"miklol" wrote in message
...
I am a recent convert to gardening and very pleased with my first sowings
which have been pretty successful thanks to some help from this site.My
only
failure was with my runner beans which gave up the struggle after they had
got to about 6 to 8 inches high.When I checked them out the roots had a
white powder on them - any ideas? I have put in plants and they are doing
well so far. Also I would like to know what "damping off" is, as this is
apparently something I must prevent !



It's most likely that the white powder is a fungus of some kind.
As for damping off I believe its some kind of soil borne virus so don't
reuse the compost/soil for the runnerbeans for other seedlings anymore.
Unfortunately there's not much that can be done when damping off happens but
prevention in the form of adequate watering (don't overwater or underwater)
and good circulation helps.
Try again with your runner beans.

HTH