A good way to stop damping off is to treat all your water with 500-1000 ppm hydrogen peroxide.

when i start my seeds i water it realy good that day.then i just mist the top soil from there out. when i see them break groud i put under lights and water once a week just enough to wet the top of the soil till the seedling gets true leafs then i water when dry only. do not know if that will help ,have not lost one to damping for 20 years or more. but every one has there own way of doing thing.so listen to all and take the best info.
dan
let it burn

Hi dan,

I thought I did pretty much what you said... though I might have overwatered when I last bottom soaked the trays. If the medium is too soggy, will that cause the root to rot?

Danke!

danke
i never bottom soaked my plants i put the soil in the pots pat it down a little then water good put seeds on the top of soil cover with 1/4 inch then mist from then on so soil is moist not soggy. then when the seedling pops up i put under lights water once a week from top.when seedling get true leafs i make sure it is dry before i water.then you can if you want bottom soak.
again you will get more info from the group.pick what you think is the best cause we all have are own tryed ways. good luck keep us infromed.
dan
let it burn

I premoisten my seed starting mix, then put seed in, then cover with just a tiny amount of mix. I keep the soil moist but not soggy at all times until the seed germinates. Like Dan, I use a spray bottle and spray from the top until the plant has developed some leaves. You can water from top or bottom once plant is up and thriving, but bottom is easier, depends on how many plants you have. ONce the plants have some true leaves, I also let the soil dry out before rewatering. Peppers are very resilient and can be allowed to dry out between waterings.

Also I use chamomile tea in my sprayer and spray the plants with it. The chamomile tea is a natural way to prevent damping off.

Other thoughts might be temperature in area under lights, whether it is warm enough and airflow. Maybe you need a fan to move the air and help prevent any mold or fungus from the damp cool soil.

kendra

I have lost approx. 7 seedlings from damping off (out of 423 plants) and they all happened when I bottom watered my 144 cell tray when i was germinating the seeds although i bottom water all my plants now because it would take me hours to water all my plants. I do what kendra does and pre moisten the seed mix place the seeds on top then put about an 1/8 of an inch of sifted pro mix on top and then use a spray bottle to spray the top and then spray when needed.

Dale