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ZooL

Damping off.

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Recently i ran out of rain water and have had to fill up my water tanks with bore water,  i am now getting some serious issues of damping off on seedling when i transfer them from germination domes to filtered light areas, i have noticed that it is more of a problem when i water them after the top soil in the pots has dried out a bit.

does anyone know of some good resources focusing on damping off or suggestions to prevent it?

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Hey mate, damping is caused by fungus so reducing moisture and increasing air exchange will help. You could try using a soilless or sterilised media to germinate in. Cleaning organic matter and spores from your propagating gear will help, as will lowering sowing rates.

 

I'm curious if you know the pH of your bore water, rainwater is usually around 5.5 which is optimum for seedling growth but your bore water could be higher, which would favour fungal growth. 

 

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Nah , not checked ph of bore water. I had assumed because i was sterilizing soil and the change was so dramatic after only the water change being different then it must be something in the water , but yea could just be some of the gear im using that is contaminated and the bore water may be making a too favorable environment for it.

Thanks, will check ph of water and give all the gear and tools a good clean.

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On 14/12/2020 at 2:17 PM, ZooL said:

  i am now getting some serious issues of damping off on seedling when i transfer them from germination domes to filtered light areas

 

does anyone know of some good resources focusing on damping off or suggestions to prevent it?

reduce your "dome" or lets say glasshouse action.

 

the damping off, pathogenes live in the soil and get multypied by glass house conditions.

 

if your soil (potting mix) is not sterile, you can only overcome this pest by areation.

so instead of humidety dome, no dome, and infrequent waterings.

most important, let the soil and it's surface dry out, between waterings.

 

phonetic pissed speller, i am.

 

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A heated propagation chamber or heat mat can help dry the soil out quicker as will giving the medium more access to light and fresh air. Furthermore, if you use perlite then the soil will be less soggy. 

 

Coir won't become mouldy as quickly as soil so you could use that depending on what you're growing, otherwise a soil that has more sand and some perlite added will help with drainage and aeration. 

 

What are you growing that's having the fungus issue? 

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