I posted about thyme, but all my plants seem to be doing this to some degree. They start off ok, then start turning brown from the edges in. Then end up like this:
looks too wet. Do you keep them that wet all the time? Also, if they all are dying, I would think about a fungus or something.
My buddy just told me the story about why all his seedlings failed. The grow lights were in his basement. They were wired to the light switch outside the basement door, at the top of the steps. When he went to turn the light off, he inadvertently turned the grow lights off also. He never realized because the door was closed so he didn’t see the lights off. I had to laugh at him.
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way to wet. i would take them out and repot in something that is just moist. the roots may be shot already. if they are brown and mushy, they are toast, any white roots and they may make it. add 1/2 C. H2o2 to gal of water and use that to moisten next media. it will add oxygen to the soil for that little guy.
Check the water ph. Keep it between 6.5 and 6.8.
Also use organic soil with no fertilizer. Around 21 days you can give its first small doze of fertilizer. As weeks and past by increased the doses
i think at this point you are a little ahead of where he needs to go with this…JMO.
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It does look like some form of dampening off or rot. I do think they are too wet and just general stuff i do try to get a light seedling soil that sheds water and make sure they never sit in water. I like mooses idea of light amount of worm castings or beneficial bacteria and fungi would certainly help, or a beneficial bacteria or mycorrhizae product with trichoderma added.
Every other day I water them, because they are bone dry again. I had just watered when I took the pic.
Maybe your light is too intense. It sounds like they are perspiring too much and possibly a dome or moving the light up would help this process, if they are drying out that fast a light amount of ground up worm castings does help hold water on the top of the soil.
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I think I water my seedlings one time per week when they are that small. Why do you think they are drying out so fast? What medium are you using?
Every other day is too often. I have seedlings larger than that and I water them about once a week. Before watering, dig down and check the potting mix…it will still be damp even though the top looks bone dry.
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once they sprout i give water in small amounts until they get a better root system. i just mist them. the worm castings made all the difference for damping off. but too much water is as bad as not enough.
Watering aside … I’m not sure what your media is in those cells, but I’ve heard and read of a number of people having issues with bad potting soil this year. They aren’t very far along, so if you had some other media to try (or just wanted to buy something else) it might be worth it to start another batch in different media just as a test to see how they compare. I think I remember you had trouble with bad potting soil with your onion seedlings at first, yes?
This year I’m using Lambert Germination Mix from A.M. Leonard, and even though it seems pretty good, I’ve noticed that my seedlings haven’t done as well as they usually do in ProMix BX, which I always used before. Just the differences in water retention, etc., while small, seem to really have the potential to create problems quickly with little seedlings in the smaller cells. Adding worm castings or other active compost can help if you have it available.
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Right, but a seedling that only has a root a quarter of an inch long can’t exactly tap into water deeper below.
I’ll try the worm castings.
I’ve had a lot of issues this year that I have not had in years past. It’s the same grow room, everything else is the same.
I’m using Black Gold seed starting mix.
Too much water!
I would think so, too. But at times, they’re definitely too dry.
If you suspect damping off I’ve had good luck misting the soil with strong chamomile tea every once in awhile. Sue
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OK this is a little hair-brained, but I have well water… Could it be some kind of fungal spore in my well water causing this?