I am a recent convert to gardening and very pleased with my first sowings
which have been pretty successful thanks to some help from this site.My only
failure was with my runner beans which gave up the struggle after they had
got to about 6 to 8 inches high.When I checked them out the roots had a
white powder on them - any ideas? I have put in plants and they are doing
well so far. Also I would like to know what "damping off" is, as this is
apparently something I must prevent !

"miklol" wrote in message
...
I am a recent convert to gardening and very pleased with my first sowings
which have been pretty successful thanks to some help from this site.My
only
failure was with my runner beans which gave up the struggle after they had
got to about 6 to 8 inches high.When I checked them out the roots had a
white powder on them - any ideas? I have put in plants and they are doing
well so far. Also I would like to know what "damping off" is, as this is
apparently something I must prevent !



It's most likely that the white powder is a fungus of some kind.
As for damping off I believe its some kind of soil borne virus so don't
reuse the compost/soil for the runnerbeans for other seedlings anymore.
Unfortunately there's not much that can be done when damping off happens but
prevention in the form of adequate watering (don't overwater or underwater)
and good circulation helps.
Try again with your runner beans.

HTH

On Wed, 21 May 2003 16:49:02 +0100, miklol wrote:

...my runner beans ...gave up the struggle after they had
got to about 6 to 8 inches high. When I checked them out the roots had a
white powder on them - any ideas? I have put in plants and they are doing
well so far. Also I would like to know what "damping off" is, as this is
apparently something I must prevent !


"Damping off" is a watermould that attacks seedlings at the point
where they emerge from the soil. IIRC, it's a species (perhaps
more than one) of Pythium. Damping off causes seedlings to fall
over -- this behavior is diagnostic.

Damping off can be due to any number of factors:

- use of unpasteurized soil
- excessive watering
- poor ventilation
- sowing too thickly
- sowing in too-cold conditions (I'm not sure about this one)

You didn't say if you sowed your beans in pots or in the open
ground, so none of this may be relevant.

--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada