In my pumpkin and cucumber nursery the seedlings are toppling over, the stem near the soil line is thin, dark and water soaked, and whole patches collapse. It has been wet and I sowed thickly. What causes the seedlings to fall and how do I save the rest?
Seedlings toppling with a thin dark water soaked pinch at the soil line, collapsing in wet thickly sown patches, is damping off, a fungal disease of nurseries driven by excess moisture and crowding. To save the rest, stop overwatering immediately and let the surface dry between waterings, improve drainage, thin out crowded seedlings and increase airflow and light. Drench the affected area with a copper oxychloride or a Trichoderma based biocontrol to check the spread. For prevention next time, treat seed with Trichoderma or a recommended fungicide before sowing, raise nurseries on raised beds or in trays with sterile media, do not sow too thickly, and avoid overhead watering late in the day. Solarising the nursery soil before sowing also reduces the fungus. Confirm with your KVK and use treated seed and clean media to avoid a repeat.
Sowing in trays with clean media instead of the open bed stopped damping off for me almost completely.
Less water was the main fix. I was keeping the nursery too wet and crowded.
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