If you aren't fertilizing them, to me that would seem to be the problem. No matter how wonderful a soil mix is, it probably isn't going to have the abundant supply of N and other elements fast-growing crops are going to need for rapid growth. There are certain circumstances when it might have the initial fertility needed, but it then could drop off. I myself have been using composted manure straight from the bag in some barrel planters this year for certain annual crops, and it does a great job supply them with what they need for about a month, then they start to develop symptoms of N deficiency, so I know its time to fertilize. I would definitely begin to fertilize regularly with something, whether conventional or organic. Personally, if it were me I would apply something like a 12-12-12 to the bed, water that in well, wait 5-6 days, and then do a couple of follow up shots of Miracle Grow. You may get some clues from the appearance of the plants. Is the color still dark green, or have they gotten a pale yellowish or even a purple-red cast to them? Those are pretty indicative of poor soil fertility. It is hard to say whether or not a daily soaking is too much. It all depends on your weather AND the soil structure. If its a loose, sandy, well-drained mix, daily watering could certainly be appropriate if you're in one of the regions of the country where it's been so blazing hot. If the soil is dense and heavy, you certainly could be keeping it too wet, which can cause plants to fail to thrive, but personally after a month I would think you would have seen a few of the most susceptible things develop root rot and die. So, based on the information presented, I still vote "needs fertilizer".

She left behind one small child, still growing on the vine. Both this year and last year my sugar babies grew pretty well and flowered well, last year set two fruits, this one just one. But then both of them up and wilted pretty much overnight. It is planted next to my cukes, so wilt seems likely to me. Though I haven't seen too many cuke beetles and my cukes are all thriving and overgrowing their trellis.

I think I woiuld try planting in something different as a test. I'm not sure what the "72 cell peat sheets and seed starter soil" are but try something else---put some seeds in a pot and use another type of "dirt". Make sure they can drain out the bottom. What about your water? High chlorine content? Try buying some bottled water in jugs as a test. Test the pH. As for your questions: 1. No, but don't keep the dirt soggy. More damage is done w/ too much water than not enough. The latter is easier to fix. 2. We normally don't use any fertilizer until the plants have their second set of leaves. 3 The temp would be fine but you NEED to have good air circulation!!!!! Your plants are only 1" tall after TWO MONTHS? Why don't you get some really fast growing plants like cucumber or squash for testing. They'll usually pop up in a few days and grow rapidly. Below is a good site for damping off information for anyone interested. Good luck. Sorry you're having problems; its discouraging for someone just starting out to have problems. Remember too that different seeds require different ways to get started [cover or not, keep dry or moist, etc]. A VERY good book on flower production is the BALL REDBOOK of Crop Production. Its a pretty expensive book but you might find one at a used bookstore. It does not cover veggies. Regards, Tom Here is a link that might be useful: Damping off

The melon looks good, Pat. First time growing melons for me too this year. I happened to be at Rona's a few days before Fathers' Day. They had all their veggies on reduction and I picked up a pot of 5 yellow melon plants, as well as a pot of 5 cantaloupes for 59 cents. I just couldn't pass up a bargain like that even though I'd never grown melons before nor did I have any space left in my garden. What I did was lay down 5 bags of soil next to my fence. I pierced all along one side of the bag which became the bottom side, and made two holes on the other (top) side and I planted a melon plant in each of the holes. The vines took a couple of weeks to get going, but then they started growing really quickly and kind of all over the place. I have no cantaloupes yet, but I have 5 melons. They range from egg-size to a diameter of 6 inches. The oldest melon seems to have stopped growing now and I noticed this morning that the tendrils near the stem are turning brown. All the label said was 'Yellow Melon', so I have no idea if it's reached its proper size for picking. I'll look out of other tell-tale signs, such as the rind getting dull, etc. to judge when it should be picked.