Question

Fungus in my plant   I have had the plant for nearly a year, and this summer it was repotted to a used container that I hadn't sterilized. (I'm well aware I was being lazy.) I figure this is a fungus. However I cannot acertain what kind, and i'm the curious sort. I spotted it as made the rounds to water my houseplants, and i'm sure it wasn't there last week. I immediately pulled the plant from the soil, rinsed it with warmish water, and the little "egg" looking fungus(?) washed straight off. I then repotted it in a sterilized!)pot with new sterile potting soil. So my questions are these; what the heck is it, and did I take the correct steps to keep it from coming back? The plant was a small dracaena. The picture was an afterthougt, and as you can see it is throughout the soil, it was in the roots, but on the surface it covered the soil like a blanket.

Thanks much
Hannah

Answer
Hannah,

It is either the eggs of mealy bugs or it is soil infected with mushroom spores. It is hard to tell for sure from your picture without seeing the soil myself. I hope you got rid of the infected soil immediately after taking that picture and that you did not move the Dracaena to a pot any larger than the one it was in. This is the wrong time of year to repot and the plant will die if you moved it to a lot larger pot. I am inclined from your description to believe that the problem was a fungal (mushroom) problem. As a precautionary measure I would pick up a spray can of Lysol type spray and set it beside the plant, then once every day or two I would spray the surface of the soil thoroughly with Lysol. That will kill any fungus forming.

Watch the plant closely. If you see signs of anything else in the soil it could be mealy bug eggs.  To kill those without hurting your plant you need to thoroughly drench the soil with rubbing alcohol once a week for 10 applications. After the drenching empty the drain tray so it is not sitting in alcohol. I really don't think this will be necessary but I want you to know how just in case. If you have more questions feel free to write again. Good luck.

Darlene