Hello I need help. I think that my whole field of Zinnias is being affected by damping off. Nothing has fallen over yet. I found on two different websites that you can crush a garlic clove and add warm water to your watering can and it acts as a fungicide and can stop it.


Is this damping off???

Help please

Mindi

Oh and please click on the picture to see up close. Thank you for helping.

Iam pretty devastated.

Mindi

Oh and is this damping off.

They aren't damping off. In damping off, the stems suddenly go flat. It may be that the dark stems are an early indication of the color of the flowers though. I don't know if garlic wards off damping issues but it would make you house smell like garlic and that will keep the mosquitos away.

In the future, if you are worried about damping off, after the seeds have germinated, give your growing flat a light sprinkling of cinnamon.

Thank you Daisyl,

I've been freaking out since I noticed my stems going dark or brownish and to me everything is an impending doom until otherwise noted lol.

😀

Mindi

Late to the party.

If you ever do have damping off, yes, sprinkling cinnamon is a good cure.

Or you could make strong Chamomile tea (I use the tea bags), and once the tea is cold pour into a spray bottle and spray the seedlings once a week.

And for your original question about the garlic, yes lots of people do the garlic and swear it works. Crush 3-4 cloves of garlic into a quart of water, let it sit a while (like maybe overnight), strain and use as a spray.

If you ever do get damping off it's also a good idea to sterilize all containers and tools with a bleach solution.

Thank you Greene!!! It turned out that I was being paranoid when the plants were little. Thank you for the info!!! The plants had developed a dark color at the base and they would bend in the wind. I thought it was damping off.

They are all doing well!! And now I have a recipe for just in case knock on wood!! I did buy the cinnamon but didn't end up using it but it is on hand now.

😀

Mindi

Plus this can really help other people!!