- Worldwide distribution. On many kinds of fruit and vegetable seedlings in the nursery, with beans, cabbage, carrot, lettuce, onion, and tomato especially susceptible. Important diseases.
- Mostly caused by soil fungi and water moulds, oomycetes. Damping-off is of two kinds: (i) death before emergence; and (ii) death after emergence.
- Spread in water splash, on tools, and in potting mixes.
- Cultural control: nursery hygiene: pasteurise soil or soilless mixes, monitor; if outbreaks in seed beds, move to different sites; do not use pond or stream water; do not over-water; ensure boxes have good drainage; avoid soil splash: raise seed boxes above ground (>1 m) to avoid rain splash.
- Chemical control: seed – captan, thiram, or mancozeb. Treat seed boxes with 1% bleach for 5 min, then rinse.
