Damping off

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Author Message   Oldiebutgoodie  Posted on Thursday, April 03, 2008 - 09:47 am EST :    I planted some cantaloupe and tomato seed yesterday, and as always, I'm worried about damping off. I've read various suggestions regarding garlic tea, treating the soil with cinnamon, etc. Has anyone had any experience with these sort of solutions? I find it really amusing that until this past week, my front flower bed was covered with about a foot of snow. I happened to glance outside on Saturday to find tulips poking their noses through the remaining couple of inches of the white stuff. Today, they're about four inches high and my daffodils are poking through the soil. (There's no snow left on that bed, but there's still lots in the heaps left by the snowploughs and the winds. Oldiebutgoodie - Ontario, Zone "5"   Growit  Supporting Member My Favorite Photo My Weather My Time Posted on Thursday, April 03, 2008 - 12:18 pm EST :    Arlene uses a chamomile mixture to prevent damping off. Growit - Hants UK, Zone "8/9"   Valia  Supporting Member Posted on Thursday, April 10, 2008 - 11:32 am EST :    Are you planting the seed outside or in pots? Anne Valia - UT (winter) WA (summer), Zone "8 and 5"   Oldiebutgoodie  Posted on Thursday, April 10, 2008 - 11:50 am EST :    I'm starting them inside. Here in central Ontario, it's wa-a-a-y too early to think about sowing seed outdoors. There are still patches of snow around and the frost's not out of the soil yet. I hope to put my tomato plants into the garden about the first of June and the cantaloupes about 10 days later. Oldiebutgoodie - Ontario, Zone "5"   Oldiebutgoodie  Posted on Thursday, April 10, 2008 - 11:52 am EST :    p.s. My grape hyacinths are in bloom alongside a big pile of dirty snow. Oldiebutgoodie - Ontario, Zone "5"   Valia  Supporting Member Posted on Thursday, April 10, 2008 - 01:32 pm EST :    I was thinking it was a little early to be starting anything outdoors where you are! The only time I've had trouble with damping off is when I've used seed starter with a lot of peat moss in it. It seems to retain too much moisture. I usually start seeds in wet paper towels in a warm spot -- amazing how fast they germinate -- and immediately pop them into trays or pots with a loose soil mix that does not retain a lot of water. I put a big, clear plastic bag over them at night and take it off in the daytime. I do make sure that I'm using clean trays or pots. For the first time this year, I followed other gardeners' advice and ran my old pots through the dishwasher before re-using them. It sure was easier than washing and disinfecting them, but someone's going to have to tell me how to get the little shreds of potting soil out of the filter in the bottom of the dishwasher! I sponged away at it, and then attacked it with a brush, but they are still there. Good luck with your seedlings. What else are you planning to grow in your vegetable garden? Valia - UT (winter) WA (summer), Zone "8 and 5"   Oldiebutgoodie  Posted on Thursday, April 10, 2008 - 08:41 pm EST :    We have a very large vegetable garden - about an acre. We have perennial asparagus and strawberries. I generally have a lot of volunteer sunflowers. I always put in peas, cooking onions, Spanish onions, Dutch sets, parsnips, carrots, beets, three varieties of potatoes (generally Alaska gold, Chieftain, and Irish cobblers, but sometimes I vary - last year I had an amazing crop of California whites) lettuce, radishes, Swiss chard, yellow beans, Royal Burgundy beans, a lot of cucumbers, (I try to put down 50 jars of pickles annually. I've had serious crop failures for the past two summers, though.) squash, pumpkins, gourds, cantaloupes and tomatoes. I had really good luck with broccoli one summer, but I haven't found good plants in the nurseries since. We have a friend who grows corn for his roadside stand, and he's got that down to a fine science, so we don't plant any. We try very hard to avoid chemicals on our garden, and the bugs ate my cabbage and cauliflower, so I don't put them in anymore. I'm afraid I'm going to have to spray my cukes, though. We have two apple trees and two pear trees, some gooseberry bushes and a couple of black currant bushes. We're still eating potatoes, carrots, parsnips and onions from last summer's garden, besides the produce I've canned. As you can probably guess, between the vegetable garden and my flower beds, I'm pretty busy during the summer months. Oldiebutgoodie - Ontario, Zone "5"   Valia  Supporting Member Posted on Thursday, April 10, 2008 - 08:55 pm EST :    Wow! Sounds wonderful! I wish you were my neighbor. Anne Valia - UT (winter) WA (summer), Zone "8 and 5"   Oldiebutgoodie  Posted on Thursday, April 10, 2008 - 09:02 pm EST :    If you're ever in the neighbourhood, please drop in, Anne. There's always plenty of good stuff from the garden to share with family, friends and neighbours. Oldiebutgoodie - Ontario, Zone "5"   Valia  Supporting Member Posted on Friday, April 11, 2008 - 07:32 am EST :    Thanks, Myrna, I'll do that! I have relatives in BC, Quebec & Nova Scotia, and I've dreamed about taking a trip across Canada. Maybe that dream will come true some day. I've added a new scene to my dream: a fresh veggie snack at Oldiebutgoodie's. Anne Valia - UT (winter) WA (summer), Zone "8 and 5"

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