Just a WAG... did you ever notice a white mildew growing on the soil / peat pellets around your starts?

I have seen mildew growing on a few out of the dozens upon dozens I have sowed. Maybe seen it on five in the three years I've been trying to grow them.

Then "damping off" is not your problem.

Hmmm, just another stab in the dark... where are you getting your seeds, are the all from the same source?

This post was edited by ottawapepper on Thu, Jan 1, 15 at 14:05

they start dropping like flies.

There's so many issues that can come to play at this point, damping off, root-damaging, soil borne fungal diseases such as Pythium and Fusarium, under/over fertilization. IMO you need to review proven methods and find one that works for you!

Redwood City Seed Company
GW Thread

I have gotten them from this site in trades, bought from stores, and have had family give me seeds. Where they get their seeds is either from stores or online. Seed ages are anywhere from last year's harvest to about 4 years old.

My WAG is similar to Bill's. Damping off. You don't even need to SEE a mold.

Overwatering is the main cause, but air circulation can help with that. Set up a small fan.

Other ways to deal with damping off --

1) Bottom water for the 1st month or so. And only water when the soil is almost bone dry. Stick a wooden skewer in the soil. When you think it needs water, pull it out. If soil sticks to skewer, don't water.

2) Water with a solution of 1 part hydrogen peroxide (3%) to 4 parts water every 2 weeks. This will break up the reproductive cycle of fungus gnats.

3) sprinkle cinnamon around base of plants. This will deter fungus gnats.

4) Mosquito dunks. AKA ---BT Israeli variant. Once again, kills fungus gnat larvae.

The main thing is the watering though --- Keep soil moist until germination, but after that let the soil dry out completely. Then water thoroughly and so on. The fan will aid in keeping that top inch of soil dry so the larvae can't thrive.

Good luck.

Kevin

Yeah, damping off is my guess as well.

Things to help stop damping off:

1) Sterilize your soil.
You don't have to go to great lengths to make inorganic starting mixes, or buy anything special, thats all pretty much overkill in my book. What I do is just put some regular potting soil in a bowl and microwave it on high for 5 minutes. When you take it out, its steaming like soup. That much heat will kill just about anything. Then its usually fairly dry (duh, we just boiled all the water out of it), so I wet the soil with straight up 3% hydrogen peroxide from the pharmacy. Whatever the microwave didn't kill, the peroxide will.

2) Bottom water.
Get some of those plastic pots from Walmart that have the opening on the bottom for you to pour water in. Failing that, get one of those water globes. The basic idea is that for the first month or two you don't want to let the surface soil stay damp. That makes damping off almost assured. Bottom watering helps solve that.

3) Mist with hydrogen peroxide.
That 3% peroxide I mentioned earlier? Get some more in a spray bottle, and use it every couple of days. Don't worry, it won't hurt your seedlings, but it will kill any kind of fungus or mold on the surface of the soil.

4) Use a fan.
I don't mean a box fan, or at least if you use a box fan don't set your plant directly in front of it. Just a small desk fan set far enough away that you get some airflow over the seedling without blowing it away. Same general reason as to why you bottom water, the airflow keeps the surface of the soil dry, and damping off can't survive in those conditions.

Starting peppers indoors is difficult. Most of the problem comes from damping off, in my experience, with the remainder being plants that get leggy from insufficient light (I actually built a grow box for my peppers this year to address all that stuff).

Key thing to look for on your dead seedling to know if damping off killed it: Look at the stem at the soil level. Does it look pinched in? Damping off is a fungus that lives in the soil that attaches itself to the base of the stem right at the soil line and starts sucking the nutrients out of the plant. You'll see the stem start to die right at the soil level, it pinches in as it shrivels up, and then the rest of the seedling just falls over.

Consider using a coarse, porous mix.
Even rinsed Perlite would make a fine starting mix.

Josh

Well, now that I've learned that damping off can happen even if there is no visible mold, I'll revert to my original thought and concur with others.

LullabyF360, you have gotten some good advice on how to prevent it from others. Give it another try!

I've never experienced damping off issues without seeing visible signs of mold. Heck, an old dog can learn something new ;-)

Bill

Water before you see the early signs of wilt.

By the time wilting begins, the stem & root tissue has tiny breaks which allows the damping off organisms easy entry.

I suggest you stick with one kind of potting mix and use it until you know what it does -- drying rate; how well it moistens; and more. A commercial seed starting mix is a wise choice for beginners and anyone having as many problems as you are.

I suggest you avoid the peat pellets for now. It can be a bit challenging to manage their moisture content. They need to remain moist throughout the pellet and *not* dry at the edges.

I can only suspect over watering, that in turn can cause fungal , root rotting problems. If I were you , I would take Kevin's advice.

Do you see fruit fly like insects on, around your seedlings ? That is called fungus gnat. Kevin has already described how to deal with them.

I try to keep the top of pots dry and Bottom-water. Put a layer of about 1/2" perlite, fine pine bark on top of pots. Most fungus growth starts from the wet top. If the top is dry they cannot grow.

BTW: can you post a picture of your setup ?

Seysonn

I never see any bugs.

No pic is avaliable. Haven't set things up for this year. The way things are goin, might not be able to sow anything this year.

Bill, thats where i thought you were going with it until you posted again...lol

Actually, edymnion described the tell-tale symptom perfectly, IMO. By then, it's too late though.

Lullaby, try again as Bill said. If you run out of seeds, let us know. Somebody will have what you're wanting.

Kevin

I think you've been given good advice, so take note and don't give up. Meanwhile, I suggest you buy some small plants so you can get experience growing and harvesting peppers.

Another way to stop damping off is once seedling appears to cover surface with sand, perlite or DE. Sand is probably best. The hydrogen peroxide works well too. If you have surface covered you can top water. I would though water by misting. It's easy or bottom water. They have those water mats that work super well. If you do all this, they will make it.The fungi must go from soil to plant, if soil is covered with sand, it cannot get there. Why bottom watering works too. Good luck!
It happens to the best of us. I germinated raspberry seeds for 5 months, and at last they came up, and I lost all to damping off. The reason it took so long is scarification and stratification was not long enough. Raspberries are one of the hardest seeds to germinate. I have seeds stratifying now. They need to stratify for 14 weeks after a 20 minute bleach scarification. 7 weeks at room temp, 7 weeks at 35 F. I will be doing all these preventions myself this year!! I never lost a single pepper to damping off, but not taking any chances this year.
Trying herb and flower seeds this year too, Busy!!
The reason I'm growing raspberries from seed is I breed them for fun. I also have a number of very rare seeds from other raspberry breeders. I have a black raspberry developed by a breeder who is retiring and decided not to patent the new strain. It's excellent, but if you want it, you have to obtain it from collectors. Many cultivars and varieties are not sold, and only in the hands of gardeners with many fruits and vegetables. Peppers and tomatoes are sold by many, but the rare blackberries, and raspberries and many other plants are super hard to obtain.
This year I'm growing white blackberries and yellow black raspberries. we call them yellowcaps. All yellow raspberry plants sold are from red raspberries. these are not sold, and very rare. They taste fantastic too!! Sorry off on a tangent, good luck!

When you refer to your plants drooping do you mean bending over or have they fallen over right at the soil line?

When the seedlings start dropping like flies do you notice the stem having a translucent appearance at the soil line?