Last week I sowed some lavender and aubretia in my heated propagator. I also sowed some rudbeckia (free in Am Gardening) in an unheated prop. I havent done things from seed for a couple of years, but I remember having damping off problems and used to use Cheshunt compound. Can I find the tin, No! Its gone with the missing trowels due to our move.

What I have done now a fair few of the lavender and aubretia seeds have come up is remove the propagator lid for a few hours in the middle of the day. Ive done this because there is so much condensation on the lid, even with the vents open, that Im bothered about damping off. Am I doing the right thing?

What do you do to avoid damping off?

When do you take the lid off your prop?

When do you turn the heat off?

I have sowed the perennials from seed particularly early as I want them to have good first season if possible. Although according to Am gardening now is the correct time for the above.

Try looking at these pages for stopping damping off:
http://www.dgsgardening.btinternet.co.uk/damping.htm
http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles1000/damping_off.asp

Thanks for that. I am going to try the chamomile tea! Not heard that one before. I do wash everything but dont sterilise them ... but sometimes I wash in weak bleach solution which does the same thing I suspect. Ive got some milton somewhere I suppose I could use that.

Any more advice about taking lids off propagators?

One or two of them damped off, so I pricked them out. Ooh I forgot how much I hate pricking out. Going to sow the rest of my stuff in modules.