Looks to me like damping off from some kind of fungus in the soil. Did you use fresh potting soil/soil that had been sterilized? Clean pots? Soil that's been around can pick up fungi. Wet conditions can encourage damping off.
The pots were clean, but I suppose you could say that the soil wasn't fresh. Barely used, but not fresh. I had originally put the soil in a larger pot for a blackberry bush, but then later removed some of the soil to add sand in with the soil left in the pot because the soil was holding too much water. So the soil I used for the Meyer lemon seedlings is the soil that was removed from the larger pot to make room for the sand.
I'm interested in trying to start plants semi-hydroponically, using rock wool and a nutrient solution until it's time to pot them up. This seems to be a good overview of it. You avoid the damping off issue because the plants don't go into soil until they're past the stage it's a danger.
I'm honestly not sure what sort of soil it is. I don't know much about the different terms to refer to soil. It was a potting soil I purchased from the local home/garden supply store that had "natural fertilizer" in it (manure) but it's been about six months since then and the manure odor has long since worn away.
I'll try putting sand on the soil surface! I haven't seen any fungus gnats around them, but just in case.
If it is damping off (it's possible but i'm not sure)...here's what I've done to prevent such things when growing tomato and pepper seedlings: -- Instead of watering with plain water, water with (cooled) chamomile tea. The idea is that chamomile has anti-fungal properties. -- Run a small fan on low near the seedlings; this keeps the air moving. Once I started doing those two things, I had no more trouble with damping off. (I'm not sure which of the two things is doing the most good - they're both easy to do so.)
There are many damping-off culprits, and the tomato/pepper ones might not be the Meyer lemon ones - certainly your seedling issues look different than the ones I've seen. So the same solutions might not work as well. Is the withered section just at/above the soil line?
You could also try looking at the seedlings and the soil with a magnifying glass, just in case you're able to see some tiny critters that are causing trouble.
Thanks for your suggestions! I'll try watering with chamomile tea and see what happens. I figure I'll also try to avoid watering directly where the seedlings are growing so I don't get their stalks wet.
The withered section is indeed right at/above the soil line.
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The pots were clean, but I suppose you could say that the soil wasn't fresh. Barely used, but not fresh. I had originally put the soil in a larger pot for a blackberry bush, but then later removed some of the soil to add sand in with the soil left in the pot because the soil was holding too much water. So the soil I used for the Meyer lemon seedlings is the soil that was removed from the larger pot to make room for the sand.
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I'm interested in trying to start plants semi-hydroponically, using rock wool and a nutrient solution until it's time to pot them up. This seems to be a good overview of it. You avoid the damping off issue because the plants don't go into soil until they're past the stage it's a danger.
Reply
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I'll try putting sand on the soil surface! I haven't seen any fungus gnats around them, but just in case.
Reply
-- Instead of watering with plain water, water with (cooled) chamomile tea. The idea is that chamomile has anti-fungal properties.
-- Run a small fan on low near the seedlings; this keeps the air moving.
Once I started doing those two things, I had no more trouble with damping off. (I'm not sure which of the two things is doing the most good - they're both easy to do so.)
There are many damping-off culprits, and the tomato/pepper ones might not be the Meyer lemon ones - certainly your seedling issues look different than the ones I've seen. So the same solutions might not work as well. Is the withered section just at/above the soil line?
You could also try looking at the seedlings and the soil with a magnifying glass, just in case you're able to see some tiny critters that are causing trouble.
Reply
The withered section is indeed right at/above the soil line.
Reply
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