Water in trays?

[bigblue]

Hi all,
I am planning on starting some seeds for the first time. I am curious as to how to water? I noticed that the seed cells were slotted in the bottom which I would assume is for drainage. After the seeds are sown, should they be bottom watered (from the tray) or should I water from the top? If from the bottom, does this require a second tray to lift the cells out of the water? I would expect they should not stand in water for long. Then of course, how often and to what level? I would hate to kill my project before it starts. I have read here that damping off may be connected to excess water (as well as other issues).

[Worth1]

Water from bottom fine.
Keep cells moist not soggy.
Let top of cell get dry before next watering but not the whole cell so as it would completely dry out and float.
Sometimes you will need to segregate plants so they will dry out on their own.
For top watering use a spray bottle.
To stop damping off get a spray bottle and put one part household hydrogen peroxide to 10 parts water in it.
Spray soil and plants.
This will kill the critters that cause damping off, it is cheap and it works.
You dont want your plants to be in a rain forest. \
You cannot keep watering all of the time thinking they will grow faster it will only slow the growth down if not kill them.
After first true leaves appear you can use a very dilute solution of fertilizer on them.
This is best applied with a spray bottle about once a week it really depends on how fast they are growing.
I use about 1 10th the amount it says for normal fertilizing.

Worth

[kath]

Hi, bigblue,

As far as how often, a lot will depend on the mix, the temperature, humidity level, cell size, etc. Bottom watering is good for many reasons but not always convenient, so you'll find proponents of both methods and I'm sure there are many techniques.

When planting, I make sure my mix is adequately moist and also use a spray bottle to keep the top from drying out down to the shallow level of the seed until they sprout. Then I bottom water exclusively at least until the plants are in very large containers. Damping off may be a problem if the top of the soil stays too damp for too long and there isn't enough air flow. I spritz with a diluted solution of hydrogen peroxide & water as soon as I see anything fuzzy, or if the surface looks just too wet and don't have problems even though I use plastic domes. If you use domes, prop one end open and use the lid to fan them a bit when checking on them from time to time.

You can use a second tray if you want to put the water directly in the first tray or you can use a smaller container to hold water and soak the containers in smaller batches and then drain them before putting them back in the larger tray- whatever works in your circumstances. The level of the water should be less than the height of the soil, but you'll soon learn how much is needed. When you're dunking, watch to see when the water first begins to show somewhere on the surface and pull the plants out and let drain thoroughly. You'll also begin to be able to tell when the plants need watering by the difference in the weight of the tray of seedlings before and after watering. You can also feel underneath the soil at bit but that's hard if you're using small cells. When the plants get larger you can also carefully pop them out of the cell to check them without the medium falling apart, but you'll probably have the hang of it by then.

Don't overwater but don't let them wilt.

Oops- I started this before Worth's post- great info there!

Best of luck-

kath

[ScottinAtlanta]

I water my cells with hot water before I plant the seeds, get the cells really good and wet, and let them drain for an hour or so before I plant. I drain the water out of the bottom before I plant the seeds. When I plant, I follow Craig's advice of laying the seeds on top of the cell, sprinkling a little extra seed mix over the top of them, and then spritzing them with warm water to get it all wet.

The cells stay quite humid under a dome. I spritz the top with a spray bottle every couple of days to make sure the seeds don't dry out until they put out roots that can reach down. I don't actually have to add more water to the bottom for 10 days or so, until most of the seeds are up and starting to put out real leaves.

[Worth1]

Ok I apologize for missing the point here.
It is a two part question.
One before the seeds sprout and the other after.
So you take everyone's advice, bundle them together and you get the right answer.


Worth