Damping Off

[lfcjohn]

I have been reading a few articles which mention 'damping off'. i have no idea what this means, could anyone tell me what this means.
Thanks
John

[Norm]

Hi John
It just means the seedling dies in the soil. The reasons are many and various from infected soil to forgetting to water. Simply put, the plant grows for a while, then snuffs it.

[lottie dolly]

my understanding of it is,if you give them to much water they rot of at the base near the soil,nothing you can do only sow more,somone else will be along with more technical info.

[Flummery]

I always understood it was a fungal sort of thing. You usually find that maybe a patch of seedlings dies in a tray where the others seem to be ok. I always avoid using water from the rainwater butt on seedlings and save it for established plants, so I don't add anything nasty to the mix.

[greenstar]

I'm with Flummery - it's a type of fungus found in soil that likes warm wet conditions. Seemingly healthy looking seedlings will keel over and die almost overnight. One way to avoid it is to use good quality sowing compost and as soon as 50% ish of your seedlings in any one pot have germinated, uncover them and let the top of the compost dry out a bit, then only water from the bottom. You can use Cheshunt compound to kill the fungus, or some people recommend sprinkling cinnamon on top of the compost, although I've never tried either. As long as you clean your pots thoroughly and use sterile compost you should avoid it.

[lfcjohn]

Thanks for that,,
I think i Know what it is all about now
John

[Tam]

http://www.rhs.org.uk/Advice/profile...damping_off.as

[Tam]

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...-off_16283.htm

I hope that is successful !

[Tam]

Royal Horticultural Society - Gardening Advice: Damping Off

Sorry, made a right pig's ear of that, but this should do it.

[Paulottie]

If you use good quality compost, not over-wet and have reasonably clean apparatus damping off is not very common. It is indeed a soil-bourne fungus that causes the stems of the seedlings to rot at soil level.. I have a tin of cheshust compound that I have used once or twice in about five years. It is easy to water on.