Damping off - help!

Firstly I should say that I am not good with plants. The only things I've been able to keep alive for any decent length of time are spider plants and cacti, and they aren't particularly difficult. Nevertheless, I occasionally get the urge to become some kind of wonderful green-fingered gardening type, and while I was in the middle of one of these phases a friend of mine bought me a bonsai tree growing kit.

Now, I had a look on the internet, and discovered that, if you want a bonsai tree, growing it from scratch isn't the best way to go about it. But it was a birthday present, and frankly I'd be happy to grow anything, so I dutifully planted the seeds and was astonished when a good 10 seedlings or so began to emerge. I sprayed them with water every time the soil looked dry, and generally lavished them with love and attention.

Then the betrayal. One by one, they started going weak just where they emerged from the soil, and began to collapse and die. I was heartbroken. How could they do this to me? A quick Google later, I discovered that they might be suffering from 'damping off'. This sounded ominous. One website suggested that I dust the surface of the soil with cinnamon, which I did. Since then (about a week ago), no more have died, but I'm on tenterhooks, just waiting for another to give up the ghost and join the choir invisible.

I now have only three left, and I can't bear the thought of telling my friend that I managed to kill his birthday present. Please, someone, put my mind at rest! Is the cinnamon likely to help? Should I repot the seedlings in different soil? Should I stop watering them so much? Are they utterly doomed? Any advice you can give would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

 

What a shame Squid. I don't know anything about Bonsai but if it is damping off disease it will be the same problem as with anything else. Unfortunately for affected plants it's fatal.
I would remove your 3 surviving plants from that tray and plant them in individual 3" pots in much drier compost. As JWK says you could try some Cheshunt Compound on them (it won't do any good for the ones which have gone). I've never heard the cinnamon story either.
I really hope you manage to save your little bonsais.

 

Thanks for your help! I'll try repotting them and look out for some Cheshunt Compound. Do you have any advice on how to repot seedlings? They look so delicate that I'm worried I'll break them.
Thanks again!

 

Hi Squid. Seedlings are tougher than they look - but there is a golden rule - be careful of the stems. Broken leaves will mend, broken roots will mend but broken stems will not mend.
To transplant your seedlings
Half fill the pots for the transplants with compost - and have some standing ready.
Take your plant for transplanting and hold it by the leaves
Take a spatula (or spoon handle) and insert it under the roots of the plant. Wiggle it about a little bit intil the roots are loose and you can lift the plant out of the compost (if it's heavy turn the spoon round and support the weight of the plant with the spoon)
Put the plant in the pot you prepared and add more compost up to the depth the plant was at before.
Firm the compost very gently - just a little finger tap, and be careful of the stem.
Water gently to wash compost around roots.
Good luck.

 

Hello! I thought I'd update you on what's been happening with my seedlings. I'm afraid the news isn't good. I repotted the remaining seedlings around Christmas, and have been dampening the soil occasionally since then. Unfortunately, they don't seem to be much happier in their new homes. They've been looking quite bendy ever since I moved them, and now they're practically horizontal. I think I may have to give up hope for them altogether. :(

 

What kind of tree seedlings are they?
I know bonsai tend to be mostly hardy trees but these days some of these kits tend to put in faster growing tender plants.
A good airflow around the seedlings usually helps prevent damping off.
Watering from the bottom is a good idea, not sure spraying them helps unless you use a copper fungicide.
Are they indoors?

The light levels are still very low, and if its a hardy plant seedling getting warm conditions they get leggy very quickly.
And usually fall over.

 

That gets my vote as the cause.

 

That definitely sounds plausible. What should I do - just put them somewhere with more light? (They're all still alive, though still kind of bendy...)