seeds Damping Off/Seedling Dying

BDBeatz

BDBeatz

I have a big problem, I started noticing that a lot of my germinating pepper seeds were growing about a inch tall or even just sprouting but then they slowly die off. Today I found out that this is called damping off. Can anyone please suggest any methods to cure/prevent this problem instead of starting over. I have started a second separate seed tray too, but it looks like this is already happening again...

I used  4 cups peat, one cup black cow, one cup mushroom compost, and one cup perlite for my seed starting mix on my first tray and second tray. but i must admit that i did water with mist on top alot and bottom a few times since my heat mat was drying up everyting even with my dome on.
Making all my moisture turning into condensation so i had to keep my soil atleast moist.

Then my third tray which i just started two days ago was only peat and perlite and only was bottom watered. in addition i will have not used my heat mat since these problems have been happening, same with my domes

Plus I read that cinnamon helps deter fungus/ damping off so i have been covering all the cell tray tops with it.

first tray is a month old or more
second tray is 2/3 weeks
third tray is 3 days

Any help/suggestion will be greatly appreciated, Thank you all
 
 
 
How wet is the soil? Is there airflow of any kind after sprouting? Hows the heat and light levels after sprouting? I have not had an issue with damping off so I can not speak from experience about how to prevent it but I can say that the seed starter I used was well drained, Heat mat that brought my tray to 85 or so, and the soil was never wet. Just enough to keep it damp until they sprouted. Then the lid was pulled, airflow and Lights were then the concentration. Hope you have better luck.
I used M.G. seed starter mixed with 1/3 Vermaculite just for comparison to what you are using.
 
In my opinion,never seed start with any animal manure or any compost for that matter. Just use a peat/coco coir(Buffered) mix with vermiculite and perlite mixed in. 
 
Wet the pot/cup and let drain straight through before planting the seed,seeds at their cotyledon stage only need water for the first couple days,no need for nutrients just yet,and they don't need a lot of water either.
 
I will even give them a little mist only every second day if i see the soil getting slightly dry.
 
Overwatering coupled with poor airflow and a cold environment can lead to damping.
 
Animal manures can also lead to this,as there are pathogens in the soil that can kill the seedling.
 
Gonzo said:
In my opinion,never seed start with any animal manure or any compost for that matter. Just use a peat/coco coir(Buffered) mix with vermiculite and perlite mixed in. 
 
Wet the pot/cup and let drain straight through before planting the seed,seeds at their cotyledon stage only need water for the first couple days,no need for nutrients just yet,and they don't need a lot of water either.
 
I will even give them a little mist only every second day if i see the soil getting slightly dry.
 
Overwatering coupled with poor airflow and a cold environment can lead to damping.
 
Animal manures can also lead to this,as there are pathogens in the soil that can kill the seedling.
Click to expand...
 
+1 to everything above. "I will even give them a little mist only every second day if i see the soil getting slightly dry." is what I do but I use Chamomile tea.> CHAMOMILE TEA & CINNAMON STOP DAMPING OFF IN SEEDLINGS
 
 
 
`
 
If damping off is already present in your trays, and you'd prefer to save whats left rather than start over, I'd personally go straight to captan fungicide ASAP.  The disease can come from any number of strains so there is no guarantee captan will kill it.  It wont save the plants which are already infected but will prevent damping off from spreading to surrounding seed cells.
 
As for future prevention, I find the advice here to be helpful.
 
For a fungus to spread you need three things.  The pathogen needs to be present, you need a host, and you need favorable conditions.  Eliminate one and your problem never materializes.  Obviously you cannot remove the host.  You can mitigate the danger of favorable conditions to some degree, but you can never completely get rid of them.  The only surefire way is to make sure the pathogen isn't present at sowing time and doesn't enter the system at a later point.  Start with a sterile mix and keep everything clean.
 
The problem is that heavy mix.  That's not a seed starter.  It holds too much water, and not enough oxygen!
.
EDIT: I didn't notice previously that you are in South Florida.  You need to lighten it up, bro.  This is the beginning of our wet season, and humidity abounds.  If this were me - and believe me, it is - I'd be starting the next round of seeds in something more like a 70/30 peat/perlite mix, or 75/25 coco/perlite.  Easy on the waterings.
 
juanitos said:
are you taking the dome off when they sprout?
Click to expand...
 

I didn't even think about taking off the dome until i started noticing some inch tall seedlings dying off. But now i have both domes off of my first two trays and my newest tray still has the dome on with a heat mat under it too, since none have sprouted yet.
 
