How To Prevent Damping Off - Answering Service Resources

Home
>
Landscaping & Gardening
>
How To Prevent Damping Off

How To Prevent Damping Off

Damping off is the single term used to describe underground, soil line, or crown rots of seedlings due to unknown causes. The term actually covers several soil borne diseases of plants and seed borne fungi. The fungi which cause root rot are species of Phyium, Phytophthora, Rhizoctonia and Fusarium.

There are two types of damping off: pre-emergence and post- emergence. In pre-emergence damping-off, seeds may rot and seedlings may decay before they emerge. In post-emergence damping off the seedlings emerge then may pale, curl, wilt, and collapse from a rot at the soil line and below. The base of the stem is generally water-soaked at first then turns gray to brown or black then rots.

Vegetable seedlings often do not grow well under humid conditions, particularly if the soil is cold and wet. Damping off fungi flourish in moist, unhygienic conditions. The disease often starts at one end of a seed tray, and quickly spreads to the other end. A fluffy fungal growth may also appear on the soil surface as well as on the dead seedlings.

When preparing to plant be sure that flats, tools, plant containers, and benches are clean. Damping off pathogens can live in these containers. The easiest way to disinfect them is to dip them in a bleach solution for 10 seconds. Use 1 part bleach to 4 parts water. Or use 70 percent rubbing alcohol.

Plant in a light, well drained fertile seedbed. Preferably use sterile soils that have been pasteurized with heat before planting. Maintain a soil pH at the low end of the average scale. A soil of 6.4 pH is less susceptible to root rot than a pH of 7.5. As plants are watered the pH gradually increases. Test often and continue to maintain a lower pH while the plants are still germinating. If necessary use one tablespoon of vinegar to 1 gallon of water to lower a rising pH level.

Plant seeds no deeper than 4 times their own thickness. Keep the seedbed soil on the dry side after planting and allow plenty of bright light but not direct sunlight.

Use plant containers with drainage holes, water from the bottom only, and avoid excess watering. Do not allow pots to stand in water as excess water cannot drain and the roots will be starved for oxygen which will stop all growth of seedlings. Never water late in the day.

Avoid overcrowding and overfeeding of plants. Do not overfertilize, especially with nitrogen.

For additional organic tips from the experts on damping off:

http://www.apluswriting.net/dampingoff/dampingoff.htm

---

REQUIREMENTS FOR REPRINT: You have permission to publish this article free of charge in your e-zine, newsletter, ebook, print publication or on your website ONLY if it remains unchanged and you include the copyright and author information (Resource Box) at the end. You may not use this article in any unsolicited commercial email (spam).

You may retrieve this article by:

Autoresponder: dampingoff@getresponse.com Website: http://www.apluswriting.net/articles/dampingoff.txt

Please leave the resource box intact with an active link, and send a courtesy copy of the publication in which the article appears to: marilynp@nctc.net

Author: Marilyn Pokorney Freelance writer of science, nature, animals and the environment. Also loves crafts, gardening, and reading. Website: http://www.apluswriting.net

In The News:

A garden good enough to eat
WalesOnline, United Kingdom - Oct 11, 2008
“Basically, edible landscaping is a way of growing flowers and vegetables together in a way that looks beautiful and is good to eat. ...

The Herald-Times (subscription)
Gardeners are vanguard of Green Revolution
The Herald-Times (subscription), IN - 11 hours ago
By Joel M. Lerner Washington Post Thirty years ago, most home landscaping consisted of lawn, foundation plantings, a few trees and perhaps a bed for flowers ...

Toledo area women redesigned their yards to suit their families
Toledo Blade, OH - 6 hours ago
In one area of the garden, she has easily personalized the landscape by painting everyone's names on the larger rocks. 'It's a great stroll down memory lane ...

Home and Garden Calendar
Indianapolis Star, United States - Oct 10, 2008
Collect seeds from the prairie habitat and native flower beds to use in home landscaping. Instructions on how to collect seeds will be given by naturalists. ...

Neil Sperry: For unusual landscaping areas, try a creative or ...
Fort Worth Star Telegram, TX - Oct 10, 2008
Neil Sperry publishes Gardens magazine and hosts Texas Gardening radio show 8-11 am Saturdays and Sundays on KRLD/1080 AM. Reach him during those hours at ...

Miriam Jabour in the Garden
Vicksburg Post, MS - Oct 11, 2008
... but small animals that love to munch on some of our favorite bulbs can disrupt our landscaping endeavors. Nothing is more upsetting to a gardener than ...

Houston Chronicle
Grow great salads
Houston Chronicle, United States - 1 hour ago
Learn about gardening classes, community and school gardens, farmers' markets, organic landscaping and more at www.urbanharvest.org.

Gardening by community
The Desert Sun, CA - Oct 11, 2008
“Developing Guidelines for HOA Utilizing Desert Landscape” presented by Tess Anas of Summit HOA at noon. “Garden Club” presented by Robin Pokorski of ...

Fashion Gardening
The Foothill Weeklies, California - Oct 10, 2008
... I decided to warm things up by inviting my “Landscaping Queen” to help me the next day, in preparing the proposed rose garden for planting. ...

Home and garden briefs
Florida Times-Union, FL - Oct 10, 2008
With a little help from the Reflections of Nature Garden Center, you can brighten your fall landscape with native wildflowers. James Loper will discuss ...

landscaping gardening - Google News

Answering Service ResourceAnswering Service Resource