[cissie]

This year for the first time iv'e used toilet roll inner's for my runner beans one seed to a roll, the beans are coming up fine but the cardboard has mildew all over, will this harm the plants ?should i brush it off ? or just leave it. Any thought's gratefully received.

[Kleftiwallah]

I keep trying to grow 'stuff' in toilet rolls and each year is a failure.  Well this is the last year of trying,  I've had mildew each time and the tubes, compost and seeds have always ended up in the compost heap.

  The tubes always fall apart anyway.   I should learn from the failure master and give in ! ! !

Cheers,       Tony.

[cissie]

Oh dear not good new's. It wouldn't bother me so much but i'm growing for a friend so failure is not an option.If i leave them will they just rot? should i tear away the cardboard and just try to replant in compost? What did you do Tony?  :unsure:Cissie.

[Kleftiwallah]

I got totally totally Yah hacked off with poor germination, tubes rotting and falling apart when I just looked at them  :blink:

I've given it a good try, but it aint for me.  I'll stick to machine sourced plastic coffee cups.

Cheers,    Tony.

[JayG]

It is a fungus but probably not mildew - toilet roll tubes are more prone to it than paper pots because the glue used to hold them together seems to be good "fungus food", but it doesn't seem to do any harm.

Assuming your tubes are standing in a container water them from the bottom, and don't overdo it - this will help to minimise the amount of soggy cardboard and mould growth.

[cissie]

Thank you JayG for your input i'm still hopeful, they are in a container so i'll now water from bottom instead of just tipping the watering can over