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Any quick cures for damping off? and time it takes to remove chlorine?

Hey all;

I got a couple of pepper plants inside I recently transplanted from soil to Aero/Hydro, and I noticed yesterday that I was getting a lil leaf roll, which screams to me damping off. Sure enough I checked the water level in my tank and was not just below the net pot but a half inch too high, hence a drenched rockwool cube. I went ahead and dumped the hydroton and pulled the rockwool plug out and readjusted my fill mark 3/4 in down and it has only been two weeks so roots are just starting to poke out maybe a half an inch. Common sense told me to get some of that excess water out of the rockwool plug and I probably used 20 paper towels and wrapped them around and let them soak it up. I am fixing to mix up a fresh batch of nutrients and was just wondering if there was something simple I could add to slow down or reverse damping off considering I am putting the moisture level back to the correct rate?

Also about how long should I aerate a container of water to lessen chlorine levels?

Yea I know I am full of questions, always will be I suppose :} but thanx...
 
I've successfully treated dampening off with a direct shot of unadulterated 3% hydrogen peroxide. Then you have to figure out how you're going to deal with a hole in the side of your stalk.

A couple weeks ago I treated a tomato seedling that was damped off just below the soil line, I didn't think it stood a chance. Removed the soil above the infected area, hit it and the soil HARD with h202, then added soil over the gaping hole in the side of the stalk where the rot had been (it was at least 50% through the stalk, and the area had shriveled up to about 1/3 the diameter of the stalk above the infection.)

To my surprise, it made it. It's behind it's healthier brethren, but it's almost ready to transplant.
 
Damping off is a term that's used to describe when a seed dies before or at germination and young seedlings. The roots may rot, develop brown, water soaked lesions or the crown of the plant will rot and the plant will fall over and die.

When a plant becomes older and hardened off, it is usually not affected.

Pythium, Thielaviopsis, Rhizoctonia and Phythopphtora are the usual culprits although other parasites, molds and fungi can be responsible.

Leaf curl on a plant that is hardened off is not indicative of damping off.
 
H202 may cleanse some infected soil after the fact (Ive never tried), there is also a great method to prevent these viruses before they happen.
If you foliar feed all your seedlings with weak chamomile tea, it will help prevent the diseases associated with damping off.

i know its not the question you asked, but for interests sake and for next round.... give this method a shot.
 
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