sounds like a fungus to me.

I would isolate any that show any amount of stuff on this, put them into another tray, you don't need to go to great expense if you don't have another, just a black tray with no dome is fine, they sell between 1 and 2 dollars usually. Or, if you run by a dollar store, get a cheap cake or roasting pan that is big enough and not too deep. (You don't want the sides shadowing out your plants).

Then, you have two options, wait and see what happens, does the fungus improve with drying etc.

Or, try and treat it, with either a natural method, or with an anti fungal agent, like No Damp. I always used No Damp, but spending time here has offered up some other solutions from other members, like brewing up a strong Camomile tea, or sprinkling Cinamon on the surface.

Once you get sprouts, you need to remove the cover, or you get what is called "damping off"

Carrie

They aren't all sprouted yet, only a few of them. Should I still remove the lid?

Yes, what you have growing is fungus and is commonly found in most potting soils that contain any type compost (you don't mention what mix you are using). It happens to all of us IF we let the soil get too wet. It is not contagious or even harmful to the plants IF you eliminate the cause - too much moisture.

Dry out the soil slightly and it will simply disappear. And yes once ANY germination takes place you really do need to remove or at least prop up the dome cover. Not all seeds will germinate at the same time and if you have mixed varieties in the container then there could be several days between germination. Leaving the lid on until all or even most germinate only guarantees the death of the first ones to sprout. The rest will either germinate with the cover off or they likely never would have sprouted anyway.

So you need to either transplant the sprouts out of the container so you can keep the rest covered or remove the cover so the soil can dry out some and reduce your watering.

Good luck. ;)

Dave

the soil is too moist allow it to dry, I've had this before here, remove the visible fungus and a little layer of dirt underneath as much as possible without damaging the developing root mass. Avoid overwatering sprouts for they only need so much, just water lightly more often, use a spoon to safley remove the sprout if needed.

I've heard of people using diluted peroxide and qtips to kill seedling fungus.

I will sometimes have fungus start on the top of the soil before germination is evident. Removing the cover and a light spray of peroxide mixture and leave the cover off for a few hours usually solves the problem. Some seeds are very slow to germinate and so the cover is left on longer than normal and this is the start of the fungus growth. Al

Thank you all very much! I was using the little expandible peat pellets (I call it "instant dirt"). The ones it was growing on were from last year, although they had been kept dry and in the original package. I took the cover off last night and within hours the fungus was nearly gone. It was pretty wet in there so I left it off overnight and I'll just keep an eye on it.

I appreciate your help! I have always direct seeded in the garden for the most part. My try with starting seeds last year failed miserably except for a few flowers and this year really want to get a jump on at least a few of my veggies! I keep looking at you folks with the lights and have just GOT to find a spot where I can set something up like that next winter!

Alys
jump over to the Winter sowing forum and read FAQ.
easy, inexpensive and works.

I took the cover off last night and within hours the fungus was nearly gone.

It's magic! ;)

Dave