Some carpeting plants turning white during DSM

[jrsopo2012]

I have started my first soil based planted tank and am also attempting the dry start method. I am using common topsoil that I mineralized via the Aaron Talbot method then topped the soil with Estes black aquarium gravel. I have planted only foreground / carpeting plants as follows: dwarf hairgrass, marsilea quad, styrogyne repens and a few moss types. Once planted I did not fill the tank but misted until I saw puddles - I only have one small puddle left. At first I used my hinged glass lid and allowed an air exchange via the rear open area of the lid but have since been advised to cover the top with plastic wrap. I have completely removed the hinged glass lid and covered the tank top with 2 pieces of 18" wide commercial plastic wrap. I also open a small area of one corner during the day for air exchange and completely enclose the top at night. I now only mist the tank when it appears dry. All of the plants appear to have turned from green to brown, which I believe I should not be concerned about but now some of the plants have turned white like cotton or spider web-like - what does that mean and am I doing something wrong? Is this just part of the DSM process?
Thanks for any and all tips, advice or information.

[Snivi]

a picture ?
White seems like mold

[jrsopo2012]

Thanks Snivi,

The pictures I took did not come out very well with my cell so I will describe the white on some of my foreground plants. The white stuff looks very much like cotton strands running from the top of the stem down to the gravel. I am wondering if I added too much gravel and the foreground plants that I did plant never reached the wet soil to gain a hold. I cannot understand how all of the types of plants I planted turned brown or now white because some I intentionally sank deep into the gravel so they would reach the rich soil to the point of hardly seeing the plant top. If this continues should I remove some gravel and try replanting some hairgrass from a running tank or should I abandon the DSM, fill the tank plant again with all types of plants and do a fishless cycling??? Thanks for your time and input.

[jrsopo2012]

Due to the fact that all of my foreground plants have turned brown, some white, I am going to take out all of the plants as I can, remove some of the gravel, dry off the remaining gravel over the soil and re-plant some plants I have growing in my other 2 running tanks to try the DSM again. If these newly planted plants begin to turn brown I will either allow the 6 - 8 weeks to go by to complete the DSM process or I will just transplant most of my plants from my 29 gallon tank and conduct a 6 week fishless cycling of the DSM tank and gradually add algae eaters and the remaining fish. Almost all of the plants I need I have to order online due to the lack of any real aquarium store here and that gets somewhat expensive and only the local Petco has live plants and the selection is often less than optimum. Thanks