Damping off is driving me insane, please help.

I bought apple fritter and super silver haze seeds from amsterdam. oh i was so happy. ive been trying to grow some seeds for a month, so far, 2 apple fritters and 2 ssh died due to damping off. i sterilized my soil. my humidity is 60%. my soil mix is light and fluffy, doesnt compact at all. i have %40 perlite in it. i use drinking water and ph it. i wet some soil and mix it with dry soil so the medium is moist but not damp, just moist, doesnt stick to my hand. nothing works. this shit never happened to me before and its driving me insane. i bought a reptile heating mat, my soil temp is 25C, air temp is 26C. i dont know what am i doing wrong anymore. is this a me problem or the seeds are just shit, i dont know. any advice is appreciated.

Are they stretching up looking for light and then flopping over, or do they damp off right away? Do they even make the first set of leaves, or is it still the cotyledon when it dies?

Tracker said:

Are they stretching up looking for light and then flopping over, or do they damp off right away? Do they even make the first set of leaves, or is it still the cotyledon when it dies?

Click to expand...

they dont stretch, they just die at cotyledon stage with tiny first one bladed leaves smaller than cotyledons. i also have some basil seedlings i grow in the same soil and neither of 24 basil seedlings died from damping off, they are all healthy. i dont know whats wrong anymore. I'll try to sterilize the seed surface of my remaining seeds with some hydrogen peroxide or any other safe method. i just feel so lost at this point.

i use wet paper towel method for germination. should i ditch it and just pop them in soil?

I’ve had old seeds sprout and then just kinda die off before - it’s possible that you got some bad seeds. Id try a few other types of things in that soil to see if you’re just having bad luck, and then if you’re successful try the same seeds again, to help rule out the soil as the issue.

MissinThe90’sStrains said:

I’ve had old seeds sprout and then just kinda die off before - it’s possible that you got some bad seeds. Id try a few other types of things in that soil to see if you’re just having bad luck, and then if you’re successful try the same seeds again, to help rule out the soil as the issue.

Click to expand...

i grew basil in the same soil mix. unsterilized. my basils are thriving while my weed is dying .c

I soak my seeds in tap water while I prepare the soil. Put soil in bucket and moisten until it drips a little when I squeeze it. Put in solo cups or seedling trays. Plant seeds 1cm below surface, and cover with plastic wrap or dome. Poke a few holes in the plastic wrap of you use that.

As soon as sprouts show above soil surface, remove plastic or dome. Start increasing light levels. I try to have it at strong veg light level within a few days. If it's going to end up planted outdoors, I start introducing to direct sunlight right away.

They shouldn't need more water for a few days or more after sprouting. Decide to water based on weight of container/soil.

I never use h2o2 on my seeds. I know some people like to do that though.

I've been using rapid rooters for decades and never had damping off.
Ditch the paper towel and the excess handling........just stick them in the hole and in 3-4 days it will sprout.

I always Crack my beans in water from the dehumidifier with a dash of h2o2. Some beans just choose death np matter what you do. Try bottom watering until you get roots poking out. This keeps the soil around the stem dry while also forcing the taproot down to find the water. Be light handed, be gentle.

Speak softly, but carry a big stick

-Teddy Rosevelt on growing weed, probably

i dont soak i just plant directly in soil most of the time its promix hp . Damping off is usually a fungus related thing and is caused by the condition being to wet, lower humidity dont water as much.

MickFoster said:

I've been using rapid rooters for decades and never had damping off.
Ditch the paper towel and the excess handling........just stick them in the hole and in 3-4 days it will sprout.
View attachment 5396134

Click to expand...

how do you use rapid rooters and what brands? can you elaborate on them?

depressedbud said:

how do you use rapid rooters and what brands? can you elaborate on them?

Click to expand...

Use Organiplug, they are from ventana plant science a extremely reputable company with science backing they created FlaVuh. I am a first time grower and germinated 51 out of 55 seeds soaking them 24h in hydrogen peroxide water 1% and putting them in the organiplugs for another 24. lights off in humidity dome and then 18/6 75-80% humidity for 3-4 days then dome off and 70% humidity or 0.9 vpd. Great product

depressedbud said:

how do you use rapid rooters and what brands? can you elaborate on them?

