marriage, and also protects dh's property for him and our children together. Sure, no one thinks divorce will happen to them, but it CAN happen. Even if your feelings never change, you cannot guarantee your partner's feelings. It also is not a sign that you don't trust the person to simply get a legal definition of what belongs to whom and protect it. I have a lot of autonomy with financial matters as I kept my own accounts, separate from dh. We have a system for paying bills that works well for us and provides me some security with how the money is disbursed. There is a whole area of finances that I have no clue about, but it is dh's trust fund and not my money unless he puts it into joint tenancy areas, such as the house, family purchases, etc. The same is true for me. I put the money from the sale of my house into an account that has nothing to do with dh, and he does not feel he needs to know what I do or don't do with it. I have insurance to cover death or disability so I wouldn't be compelled to sell the house or immediately find a job. I have a nest egg to see me through as well. When we married, I chose to take my dh's name because I liked our family all having the same last name. However, I studied the options carefully and found that if I added my own last name as a second middle name, it gave me the flexibility of using that sometimes, too. There is no legal way to have both last names as last names without using both, if you know what I mean. If you're Cheri Jones Smith, you can't sometimes go by Jones and sometimes Smith, you always have to be Jones Smith. I wanted to be able to use one for some things and one for another. For instance, I liked using my "own" last name for work and on my credit cards. I didn't want a hyphenated name nor did I want a double last name, so using my own last name as a second middle name suited me well. On documents, including my ID, it looks like two last names, which allows me to use my maiden name when I choose, but also gives me my husband's name as my legal last name so when you look me up somewhere, you can find me. Do you know what I mean? Say my maiden name was Jones and my married name was Smith. I am Cheri Ann Jones Smith on my ID. My first name is Cheri, my middle name is Ann Jones, and my last name is Smith. If my legal last name was Jones Smith, you would have to look me up under Jones and I would have to use both when signing checks, etc. I don't know that keeping my credit cards in my maiden name is exactly legal, but no one has ever questioned it. They simply look at my ID and say ok. Sorry for that long ramble! But yes, it's very important to have backup plans in anything you do. You just never know. I have the advantage of age and experience; a young woman would likely have much less protection than I, and I would urge that she get a good education or job certification in a field that would allow her to find a job if the need arose.

Update- It was incredibly slow renovating this house. I had it on the market for several months but my contracts kept falling out. A low appraisal killed the last deal. We had seller's remorse anyway. So we posted it on Craig's list for rent at a price we considered was high but just threw it out there. Immediately there is strong interest in the house. The rental market is so thin and rents in my area have finally gone up. So that puts a whole other view on is it worth it to fix a kitchen and rent the house out. I think it will get a more stable renter and not as much turn over at a higher price, judging from the applicants so far.

Yes it is a fairly standard practice. It doesn't usually lead to anything, except for those sitting on the fence, as mentioned, or cases like my neighbours. They were recent empty nesters, but not yet planning to downsize. But they called back the realtor, 'just to see what it was all about.' Not having kept up with the current market, our neighbours (who have a larger property) were shocked that the realtor's comps indicated their house could sell for at least a half million more than they expected. Since they hadn't planned to move for several years, they said they'd only be willing to list their house for 30 days to see if his assumptions were accurate. On the eighth day their house was listed, he brought them an offer that was $615,000 more than what they had assumed their house was worth. They sold, and moved to condo a few years earlier than planned, but are really happy with their decision. We are also empty nesters, planning to move within a few years. But having kept up with the real estate market, there would be no big 'surprises' for us, so the same scenario would just have me tossing the card.