How To Prevent Damping Off
By Marilyn Pokorney, Fri Dec 9th
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Damping off is the single term used to describe underground,soil line, or crown rots of seedlings due to unknown causes. Theterm actually covers several soil borne diseases of plants andseed borne fungi. The fungi which cause root rot are species ofPhyium, Phytophthora, Rhizoctonia and Fusarium.
There are two types of damping off: pre-emergence and post-emergence. In pre-emergence damping-off, seeds may rot andseedlings may decay before they emerge. In post-emergencedamping off the seedlings emerge then may pale, curl, wilt, andcollapse from a rot at the soil line and below. The base of thestem is generally water-soaked at first then turns gray to brownor black then rots.
Vegetable seedlings often do not grow well under humidconditions, particularly if the soil is cold and wet. Dampingoff fungi flourish in moist, unhygienic conditions. The diseaseoften starts at one end of a seed tray, and quickly spreads tothe other end. A fluffy fungal growth may also appear on thesoil surface as well as on the dead seedlings.
When preparing to plant be sure that flats, tools, plantcontainers, and benches are clean. Damping off
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