You are lucky if you have started seeds indoors and have not experienced damping off. Keep doing the same thing. Damping off is caused by any one of several microscopic fungi which grow on the surface of the soil. Young seedlings are attacked and their stems shrivel at the soil line. They topple over. This usually happens within the first few days after they emerge. It is fatal. My thinking is that prevention is easier than a cure. Seed starting medium that is infected with spores of the fungus will cause problems. I normally make my own soilless mix. I think my bale of peat moss had become contaminated. This year that mix caused damping off, which I treated with partial success with chamomile tea. I had much greater success by starting over using fresh commercial mix (ProMix BX). The instructions with this mix warn against leaving it open to contamination, so I store it in a sealed container (plastic garbage can) and only moisten enough to use immediately. This sort of mix (Jiffy, Miracle Gro and other brands) has many advantages. I recommend it. Jim

Hi Greg, I'm in NC too, just outside of Chapel Hill. This has been a really rough year on tomato plants for some reason around here. I've had a bad time with fungus and many pests. Do a search on corn meal on this site. It inhibits growth of many soil fungi. It's best to use it in the soil before planting. I had an extra bag I needed to get rid of so I just came in from sprinkling it on the ground. I guess a little late is better than nothing. Also, Epsom Salts sprinkled around the plants every two weeks strenthens the root system and seems to keep the plant more decease resistent. Erin

What is the dreaded damping-off disease? How do I prevent and/or trea - The best prevention is cleanliness! Use a sterile growing medium,preferably one containing milled sphagnum moss,as it naturally inhibits damping-off. Soilless mixes such as milled sphagnum / vermiculite are best. Planting containers should be new or thoroughly cleaned if reused ,wash with hot soapy water and rinse with a solution of 1 part chlorine bleach to 10 parts water. Avoid overcrowding of seedlings and overwatering ,a small fan in the seed-starting area to circulate the air is useful. Any stress which weakens seedlings , poor light, high temperatures, or improper watering makes them more susceptible . ETA just playing with a Firefox link creating add-on. Dave has already referenced this information.

Chamomile (and many Asteraceae) is some sort of very mild fungicide. Amusingly, chamomile plants are very susceptible to fungal infections (powdery mildew in particular), but I guess they're unfriendly to damping off pathogens. Hydrogen peroxide works too, I hear. I believe some people use it with topical strength (3%), sprayed on the soil once a day, but I'm not sure I want that strength touching my seedlings. I'd probably dilute it 10:1. Of course, you bake the soil, and you also get rid of bugs and weeds.