Blitz527 said:
How wet is the soil? Is there airflow of any kind after sprouting? Hows the heat and light levels after sprouting? I have not had an issue with damping off so I can not speak from experience about how to prevent it but I can say that the seed starter I used was well drained, Heat mat that brought my tray to 85 or so, and the soil was never wet. Just enough to keep it damp until they sprouted. Then the lid was pulled, airflow and Lights were then the concentration. Hope you have better luck.
I used M.G. seed starter mixed with 1/3 Vermaculite just for comparison to what you are using.
Click to expand...
 
I must admit that i was keeping the soil moist because it seemed like everyday the domes were getting so drenched with the evaporated humidity. Also there was barely any air flow until i took the domes off. I also had lights on them for about 14 hours on and 10 off. Plus I live in south Florida so the outside temp was in the 80's in addition to using a heat mat at night.
 
Gonzo said:
In my opinion,never seed start with any animal manure or any compost for that matter. Just use a peat/coco coir(Buffered) mix with vermiculite and perlite mixed in. 
 
Wet the pot/cup and let drain straight through before planting the seed,seeds at their cotyledon stage only need water for the first couple days,no need for nutrients just yet,and they don't need a lot of water either.
 
I will even give them a little mist only every second day if i see the soil getting slightly dry.
 
Overwatering coupled with poor airflow and a cold environment can lead to damping.
 
Animal manures can also lead to this,as there are pathogens in the soil that can kill the seedling.
Click to expand...
 

Thank you, i definitely know now after the first semi-failed two attempts. My third tray is only peat and a little perlite.
do you think its a good idea to leave the heat mat on and dome until i see any sprouts? Then remove both?
 
LTCM said:
If damping off is already present in your trays, and you'd prefer to save whats left rather than start over, I'd personally go straight to captan fungicide ASAP.  The disease can come from any number of strains so there is no guarantee captan will kill it.  It wont save the plants which are already infected but will prevent damping off from spreading to surrounding seed cells.
 
As for future prevention, I find the advice here to be helpful.
 
For a fungus to spread you need three things.  The pathogen needs to be present, you need a host, and you need favorable conditions.  Eliminate one and your problem never materializes.  Obviously you cannot remove the host.  You can mitigate the danger of favorable conditions to some degree, but you can never completely get rid of them.  The only surefire way is to make sure the pathogen isn't present at sowing time and doesn't enter the system at a later point.  Start with a sterile mix and keep everything clean.
Click to expand...
 

Thank you I appreciate the helpful info, also the damping off link too
 
solid7 said:
The problem is that heavy mix.  That's not a seed starter.  It holds too much water, and not enough oxygen!
.
EDIT: I didn't notice previously that you are in South Florida.  You need to lighten it up, bro.  This is the beginning of our wet season, and humidity abounds.  If this were me - and believe me, it is - I'd be starting the next round of seeds in something more like a 70/30 peat/perlite mix, or 75/25 coco/perlite.  Easy on the waterings.
Click to expand...
 

I definitely agree with you 100%
My new seed tray is a lite mix about 70/30 peat/perlite.
Im going to hold back on watering my third tray this time too.
Do you think it's a good idea to leave the dome and heat mat on until i see any sprouts?

My other two trays have the domes off with cinnamon sprinkled over the tops of the cells and lights over them but i think they a looking a bit dry on top, i'm even worried about bottom watering them
 
Ive not used a heat mat or dome before,because of my climate. I would say if they sprouted you can take the dome off. Its really just there to help the germinating proccess. If they sprouted the last time with your heat mat and dome do it again but take it off as soon as you see them popping up. You dont want to keep it on because it will create a damp enviroment which leads to damping.

You can keep the heatmat if its not that warm,or put a cloth on top of the mat to reduce some heat of the mat.

Everything also depends on where you are growing,and how your enviroment is. Is there air circulation is it cold etc etc. But yeah i think the problen was when you kept that dome on for too long and it killed your seedlings.


Water from the top,dont overwater,also dont water the plant,just water the soil. We all learned at first and still learning ,always new things to learn from fellow growers so dont give up just try and try and try till you figure out ehat works and what doesn't.

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For grow lights put it on 16/8 on off. That is the general configuration growers use.

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oh and to add,heatmats are usually used when people seed start just before spring and its still cold,so if your temps are already up and the nights are warmer i wouldnt use it. Unless you grow in a cold area like a garage or shed,you get the idea.

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Gonzo said:
oh and to add,heatmats are usually used when people seed start just before spring and its still cold,so if your temps are already up and the nights are warmer i wouldnt use it. Unless you grow in a cold area like a garage or shed,you get the idea.

Sent from my GT-I9190 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
 

Thank you I appreciate all of your help
 
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