Dampening-off is sometimes called Pythium wilt and is often found in soils and growing mediums used for your cannabis plants. This prevents newly sprouted seeds from fully germinating and will attack seedlings or cuttings causing them to rot at the soil level.
This is caused by several different fungal species, including:
- Botrytis
- Pythium
- Fusarium
Once your cannabis plants are infected, the stems lose girth, weaken and grow dark, then fluid circulation stops which kills the seedling/cuttings. The main factors that cause this are fungi present in the un-sterile medium, soggy growing medium, or excessive humidity.
Be sure to use the fresh, sterile growing medium to sprout seeds and grow in, it is never recommended to re-use soils. Over-watering is probably the most significant cause of damping-off and less water is the key to prevention.
Slow Soil Drainage Issues
If your soil does not drain fast, dampening can occur easier and to prevent dampening-off for seedlings/clones, make sure the medium drains well. Keep the temperatures between 70 – 85° F (21 – 29° C) for cannabis plants.
Dampening-off is inhibited by bright lights, the brighter the better, use High Output (HO) fluorescent light bulbs or HID lights over clones/seedlings. Be sure not to plant too deep in your growing medium to prevent dampening-off for cannabis seeds/seedlings, usually around one (1) inch deep is good.
Avoid benomyl fungicide soil drench as it kills beneficial organisms in the soil. You can apply biological things to help such as Pythium oligandrum to the soil or Burkholderia cepacia on seeds.
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