Ok, Lord knows, there's plenty to do - laundry piling up, cat fur in the corners, stack of bills over there, should clean up my gardening tools that I shamelessly neglected in the Fall - I can't plant til March but why can't I stop thinking about little seedlings?!? Seed catalogs dancing all around me and then there's the glorious DG, I'm addicted.
I had a bout with dreadful "damp off" about eight years ago then discovered Seed Tea (I think it's a Jerry Baker recipe) haven't experienced it since. I'm afraid to plant without it. Seed Tea Recipe: 6 Tablespoons Instant Tea, 6 drops Dish Soap, 6 drops Ammonia, 3 drops Whiskey to one gallon water.
Any secret tips out there on encouraging those babies to pop up healthy?
May I add: Go Patriots!
Seed Tea for Damp Off
I'm just as interested as you svieks, good luck to the P-Men tonight, talk about cold, brrrrrr. Danny
when do you apply this seed tea? How often?
Here's an easier one, just make some chamomile tea with 1 teabag and a quart of water, let it cool and water (spray) the little seedings with it. I spray enough on them to water them and have had no damping off since I started doing this. After 2 or 3 times I go back to watering them with plain water and have had no problem at all.
Spray seed from planting til first real leaf begins. It's the only liquid I use up to that point.
I raise the seeds in a cool basement-doors on horses under shop lites with heat(just until the seeds spring) and keep couple of gallons and spray bottles on the furnace. Have heard about the chamomile tea but am hesitant to change. Maybe I'll give it a test this year.
I only have problems with dampening off when I use unsterile planing medium, don't sterilize the containers, overplant, or keep the medium too wet. My last failure was a flat or two of lobelia. They are the hardest for me.
I have heard of a product called 'No Damp', but have yet to find it offered in the US and I don't think they'll ship it from Canada. I don't think I'd use it to start edibles, but it would be nice for the lobelia. I gave chamomile tea a try last year, but not until the damage had begun, so it didn't seem to help.
Weez, I just start spraying with the chamomile tea as soon as the plants come up. I did't use sterile medium and still had no problem last year. It's a cheap and easy way to go. The year before I had quite a few damping off casualties, then started with the chamomile tea and didn't loose any more. Things may change this year with the greenhouse but this worked when I raised everything in the basement where it was about 54 degrees with a part time heat mat under the flats.
I read on one of these threads of someone who has"nt had damp off using cinnimon lightly dusted on the flats at seeding time.
Haven't seen the results but thought I may try it. Ernie
Never do this when tired
This message was edited Jan 14, 2004 9:20 PM
This message was edited Jan 14, 2004 9:22 PM
I raise LOTS of impatiens, which are prone to damp off- I used chamomile tea last year, about the proportions Mary E recommended, didn't have any trouble with damping off! I'm going to stick with it this year!
I have used the chamomile since I started growing plants from seed; and I have never lost a single seedling to damping off. Luckily for me, the first year I read about this at GW and started trying it right then.
Last year I started over 1500 items of all kinds including impatients and lobelia.
I just brew one cup, let it cool, then pour it into a spray bottle. I fill it up the rest of the way with plain water. I tend to spray my sewn flats or peat pots to keep them moist and as they start to come up I alternate the plain water with the chamomile. No set routine or amount, just whenever I grab that bottle. Works wonderfully, smells good, and non-toxic!
Chamomile sounds easier than the tea recipe I've been mixing. Folks, you convinced me I'm definitely going to try this!