Clarification on sprouting seeds please

[Shovelhandle]

Tell me more about this "damping-off". Never heard of that before, but that's exactly what happened with one of my plants

ok, google it and read wikipedia. basically it is a condition that kills young seedlings caused by a number of different fungus oro other organisms. damp and cool conditions are to be avoided to control damping off and have a successful germination.

[tlranger]

One of the reasons I sterilize soil for seedlings, and it do isn't seem to affect older plants, have read that living compost soil will fight it at all stages.

[giggletwig]

Yay! I has a baby. Finally. Went to directly seeding into soil and it worked. I think that's the best system for me to keep me from messing with it (check it, turn it over, poke, poke...). So I've put my other 3 seeds into soil now. Thing is, I"m having a terrible time with gnats (fruit flies?). They love the lights and the moist soil. I've put up sticky pest strips, but the little creeps are still multiplying. When the plants get bigger and I can spray with Neem, do you think that will help? I know they don't do any harm, but they're terribly annoying and get around the rest of the house and bug me as well.

[giggletwig]

That's okay. I'll just talk to myself. Looked around and saw that cinnamon and dryer sheets were two simple ways to combat the pesky things. Put them down and suddenly the gnat population seems to have almost disappeared. We'll see what the next couple of days bring when new ones hatch. I hope seedlings don't mind a little cinnamon on top of their soil.