Preventing Damping Off Disease

Preventing Damping Off Disease – S2E7 There is nothing like the excitement of seeing your tender seedlings popping through the soil in your indoor garden area!  You immediately have visions of future harvest from these beautiful plants.  This will be the best year ever in the garden!  Then, something starts to happen: fuzzy mold appears on the soil surface, the stems become thin and weak, and the seedlings wilt and die.  You add more water to the tender seedlings because they might be drying out.  Instead, this seems to have the opposite effect: more seedlings are wilting!  Soon, the entire tray looks horrible and is a complete loss.  This, my friends, happened to me last year!  It is most likely damping off disease, and if you garden indoors, you eventually will have to deal with it.  In this episode of the Small Scale Life Podcast, I discuss 9 steps for Preventing Damping Off Disease. Podcast Topics Damping Off Disease attacking a tomato seedling in 2016   In this podcast, I discuss the following tips for Preventing Damping Off Disease: Plant seeds in containers, and then place the containers in trays Water the tray, not directly on the soil (bottom up, not top down) Sterilize containers, tools and trays for 30 minutes before reusing them Use warm water to water your seedlings Do not overwater! Only add enough water to fill 1/4″ to 1/3″ high in the tray Use a heating pad to start seedlings Use good draining potting mix. Do not use your garden soil or compost! Do not fertilize your seedlings Provide 12 to 16 hours of light from your grow lights. BONUS TIP: keep the lights 1-2″ from the top of your seedlings when they first germinate  I finish the podcast by giving you what I think are the most critical steps to Preventing Damping Off Disease. Links While initially looking healthy, this tray of tomato seedlings is doomed – 2016 I discussed the following links on this podcast: University of Minnesota Extension – How to prevent seedling damping off How to Garden Indoors 8 Steps to Starting Plants Indoors Winter Care of Indoor Succulents Friends of Small Scale Life As I develop friendships and communities online and in real life, I have seen really good people doing great work and will be recognizing these people on Small Scale Life.  For some, I will be setting up affiliates and memberships with them as this blog and podcasts grow.  In the meantime, please check out the work friends have completed and take advantage of their offers below: Nature’s Image Farm – If you are planning on buying some fruit trees for your yard or comfrey for your herb garden, please check out Nature’s Image Farm!  When you place orders using the code “SSL,” you will receive a 10% OFF all nursery stock plus FREE shipping.  It is time to plant, so why not order something from Nature’s Image Farm?  Even if you do not buy anything, this is a going to be a great resource for new homesteaders like me.  Check out the Homestead How-To Page for more hillbilly homesteading information. Small Scale Gardening Facebook Group – Share your gardening stories, questions and ideas with over 200 fellow gardeners!  Join today! Aaron Clarey’s “Reconnaissance Man” – Written by local Minnesotan author, blogger, podcaster and economist Aaron Clarey, “Reconnaissance Man” is the book that guarantees you live life right the first time or at least ends your wandering in the desert. By perfectly and clearly explaining the process by which a person figures out who they are and what they want out of life, “Reconnaissance Man” provides the reader a clear road map to life, ensuring you don’t waste precious decades on worthless degrees, careers you hate, and people you don’t love.  Subscribe and Rate on iTunes Please consider becoming a subscriber to the Small Scale Life iTunes Channel.  Subscribers and ratings from listeners help us grow the podcast and the blog.  As you know, people look at subscribers and reviews before they listen.  Few subscribers and few reviews mean that no one cares to listen or rate the podcast.  Please click subscribe, and you will get notices when a new podcast is available. If you provide a review for the podcast, consider giving a few stars (not going to lie: I want five stars) for the Podcast.  I really appreciate you as a listener and your feedback. To leave a review, simply follow these simple steps: Click on this link or the image above. Go to ratings and reviews. Click on the number stars (five would be awesome) Subscribe to the podcast (optional, but appreciated)! You can also write a quick review or some words of encouragement (optional, but appreciated) You can also write a longer review, though it’s not necessary.  Again, thank you for listening and your review! Listen We have several options for you to listen to the Small Scale Life Podcast.  You may listen in the following locations: iTunes Stitcher   The post Preventing Damping Off Disease – S2E7 appeared first on Small Scale Life.