The cactus potting soil I stored dry and seemingly in clean conditions for months began emitting a faint moldy odor as soon as I rehydrated it. The gravel in the Asterella californica cup has also developed a similarly mild but unpleasant odor over the past few months. Intriguingly the dead mushy parts of the Asterella itself have no visible or smellable microbial presence; I suspect its flesh contains natural antibiotics. Ironically, the dirt in the Sphaerocarpos jar had a pleasant nutty smell and no mold (despite being in an airtight humid container) when the Sphaerocarpos in it were still thriving. The nutty smell is gone now that the sphaers are decaying, of course, but I'm surprised the pleasant scent lasted for weeks under sopping wet conditions.
Also I got some new Sphaerocarpos to replace the dead ones. I touched the new ones with my hands after washing them in hard water, because I had no access to soft water at the time, and I suspect the calcareous residues from my hands may kill them eventually. So far it is still alive though.
Anyways, despite being in microbe-infested dirt, the Asterella seems to have increased its sprout size by a few more millimeters! I can't wait for the pandemic to end so I can give it a thorough sanitization and acquire some dirt that won't mold.
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