It's tough to say from the info given, but more importantly, fish fertilizer is a poor choice for seedlings in sterile growing medium, imo. If your soil medium wasn't sterile, that's the more likely fungal contaminant source. If the germinating mix is sterile, it will lack the soil flora necessary to take fish emulsion and convert it to usable nitrogen and other molecules for root uptake, making it essentially useless. This is a common mistake, one I made for years. Failing to differentiate between thriving and depleted/sterile soil microorganism situations can lead to bad fertilizer choices. It took me even longer to get off purchased soil mix for seedlings, I now germinate in composted organic matter with vermiculite and sand (or if I can get it, coco noir instead of vermiculite) and never fertilize. I water with dilute chamomile tea or a little peroxide if I'm worried about damping off, but I mainly focus on not over-watering, transplanting at the 4 leaf stage and never using tainted seed containers or watering cans as strategies against damping off. So it's my opinion that being an organic gardener is best in natural systems, but when you create an "unnatural" one in a container, gardeners have to be practical about the nutrients needed to kickstart the seedling into optimal early growth. The seed's germplasm only goes so far, so one must either use a formulation that does deliver available soluble, available N organically (see elsewhere), unlike blood or fish meal, or this is the one place to cheat and deliver a dilute amount of soluble inorganic N. Or you can depend entirely on the seed's stored germplasm as a food source and transplant very quickly after germination (i.e. the baggie method). This is why I germinate my crops in place as much as I can, we warm weather gardeners have that luxury. Which is a far from sterile situation, but I rarely have damping off if I let the soil surface dry between waterings, after germination

would like your feeling on AGRISERUM" I just did a quick look at what's up.. It just seems like bacteria.. I couldn't find prices, so i would expect it to be expensive.. Guess where you get all your beneficial bacteria- Yes, your correct, compost! I don't know if your listening to me, and just not registering what I'm telling you, or your gettin caught up in all these marketing schemes.. Let me try to tell you again- plants never needed any of these products out of a package, they didn't even need human intervention, what makes you think they need them now? You are doing far more good in a good compost.. I really think you are under estimating compost.. Let me remind you, the world record tomato grower, who grew 30 foot tomatos, with thousands of pounds of fruit off one plant, just uses compost... All I need to do is find a place to get rock dust, can you even buy this stiff? I've been told that they will give it away free if you can find it: true or false? So I am looking for a place, if you canhelp me that would be great." When people tell you you can get rockdust for free, it's most likely from a gravel pit, with very little nutritional value.. Its not the rockdust that people talk about.. You could buy rockdust, that has over 70 trace elements, and everything but the kitchen sink, but again, it is expensive.. Th product is "azomite".. One thin that you said stuck out to me - "all I need is rock dust".. That hit home, when i was beggining,I always looked for the best of the best, for a very quick optimal garden.. But the truth is, it takes years to get your soil in good production.. Remember it's your soil that's growing your plant.. All this stuff is good, but it is UNNECCESARY.. The majority of gardeners don't use any of the products you want to buy, not even talking about this expensive they are.. You are falling for a marketing scheme.. Please read this thoroughly: instead of paying hundreds of dollars for a few bags/ gallons of fertilizer and other miracle amendments, spend your money on getting quality compost/soil delivered for your garden.. Spend your money buying cover crop seeds.. Spend your money on water filters for your hose.. Spend your money making a rain harvester.. That stuff is really effective for your garden long term, and is very critical to your soil.. Would you rather have your whole garden with a few inches of compost/soil, or a few bags of the expensive dust/liquid? That sol/compost is going to do much more for you soil, an your plants, not only in the long run, but this season as well.. a 56 lb bag of winter rye, I pay $30.. That would do a few years, depending on your garden size.. What you really need to do is build your soil with traditional methods, that been around for centuries.. And is cheap!: -Mulching -composting -cover crop/ green manure I haven read the book you mentioned.. But i think that is your problem, your "researching" a little to much! Please keep it simple for the first year or two.. You actually CAN damage your soil all these products you want to buy, believe it or not.. Please keep it simple until you really he a feel for what you are doing, and what actully observe what plants needs.. Start with mulching/composting, move to cover crops/green manures.. Then mayb get into the nitty gritty trace elements,etc... I bet after you start composting and recycling nutrients and organic matter from your green manures/cover crops, you are going to think twice about needing expesive products... Ps- you mentioned you got a soil test.. Do you have the results? That would be very helpful.. Joe

I use horse manure both aged and fresh depending on the time of year. At least twice a year I apply alfalfa tea. The tea is made of alfalfa, fish oil emulsion, epsom salts, chicken poop (thank you neighbor), bunny poop (thank you other neighbor), molasses .. water. Left to age in a 100 gallon bucket for a week. The ingredients vary by what is on hand. I hesitate to explain what I do since our growing conditions are so very different. Here in the PNW it rains, rains and then rains some more in the winter; except this year almost no rain from Thanksgiving through Christmas. ElNino is coming to a glorious end. Summers no rain. I dont need to worry about salt or any build up in the soil. It rains away and the soil is glacial rock which helps with the cleansing of the soil. When I first began gardening at this location I had a soil sample test done. The above ingredients compliment the shortages in the soil. This year two of the gardens will be 3 years old. I plan to have the soils in this are retested. The roses for the most part are doing fine. Last springs brutal multiple freeze/thaw cycles sure proved a challenge. At the beautiful Rose Test Garden in Portland, OR, the stated that Zoo Doo surrounding the roses and Spring time application of Nitrogen is all that they need to do. Again not recommending what you should do. This works here. I use no chemical fertilizers nor spray for bugs or disease. Hope this was useful information. Jeannie

Kelly you didn't stir things up at all. No need to apologize) Vladimir has known me for quite some time now,and I was quite taken back to see the response he directed to my helpful suggestion, brushing my suggestion off as a mere story, unfounded , after all the help I have given him and others, and after all the success he knows that I have had through the years. At a time you think you have made good friends here, there is always that one that comes along and disappoints you. . I'm just grateful this entire forum for the most part is not only made of people that care about their trees, but people that care about each other and show respect for those that have had great success with many little secrets you don't find anywhere else verses those that make others appear that their success is foolish. Like I said, you are always welcomed to e-mal me and see how I prevent pest invasions on my trees year after year while others are constantly dealing with them. I use to have this problem, but not anymore except for the trees I don't bother treating with F.E Have a wonderful night. When I said I was done here, I was done trying to convince the minute few who have yet to try the product I use and the way I use it.