Wooden dowels and mold spots

[Peachypink]

What are your tricks to keeping mold spots from happening on your wooden dowels from the mistings? I just noticed today that there are a few dark spots on some of my dowels.

 

[jpowell86]

I honestly don't like using dowels for that reason. Well, that and I don't find them aesthetically pleasing. But, I think they require more maintenance in the end.

I would think the only way to take care of this is by simply removing them and giving them a good scrub with a watered down bleach solution.

 

[Peachypink]

I honestly don't like using dowels for that reason. Well, that and I don't find them aesthetically pleasing. But, I think they require more maintenance in the end.

I would think the only way to take care of this is by simply removing them and giving them a good scrub with a watered down bleach solution.

I'm totally open for a better option. They aren't "dowels" that you get from a hardware store that I have but they are curvy wooden sticks from a craft store. They are bare with no stain on them which is why I chose them, that and they look cute. But they are wooden dowel like. What do you use?

 

[jpowell86]

I'm totally open for a better option. They aren't "dowels" that you get from a hardware store that I have but they are curvy wooden sticks from a craft store. They are bare with no stain on them which is why I chose them, that and they look cute. But they are wooden dowel like. What do you use?

Oh, I see what you are saying. Those can look pretty neat in enclosures. I am not a fan of just plain old dowel rods which is what I was imagining you were talking about.

I personally go out and collect mine. Nature is way more artistic than humans and it is amazing what you can find when you go looking!! As long as you use good common sense and don't pick up half rotted wood that would most certainly be full of nasties, most things are great. My personal favorites are oak and fruit trees. Apple trees have very soft wood and when you freshly prune them, you can bend the sticks around the way you want them. After they dry, they stay that way. Live Oak is pretty because it has a lot of natural lichens that grow on it.

I see you are from Texas. I live in the north east section of Texas. We have huge wild grapevines that look amazing in enclosures.

 

[Carlton]

I'm totally open for a better option. They aren't "dowels" that you get from a hardware store that I have but they are curvy wooden sticks from a craft store. They are bare with no stain on them which is why I chose them, that and they look cute. But they are wooden dowel like. What do you use?

Unless you can completely seal them they'll continue to absorb water over time, because the manufacturer removed the branches' natural coating...the bark. You could also just take them out and scrub them as suggested periodically.

 

[Peachypink]

Unless you can completely seal them they'll continue to absorb water over time, because the manufacturer removed the branches' natural coating...the bark. You could also just take them out and scrub them as suggested periodically.

What would you seal them with?

 

[Peachypink]

Oh, I see what you are saying. Those can look pretty neat in enclosures. I am not a fan of just plain old dowel rods which is what I was imagining you were talking about.

I personally go out and collect mine. Nature is way more artistic than humans and it is amazing what you can find when you go looking!! As long as you use good common sense and don't pick up half rotted wood that would most certainly be full of nasties, most things are great. My personal favorites are oak and fruit trees. Apple trees have very soft wood and when you freshly prune them, you can bend the sticks around the way you want them. After they dry, they stay that way. Live Oak is pretty because it has a lot of natural lichens that grow on it.

I see you are from Texas. I live in the north east section of Texas. We have huge wild grapevines that look amazing in enclosures.

I'll have to look around and see what I can find. We have 2 peach trees in our back yard. We also have 2 huge trees with really good branches. I'm not sure what kind of trees they are but they drop little leaves like crazy, they annoy me.