Hydro Seedlings and damping off?

hey guys,

for whatever reason, i can't get past the two week mark without my plants dying. from what i've read it appears i've done pretty much everything right.

ph @5.5
bottled gallon jugs of h20
t5 HO lighting about 2" from seedlings
small fan providing a gentle breeze
air pump for 60g fish tank w/ two 10" air stones.

this is a 6 site setup in a rubbermaid. i used grodan starter plugs (rockwool) to germinate, but shook most water out of the plug before seeding. the plugs seemed too tight for the seedling to pop through the top, but a little coercion on my part seemed to help. All seeds germed and seemed fine for a couple of days, then damping off disease set in. After the first one was lost they seemed to drop like flies over the next week or so. I have one plant left with four leaves, about 3" in diameter, but growth is stagnant and i'm probably going to start over within the next few days. I tried diluted chamomile tea and added nutes two days ago at 1/4 strength lucas formula to no avail. Humidity has been a little high, and the basement where i'm growing isn't the cleanest. So i guess my question is...

How else can i make sure this doesn't happen again???
and when one plant in a res gets damping off, are they all gonners????

Ph 5 seems low. I would go with at least 6. You should try to let them live on water for the first week as baby plants and seedlings do not take well to nutes.

no nutes during the onset of the disease... i added 1/4 strength a couple days ago to the last one because it was on its second set of leaves and the bottom ones were starting to yellow at the tips. i figured it for nitrogen deficiency.

at this point i'm more interested in preventing damping off in my next attempt. thanks though.

bro they are too wet!!! After germination (seed cracks) waterings reduce dramatically to give the new sprout air , dont saturate the cube just damp so shake 1/2 the water out before planting, then when it appears above the surface let the rw dry a lot more than you are.

There ya go,he is correct saying they are too wet,i would bet money on it,loose the rockwool and use sponge plugs instead,there is a learning curve with rockwool and any xtra water will drown plants.

thanks guys. so should i mist them daily with a spray bottle instead of dipping the bottom of the cube? i don't see how you can shake out water once the seedling is rooted inside. the hydro shop around me doesn't sell sponge plugs, just rockwool cubes and starter plugs.

If the shop round the corner dont sell exactly what you need than never buy something else ,even if they tell you that what they do have works just as good,most hydro shop workers ive met are either ignorant about growing or snake oil salesmen who will say anything to get a sale,then when the bullshit they talked you into buying fails they act suprised.

The product i use is called ( root riot ) and they are starter plugs only they are made of a sponge material instead soil.

I gotta believe that any shop must carry a simular product.