Soil Remedy? Dampening Off of Indoor Seedlings

[hendi_alex]

Dampening off can be a pesky problem for seedlings grown indoors. The fan should help. Using sterile soil can help as well. Is there some natural remedy soil treatment that discourages this probem?

[top_dollar_bread]

Dampening off can be a pesky problem for seedlings grown indoors. The fan should help. Using sterile soil can help as well. Is there some natural remedy soil treatment that discourages this probem?

In my [url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18691]building better potting soil thread[/url] I mentioned corn meal, it can be applied to the top of the surface or mixed with top soil,when seedlings sprout or germinating. cinnamon is also another damping off remedy.
foliar spraying or soil drench with worm casting tea, as well as chamomile tea.
[url=https://www.backyardgardener.com/organic/feb02.htm]cinnamon and chamomile link[/url] & [url=https://freshdirt.sunset.com/2008/08/compost-tea-wor.html]more on EWC tea link[/url]

[applestar]

This year, I decided I wasn't going to BUY soil-less sterilized seedling starter mixes and made my own out of screened early spring compost, really good leaf mould and sand. I had no damping off whatsoever. My mix is pretty rough/raw -- crawling with all kinds of bugs and baby earthworms -- compared to TDB's but it did the job.

[hendi_alex]

Funny thing, I rarely get damping off problems when starting seeds indoors. But this year I lost all of my late tomato seedlings, except one, to dampening. I think that they got way too much water for my automatic sprinkler that was set to meet the needs of established plants. Will hand water the seedlings next year.

[thepassionatecook]

Your damping off issue was most likely caused by over-watering and the seed borne fungi that developed from it. But damping-off can be easily confused with plant injury caused by insect feeding, excessive fertilization, high levels of soluble salts, excessive heat or cold, excessive or insufficient soil moisture, or chemical toxicity in air or soil.

Using a sprinkler can spray a lot of water on the foilage. Mulch should solve most of your problems. Spread a 2-3 inch layer of mulch over the soil; this will conserve moisture and help keep water from splashing onto the foliage. Wet foliage is a major cause of fungal diseases. The only time it's okay to dampen foliage is when you feed by foliar spraying or spray off pests with a sharp shot of water in the daytime so the sun will dry your plants quickly.