Click to expand...

The ones I use are made by General Hydroponics........there is a similar brand called root riots.
I soak them in a tap water and hydrogen peroxide and squeeze out the xcess.
Stick the seed in the hole about 3/8" deep.
Tear a small piece of rooter to cover the hole and place in a drawer.
I keep them moist by putting a few drops of water to the surface a couple of times a day.
I get nearly 100% germ rate in about 3-4 days.

depressedbud said:

i use wet paper towel method for germination. should i ditch it and just pop them in soil?

Click to expand...

Major cause of damping off is infection of the germ by handling. Consider planting directly into your substrate so you don't inoculate them

curious2garden said:

Major cause of damping off is infection of the germ by handling. Consider planting directly into your substrate so you don't inoculate them

Click to expand...

Definitely I used gloves during every part of the process and also used tweezers to get them in the pots during transplant and haven’t had any problem with the stems even the ones that got very leggy

Bro copy me for 100% success @depressedbud

ProPheT 216 said:

Bro copy me for 100% success @depressedbud

Click to expand...

what is your method?

depressedbud said:

I bought apple fritter and super silver haze seeds from amsterdam. oh i was so happy. ive been trying to grow some seeds for a month, so far, 2 apple fritters and 2 ssh died due to damping off. i sterilized my soil. my humidity is 60%. my soil mix is light and fluffy, doesnt compact at all. i have %40 perlite in it. i use drinking water and ph it. i wet some soil and mix it with dry soil so the medium is moist but not damp, just moist, doesnt stick to my hand. nothing works. this shit never happened to me before and its driving me insane. i bought a reptile heating mat, my soil temp is 25C, air temp is 26C. i dont know what am i doing wrong anymore. is this a me problem or the seeds are just shit, i dont know. any advice is appreciated.

Click to expand...

If you sterilized your soil, you killed your soil. How long/far did they last?

Soak a seed for half a day, maybe 18 hrs in distilled water. Then soak a 2x2 Rockwoll cube in distilled water. Next plant the seed in the cube. Now you make sure it's nice and wet, then give it a few shakes and then wait till it comes up. Water with just tap water when the cube feels like it's lost 80% or so of it's weight. Just tap until first 3 finger leafs are begining to crown. At this point introduce a nice weak feed... I put my cubes all the way down on the floor under my regular veg lights in my veg room. Never a issue

1212ham said:

If you sterilized your soil, you killed your soil. How long/far did they last?

Click to expand...

I normally use chemical fertilizers so not an issue. I sterilized my soil after the first two plants died due to damping off. sterilized soil didnt help, another two died in the same way. (threw away the soil i used for the plants ofc. i sterilized fresh soil from the same bag.).

three of them died shortly after first leaves had shown their tips. one of them had its first set, was on the way for its second set. temperatures have been fluctuating rapidly in my city for the last month. I dont know if its that or anything else.

I germinated another super silver om sunday and it poked through the soil yesterday morning. Its in moist soil, %50 perlite, has a heating mat under it, rh is 55-60%. it looks good so far but we'll see. if everything i try fails, im gonna go nuclear and in vitro germinate them, then tissue culture them SO I CAN BE SURE SHIT IS STERILE AF lol.

depressedbud said:

I bought apple fritter and super silver haze seeds from amsterdam. oh i was so happy. ive been trying to grow some seeds for a month, so far, 2 apple fritters and 2 ssh died due to damping off. i sterilized my soil. my humidity is 60%. my soil mix is light and fluffy, doesnt compact at all. i have %40 perlite in it. i use drinking water and ph it. i wet some soil and mix it with dry soil so the medium is moist but not damp, just moist, doesnt stick to my hand. nothing works. this shit never happened to me before and its driving me insane. i bought a reptile heating mat, my soil temp is 25C, air temp is 26C. i dont know what am i doing wrong anymore. is this a me problem or the seeds are just shit, i dont know. any advice is appreciated.

Click to expand...

I haven't done it but Lactic acid bacterial, LABs, is said to be able to help prevent damping off. You can make your own. I imagine you dilute it and put it in a spray bottle to spray your seedlings and soil.