helped me with damping off

i have a horrible time with damping off. i am hopeless when it comes to overwatering seeds indoors. thus this lead me to try soil guard...for sale at gardens alive.com
which worked great for me.
http://www.gardensalive.com/item_display.asp?PN=8962&sid=140222&prd=y&eid=032304ga&eicioi=92230

it is on sale now. normally $14.99 for 200 sq ft coverage now $9.99.
i used it inside and out and i lost only a few seeds out of 100's, so i'm going to be buying me 2 more bags this year.

Debi

Brew up some Chamomile tea 4 bags to a Qt of water.
Spray it on your seedlings daily. DO NOT OVERWATER.
I assume you are disinfecting your containers with 10% bleach before planting.

Paul

paul... I thought it was comfrey tea?

debi, be sure to use a sterile soiless mix and clean, bleached containers. This will minimize dampening off. I always keep everything sterile, and this year, I've been using chamomile tea in the water I use... no dampening off so far! Overplanting can cause dampening off, as well, so sow thinly when possible.

Ok y'all I was going to post some similar questions tonight.

This is my first year starting seeds indoors and everything is going like gangbusters. I think I've got something in the neighborhood of 440 seedlings right now. I've thinned everything out and potted up to 3" pots. I bought and used a lot of 3" square plastic pots. When I realized how wildly successful my germination rate was (I keep a log with seedling counts etc) I knew I needed more pots. Rather than spend more money on the nice plastic ones I started buying up the 3" peat pots (you know the round ones that are like $3.00 for 20 or something).

Everything is in trays and I water from the bottom only when the soil surface starts to dry out. I have a fan that oscillates to give air flow and strengthen the babies. I have grow lights on for 16 hours per day. (Now here's the question). I'm starting to see moldy looking stuff (like grows in fridge leftovers!) on the sides of the 3" peat pots!! Not on the soil surface, not on the seedlings, just the exterior and interior pot surfaces! I have everything in my basement where it's probably 65° constantly. I used sterile germination mix for EVERYTHING.

Did I get some contaminated peat pots? What am I doing wrong? I don't want to lose 3/4 of my seedlings to something green and fuzzy! I've read about chamomile for dampening off probs and I was reading where some of the gals in the Daylily forum were saying they use peroxide/water to water their seedlings. Do I need to be doing something like that? If needed I can get a pic of it tomorrow.
Brenda

Brenda,

Your peat pots will get that moldy stuff growing on it when the pots are placed tightly together and they are constantly wet. I really don't know that it will hurt the plants, but you might try a bit less bottom water and alternate top watering, as well as spacing the pots further apart. With the fan going, that should help.

Personally, I never use the peat pots. We live in a cool summer climate, so the pots don't break down in the soil when set out in the summer, and the roots grow into the pots, so it is impossible to 'unpot' them. If you plan to continue starting seeds, I'd recommend the cheap 3.5" square pots. Generally, 18 will fit in a standard 11"x22" holeless flat. You can wash them in sudsy bleach water at the beginning of the season to reuse each year.

Otherwise, you might try plastic drinking cups. They are disposable, durable, and deeper for better root developement. I still use these for starting my summer squash indoors. (Yes, I have to start most everything indoors!). If you use cups, be sure to punch holes in the bottom for drainage. My only complaint with the cups is that they just don't fit well in the flats and tend to tip over.

It sounds like you are doing everything right so far, and I suspect you are starting to run out of room, but putting some space between the pots will surely help, if you make no other changes.

For years my seedlings suffered from damping off and no chemical treatment seemed to work. (I tried several fungicides). Eventually I was persuaded to sow not in normal compost but moist vermiculite.

Result? Not a single case of damping off among the HUNDREDS of species I sow every year (I am bit of a propagation nut...)

One thing... Initially I was fooled into buying the 5 litre bags of vermiculite in a garden centre for £4.00 (~$8) per bag...

Rip off!!! I then rang my local wholesale horticultural supplies company which sold me 100 litre bags for £10 (~$20...) each. (It lasts for as long as you want to keep it...).

Mike

Weezin--thanks so much for the encouragement. I've already decided to buy some of the 3.5" pots for next year (hopefully at a good price in the off season). And, you're probably right.....I have everything pretty well jammed together tightly. I'm getting ready this weekend to set up my "hot house" (is that what it's called?) to start hardening off some of the bigger ones. It's like an 8-foot long by 4-foot wide tent of plastic with vents that can be opened. Should give me some more room to get better ventilation.

Good advice from everyone. I just took all my seedlings out of peat pots as they were molding on the sides of the peat pot. Had them too close together. I put seedlings into big plastic cups, with holes in the bottom. I just thought that I bought some bad peat pots, but I just turned a fan on to circulate the air, which should help too. I am trying to cram too much under one florescent light!Zone 5 here.
Bonnie

Well, I'm relieved that I'm not the only one!! LOL! Thanks for chiming in Bonnie. I've got 8 4-foot grow lights on 4 shelves (4 bulbs per shelf). And I'M outta room!! I think I had no expectations of being so successful. After reading DG for the last 9 month I guess I learned pretty good!! :-D

Thanks DG Family for teaching me to be a successful seed-starter!!!

There is a spray you can get that kills the mildew. I had it all over my Solanums until I started spraying them & the mildew spots stopped coming.

Buttoneer--do you know the name of it?

i'm goiing to try this on my powder mildew etc this year.
http://www.spray-n-growgardening.com/ama/cgi-bin/dc.pl?key=TAT&html=full&data=data&keywords=dept_fungicide

Debi--you might wanna give one of the homemade potions a try...see my post at the very bottom. BTW...the book referenced is a GREAT resource!!

http://davesgarden.com/t/421936/cinnamon

thanks brenda