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Re: white growth on seedlings

In article <199804061738.KAA11951@aries3.spaur.com>, Brenda Spaur
<brenda@spaur.com> writes
> In a couple of the cells of the
>purple coneflowers, the seedlings have a white fuzzy growth on them.  The
>growth is at the base of the stem and is bending the seedling over (in one
>cell the stem has bent over to the point that the seed is up out of the
>soil).  I had been leaving the plastic dome cover on the seedlings because
>the white coneflowers didn't appear to be germinating.  Since I noticed this
>growth this morning, I removed the cover hoping some air on the seedlings
>would help.  Only a couple of the cells are affected at the moment.  Is this
>the dreaded "damping off"?  

I don't think this is damping off. Damping off is invisible until the
seedlings topple. If this is the same as the fungal problem I used to
have, it's "just" a fungus feeding on the organic material in the
compost.

The problem is that it strangles seedlings :-(

Improved ventilation and keeping to compost drier will help, but my
experience was that the fungus reappeared despite this treatment, and
that copper-based fungicide did not help. I eventually lost the fungus
when I moved house! Clearly, the spores were in the air or in the water
at the old house.

For small seeds, I'd suggest sterilising pots and compost and water, and
being very careful with keeping them sterile if you can (you might try
moving where you germinate them? And keep them covered until they're
fairly big.) Larger seeds, and other plants shouldn't be bothered by the
fungus. You can try to tease the fungal threads away from little
seedlings, but this can be very tricky with the small, fragile seedlings
that the fungus is most dangerous to.
-- 
Alison Brooks  

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