Saving a tomato seedling that is *starting* to damp off

[applestar]

OK, I worked out a couple of ways to save a coveted tomato variety you wanted to grow when the only seedling you have started show signs of keeling over from dampening off.

If you are vigilant, you will see the seedling not standing up straight and listing, and if you carefully pick at the soilmix around the stem, that dreaded pinched look. If the upper portion of the seedling is still firm and not wilted, there are a couple of options.

If the pinch is only slight, you can hit it with a dilute hydrogen peroxide (I mixed 1:1 with hottest tap water then cooled), cinnamon water or chamomile tea, then pile more damp soil mix higher up and around the stem. Make sure to keep it nice and moist and don't let the top of the mix dry out. I tried watering with cinnamon water, spraying with diluted peroxide, and then soaking with AACT, diluted whey, and Mosquito Bits water.

If the pinch is complete, then more drastic measures need to be taken, but you might still save it if the upper portion of the seedling is still firm enough. First cut it off at the pinch, then using a sterilized super sharp blade -- box knife, razor, scalpel -- make a clean cut above the pinch where the stem is still unaffected and unblemished (no brown streaks). Briefly soak in 1:1 peroxide then rinse. Then put it on one of these: Subject: Starting pepper seeds >> spoon in zip bag germination

I just planted these two yesterday after salvaging them in the beginning of April:

They are going to need extra care since they don't have the strong taproot. Hopefully I can keep them alive and not let them get lost in the shuffle. I put cut up clear plastic egg container over each of them to maintain high humidity and watered them with Mosquito Bit water to keep off the fungus gnat maggots from eating the very delicate roots.