[sheridal]

Hi, I sowed some seeds about 2 weeks ago. I did them in trays and put the in bags to keep the moisture in.

On sunday some had grown a little (about 1cm high) and some were just about poking through. I checked them and the compost was moist. I then went away for a few days. I came back yesterday and they had all shrivelled up.

What have I done wrong???

[Mowhay]

sheridal, you don't mention where the seedlings were? If the compost was still damp and the seedlings shrivelled? did you leave the bags on? How many trays were affected? What type of seeds they are? How many days you were away?

[Riala]

You need to take the cover off, give them a light watering, and make sure they get plenty of sunshine.  You might need to make a reflector from card and tin foil on two or three sides of your seed tray... But I have a feeling you may need to re-sow.

I am sure some one much more experienced will be along shortly to correct me if i am wrong.

[Kristen]

I assume the soil isn't dry?

If they were in bright sun, on a windowsill, they might have got "cooked"

If just the stems of some / all are left, and they look like something magically ate just the leaves, then that is probably damping off disease.

[sheridal]

They just seemed to have frisseled up, but still have their leaves (I think) but the compost is still moist.

I left them on the dining table, where they get lots of light, but no direct sunshine. The seeds that were affected were tomatoes, peppers and basil. I was away for 3 days which I thought they would have been ok.

Some others have since germinated and seem to be doing ok I have taken them out of the bags and put them on the windowsill.

What is damping off disease???

Thanks for all the advice

Louisa

[Kristen]

"What is damping off disease???"

These may help:

http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles1000/damping_off.asp
http://www.thompson-morgan.com/info/factsheets/damping-off-disease.html

[sheridal]

Oh dear, it doesn't sound good if it is that!!

Unfortunately I did use last years compost (just a bit left over), which could be the cause of the problem. I will reseed and use new copost this time.

Cheers

[Kristen]

From your description "They just seemed to have frisseled up, but still have their leaves" it doesn't sound like damping off, but its a bit hard to gauge. Can you post a photo?

[Kristen]

Here's a picture of my Petunias which have damped off - that was a week ago (haven't done anything about it yet) but you can still see the stalks of the ones that have "gone". It looked initially as though a combine can cut all the leaves off - they had just sort of disappeared.

Petunia seedlings are very small, so are left in the seed tray for longer than "bigger" things, which I always thinks puts them more at risk (but perhaps leaving the bag closed on your seedlings had the same effect - high humidity encouraging the disease).

Still a bit sceptical that yours is damping off though.

[sheridal]

I don't know what the problem is then.

So with damping off disease, do the stalks survive completely???

What should I do with the ones that are just coming through? I would normally leave them in their current pots until a lot bigger and then transfer them into pots. Should I prick them out into fresh compost??

I suppose it is difficult to say if we don't have a diagnosis.

Thanks Louisa

[Kristen]

Sorry, didn't see your post before.

I am no longer sure my seeds had damping off - maybe they were eaten - I found a snail in the grow-house a few days later