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Damping-off: how to recognise and treat it

Disease

Damping-off — Photo: Roswitha Ulrich, Pflanzenschutzdienst, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Symptoms

Seeds rot in the soil and seedlings fail to come up, leaving patchy rows or trays.
Seedlings collapse at soil level, often in roughly circular patches, with a dark, soft lesion at the base of the stem.
The collapsed seedlings are often covered in a whitish fungal growth.

Organic treatment

Remove and discard collapsed seedlings at once.
Water less and ventilate seedlings well to lower the humidity.
Do not reuse the pots, trays or compost in which damping-off occurred.

Chemical treatment

No fungicides are available to home gardeners for damping-off; prevention is the only control.

Reference information, not a guarantee. Read and follow the label of any product: dose, safety and the days to wait before harvest.

Prevention

Sow in fresh commercial seed compost rather than garden soil or old compost.
Use new pots and trays, or wash and disinfect old ones before sowing.
Sow thinly so seedlings are not crowded, keep them ventilated and do not overwater.
Water seedlings with mains water, or keep the water butt covered and clean.

Sources

Figures checked against these sources.