"Damping off" is a term used to describe the effects of (usually) soil-borne fungal diseases that rot unsprouted seeds or kill newly sprouted seedlings.

Hey Laura: Boy, you are a busy little poster. :) Damping off occurs when new seedlings are infected by a fungal disease called botrytis or grey mold. You will know it when you look at a tray of previouly healthy seedlings that have fallen over at the base. I commonly call it **&^%$#@!. The idea is to avoid it rather than cause it. To do that you should first of all make sure all your tools and containers are clean and preferably dipped in a 1-10 solution of common household bleach. Second, sterilize the soil in the microwave. 1 gallon of soil in a tupperware container or other microwavable container with 2 cups of water. 10 minutes on high.I've done this a hundred times and I can't remember if it is 10 minutes or 5. Of course MY copy of HO-14 is missing.) Leave a space for steam to escape or the soil will be all over the oven. Use when cool. Call your local Ext. office for a copy of Growing Seeds Indoors (HO-14). Make sure your seeds are clean. (they can be sprayed with bleach solution too) Don't overwater. Keep flat covered until true leaves appear. If you are willing to use chemicals they are available.Captan, Maneb and other fungicides are some names. I don't use them if I can avoid it. If you are doing cuttings, most rooting hormones have a fungicide in them aleady and most seed companies use a fungicide on packaged seeds. -Sandy

Er uh Sandy... is there anything you do not know the answer to? Thank you very much. And yes, I was pretty much opposed to chemicals but loosened up somewhat after reading all the posts in these forums. Yet on the other hand... landscapers now have to show me the labels on what they use over here and they can't use any sprays on windy days or when temps are below 60 or above 85 or anywhere around my birdfeeders or birdbaths and they can't do it before or during nesting season. I guess I was a little too rigid on the chemicals while stupdily not realizing the lawncare people were using them- duh! And I do own Captan as of just a few weeks ago. Thanks for answering my questions! Bye for now- Laura

Hey there Laura: I'm one of those people who remembers odd stuff. Besides that I'm sitting here with about twenty loose leaf folders of Wisconsin U. and Indiana/Purdue Co-op publications , most of which I had to read, Printouts of material I have collected over a period of 35 years in 8 states, a short version of Ortho's Problem solver with access to the BIG Ortho book and close to 40 running feet of reference books I can grab if I don't remember something and in the bed room I have a file cabinet that is full to overflowing with gardening info. I figure I have somewhere around 1000 pounds of hard copy here. Then of course I have been asking questions just like yours for the past 35 years. I figure I better give some of that back in gratitude for all the people who patiently answered my questions. Also for 20 years I had a greenhouse and it is amazing how many mistakes you can make with something like that. My mantra is "I learn more from my mistakes than from my sucesses." My training was as an artist so I have just as much info for that and my talents are in mechanics and design so I have tools coming out my ears. (and if I didn't have an accountant for a husband I would probably have a lot more tools, especially power tools. Tim Taylor is a piker.) I have three sayings that define my life. the first is Murphy rules. the second, No battle plan survives contact with the enemy and the third is my garden is a work in progress, so leave me alone. Hope I don't scare you off. I seem to overwhelm some people but I don't think that is your style.-Sandy