Fungicide for damping off of food producing plants?
14 years ago
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- 14 years ago
- 14 years ago
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Losing all my plants to damping off
Comments (8)It is not your seed and rinsing them in anything is not necessary. As I said before--damp off is ALWAYS caused by over watering. It is not caused by something on your seeds or in your soil or pots I realize you probably want to go green and organic but just because it is labelled that way doesn't mean it's better. What you are using for soil is not good for seed starting. It is good for potting up growing plants but not for starting seeds. If you want the absolute best seed starting mix then it's promix HP. It is hands down the best for all planting. Just try that little experiment I mentioned. One pot wet and one pot dry. Now see how long it takes for the wet pot to dry out completely and be the same weight as the dry one. PEAT PELLETS-- are absolutely useless. You wouldn't catch me within a hundred yards of them....See MoreDamping off solution
Comments (7)A fan 24/7 will help. Keep the air moving. That's certainly the standard advice. And seedlings outdoors instead of a stuffy basement don't damp off. But I have doubts that moving air is the actual solution. I have grown a number of plants considered very prone to damping off, Meconopsis, Lithops, difficult cacti, etc. The succulents and cacti I grow in completely enclosed plastic bags or propagators for the first few months and I get zero damping off. Even forgetting to microwave everything first, the only problem is algae growth in the still humid air. Things like Tephrocactus, Eriosyce, and Pediocactus survive well until I do anything to them like trying to transplant, then a number of them rot off at the base. The Meconopsis is particular were extremely difficult to keep alive, in fact everything died from two attempts my first year. No amount of cleanliness, fans, or chemicals could keep them alive. What finally worked was keeping them cool at night, anything above 50F and they would damp off, nights at 35F-45F and they were fine (these are hardy Himalayan plants). Even the cacti and succulents I try to cool off as much as possible at night once they have germinated, perhaps only 55F-60F after days at 80F or more but it seems to work well. Species like the Pediocactus and Andean Opuntioids will germinate in habitat when there is still frost at night, although that would obviously be too cold for many species. There are also other reasons why cacti and most succulents like cool nights, to do with the way their metabolism works. So I don't get damping off now, even if I don't know all the exact ways to avoid it. Hopefully you'll get some ideas that will keep your plants alive....See MoreUpdate #2 - Re: Using cornmeal as a plant fungicide
Comments (16)To wild acres: First, it has been interesting to review the sudden reappearance of the discussions re using 'cornmeal as a plant fungicide'. Thanks for your Liriope report and your desire "to really know how this (cornmeal) works"? To answer this question is to refer back to the original university studies with peanuts for a possible answer. They reported that cornmeal encourages the growth of Trichoderma fungus which feed on mycelium and sclerotia of Sclerotina minor, Sclerotina rolfsii and all Rhizactina species. Since that report we have received enough information to add Pyricularia grisea (gray leaf spot) to the list and now, thanks to your report, possibly Phytophthora palmivora (Liriope crown rot) to be trialed and tested. The bottom line to all this is: If cornmeal does control this or that fungus, we have to test for and identify the responding fungus using scientific methods. To date academia is sputtering around this subject mostly in a negative manner. Those of us who have been testing know that cornmeal does control certain types of fungus. This would be an interesting and badly needed doctoral project. My final thoughts...Got a plant fungus? Try tossing some cornmeal on and around the problem, misting it lightly with water. It may control the fungus, repeated monthly, or it may not. If it does try to figure out the name of the controlled fungus and if it fits into any of the varieties listed above. It is always interesting to read the comments of others on this subject as they use the 'trial method' experimenting in their own backyards....See MoreVolunteer Produce Grower for Food Bank
Comments (7)Around us we are best off sticking with common, basic veggies: red tomatoes varieties that can take alot of handling without turning to mush, not unusual colored, soft heirlooms (much as I might love them) slicing cucumbers, green peppers, red radishes, yellow or bicolor sweet corn Foods that have a long harvest window are good. You can leave them a week...or three, if the pantry doesn't have a big need at the time ie, carrots, onions, beets (roots and greens), potatoes (also can harvest any of these when you have enough time and help to clean them up) Small red fleshed watermelons that fit in small apartment refrigerators are popular. Veggies that don't take forever to harvest....we will do few if any beans or peas unless we have ALOT more volunteer harvesters, also not too many cherry tomatoes which can be overwhelming to harvest Find out what client mix is usual at the pantry. We had one pantry that was unable to give away the many hot peppers we had. A volunteer lived near another pantry that was thrilled to get them and was able to use 20 pounds or more in a week. Herbs were not taken much at our pantry. I imagine this would depend on the area and clients, also. I was actually asked not to bring anymore. Try not to be offended if they turn something down. You and I just will not always know what their clients can use. Talk with the pantry staff when you bring produce in, find someone who will honestly (and kindly) tell you if your donation is great for them or isn't really of use. I found some thanked me profusely even for produce that they were overloaded with at the time. There was a good chance my donation would not be used while it was still fresh. Once I started questioning more, I was able to split the harvest between two places and supply each with things more suited to their needs.(Took me awhile to get over the rather rude way one pantry volunteer turned away my beautiful chiles!) Bring good looking produce. Send the culls home with the gardeners. If you are trying to encourage people to eat healthy, you have to make it attractive. Don't give the pantry the rejects. Hope your project goes well. Many people will appreciate having fresh produce available to them....See More- 14 years ago
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