Salty Thumb of Death wrote:

Hello everybody,

I recently decided to try my hand at growing tomatos from seed. Being
rather incompetent at such, I had my first two trays damp-off on me.
(Probably because I decided to dump half the Indian Ocean on the
seedlings). Anyway, I read up on the preventitive measures (don't water
too much, don't over nitrogenate, use chamomile tea, spaghnum moss or
garlic spray).

My question is, what do I do with the contaminated seed starter mix? Can I
dump boiling water on it and compost it? There's another thread going on
that says phytophthera is "virtually impossible to erradicate" (hi pam).
Of course, I don't know if it's phytophthera or something else that causes
damping off. What should I do with the contaminated soil/starter mix? I'm
interested in the organic solutions.

There are four different genera of fungi typically associated with damping-off,
but it is unlikely it is Phytophthora. Mostly it is Pythium and Fusarium, as
they tend to be most readily carried by peat moss, which is a major component
of most 'sterile' potting mixes. Start over with clean potting medium (you can
safely compost the old) - it's not a guarantee, but cetainly better than
re-using the old. And it may not be the soil - many seeds are already
contaminated with fungal spores. Apparently there is some success in using
cinnamon to prevent damping off. Don't know the details, but a search will turn
up info.

pam - gardengal