Algae or Trichoderma?

[rangerjake]

Canna coco with about 30-40% perlite.

Dealing with some odd health issues and want to figure out what this green stuff is telling me. Plants get a regular 48hrs between water/fert. But I guess it could be overwatering. Either way want to know if this is "good" stuff or "bad" stuff so I can figure out what exactly the problem is.

[SoOrbudgal]

That's a shame

[rangerjake]

Shame wasn't an option!

What's your take? Bad news bears?

[azorahai]

Do you water as often as you do because the topsoil is dry and the pots are light, or because someone else recommended that schedule? The green stuff is probably algae, which grows in damp places and indicates you're either watering more often than you should or the relative humidity in your grow room is high. Or perhaps even both.
I've had algae grow on my peat moss + perlite mix and it didn't cause any problems to the plant, but I dealt with it as soon as possible. In my case, I realized I was watering a lot more often than the plants needed to, so now I wait until the pots are very light (but still before they start drooping from thirst, of course). You'll have to find how often that is yourself, as there are a lot of different factors involved. Good luck!

[rangerjake]

Mostly I am on a "does the look/feel dry" assessment. Usually that's when the top coir starts to transition from a darker brown to the very light tan/brown of totally dry. It is also about the same schedule I used on my previous coco grow, which was very successful without any overwatering problems.

But, there are a few differences. I think my last grow was more 60/40 coco/perlite, and was also in a warmer tent (easily upper 70s to low 80s). I think now with a bit more coco/perlite (maybe closer to 70/30) and a cooler space (66-74f) that the plants are both drinking less and the medium below knuckle depth is retaining more moisture. That's the best guess I got.

I think I am gonna really hold off for the next feed/water. I guess that's the next thing to try and see if it helps.

[azorahai]

Feeling for how heavy your are pots is honestly the best technique. I'm alternating between feeding/watering my plants every 4-6 days, depending on a few things, and the temperature here ranges between 25-30 °C (77-86 °F), sometime hotter. Perhaps don't water them until they droop a little so you know more or less how long it takes for the pots to dry out thoroughly and also for how light they get. You'll never overwater your plants again knowing this.

[9fingerleafs]

Just let the top layer dry more between waterings. It’s just a bit of algae. Trichoderma makes a white fuzzy membrane interlocked inside the coco, it doesn’t accumulate on top. It kinda packs the coco a bit making the rootball stronger

[gbauto]

^^^ AGREED
I run Tribus bennies in both my RDWC and coco grows.
I use to freak out if algae or any other funk was forming on the top of the coco.
Then I realized that the bennies in the Tribus were forming colonies throughout the bags with signs of growth coming through the sides of the bags.
That's when I realized it didn't create any negative effects, so I just water to run-off and let the plants do their thing.
Works every time.