Cinnamon works good but you probably wont need it if you are using a soiless mix. The best discription I have heard discribing how damp your soiless mix should feel like is damp bread. Not too soggy and not too dry, that should eliminate a lot of problems with starting seeds....Jean

Here's an old thread on this topic.

Here is a link that might be useful: Where are some of these people now? :)

Hi,
I just tried this last week. I had 2 bags of cinnamon around so I decided after reading many posts to give it a try.
I use promix and lost a few daylily seedlings to damp off or fungus gnats last year. I had quite a few pots with green growing on them but the seedlings did fine. When I saw some green growing this year I decided I would try the cinnamon. I have a few gnats around and use sticky strips for them but not a huge problem. I figured since I had the cinnamon anyways what the heck!
Debbie

I used to use No-Damp, but it's not being made anymore, so I've been researching too. So far I've come up with cinnamon, chamomile tea, hydrogen peroxide, and keeping things clean/sterile. I started my wave petunias on Sunday - I'm hoping to get some cuttings from them. So I've decided to go with washing containers in a bleach solution, like usual, then using chamomile tea to wet my promix, and sprinkling with cinnamon - maybe adding a bit of hydrogen peroxide to the tea if I'm feeling nervous. It's probably overkill, but I really hate losing seedlings to damping off.

Connie

Prairierose

Did the cinnamon work?

Did you put it on right from the beginning, or did you wait until the seedlings started popping through?

I'm planting today to celebrate the 1st day of spring =:)

Nutsaboutflowers, the combination of chamomile tea and cinnamon seemed to work fine - or maybe I was just lucky. I put the cinnamon on right after I finished seeding. I'm doing the same thing with the plants I'm starting this week, and I hope my luck continues.

Connie

Cinnamon works well. Also if you have any of that nasty mold growing on top of the soil....it brings this to a halt too.

Thanks everyone.

I put cinnamon on right away just to be safe. It sure smells nice.

I'm afraid I might have the soil under the seeds too wet. I hope I get little babies anyway. If not, I'll still have time to try again.

I started two colors of morning glory, yellow marigolds, and Ruby Regis Lavatera. All are relatively easy for someone who's never done this indoors. Right?

I'll see if they come up before trying more =:)