Fungus on seedlings

Most of the seedlings are tomatos, so I hope put this in the right section.

I've got seedlings in the papier mache-type pots in a covered but not heated seed tray on the windowsill. They've been there for about 10 days now, and are germinating nicely. However, a couple of the pots have developed fungus and this is spreading to the soil. What, if anything, can I do and how do I prevent this happening to the others?

 

It probably won't bother them and will probably go away once the lid is off. That's two "probably"'s though :(

I'm surprised that they haven't germinated though - I would have expected them to germinate in less than 7 days - although it depends on quite a lot of things! Might be worth misting the soil from a spray bottle so that the surface, where the seeds are, is moist that should hurry them up!

Use water from the tap for seedlings, not rainwater (which is more likely to have odds and sods in it), and you could water with Cheshunt Compound, or something similar, which is designed to prevent fungal attacks on seedlings (not effective on more mature plants though)

 

that's interesting; I've been watering my seedlings with water from my rain butt - is that generallly, something to be avoided then?

 

Rain water can contain lots of algi, bacteria and fungus spores that collect on the roof and gutters. Seedlings are very susceptible to these and so can cause them problems.
So as Kristen says, always water seedlings with tap water. Once they are in their final positions, you can use water-butt water freely.

 

I use water that has boiled any excess from making a brew goes into a jug to cool for this purpose.