What has been your best method for watering?

[SaberTooth]

What works best for you? Watering with a spray bottle after the seeds come up or letting inserts stand in water to wick up to the seedlings?

Thanks for the responses in advance.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by SaberTooth

What works best for you? Watering with a spray bottle after the seeds come up or letting inserts stand in water to wick up to the seedlings?

Thanks for the responses in advance.

For me it starts even before sowing the seeds.

I use a good mix, usually Fafard or Jiffy, wet it well, pack it into the seed starter trays and for lots of varieties I'd use those shallow 20 row professional seed inserts or sometimes the 8 X 8 inch Permanest green trays. Let stand o'n, pour off any XS water, sow seeds the next day.

Cover the trays with loose plastic leaving both ends open for air circulation. When the first seeds germinate I take the trays off the top of the light fixtures where they've been put for bottom warmth, take off the plastic, put them under the lights and from then on just gently water completely, not with a spray bottle.

I'm going to be transplanting the seedlings when they're 1-2 inches tall into plastic inserts, about 2 X2 inches per cell, 4 cells/insert, 8 fit in a standard nursery tray so 32 plants per tray.

I never water from the bottom, been there, done that and no more.

Hope that helps a bit.

[wordwiz]

I, OTOH, always water from the bottom. A nursery flat (18-36 plants) at a time. Extremely efficient and very effective.

Mike

[PaulF]

I have watered from the bottom; I use plastic trays with 1"x1"x2" plastic inserts to grow seedlings. As the top of the potting mix dries out I water enough to moisten the mix. Sometimes if I am in a hurry I water from the top.

Carolyn, what is your reasoning for top watering and not allowing water to wick up? Is it too easy to overwater?

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by PaulF

I have watered from the bottom; I use plastic trays with 1"x1"x2" plastic inserts to grow seedlings. As the top of the potting mix dries out I water enough to moisten the mix. Sometimes if I am in a hurry I water from the top.

Carolyn, what is your reasoning for top watering and not allowing water to wick up? Is it too easy to overwater?

Yes Paul, too easy to not just overwater but also underwater, as a general comment.

Folks use different mixes, they have usually different absorptive properties and so that's why I don't like to make a general comment about it.

Put too much water in the tray and the mix can get waterlogged and we've all seen pictures of where that's happened and what the results can look like.

Put too little water in the tray and the water may not wick up as far as it should and the top few inches where the delicate feeder roots first form are left dry.

So I water from the top until I see just a bit coming out of the bottom and that's it.

And don't even talk to me about using peat pots, which I once did and the pots wick water all by themselves.

As I think you know I do many things with seed germination, transplanting, etc., as do several commercial farmer friends of mine. And never but never do they water from the bottom. And they have a vested interest in raising strong healthy plants b'c it's their business, their life. their way of existing, while for most of us it's an obsessive hobby of sorts.

So I'll mimic the way the commercial farmers do what they do and that's stood me in good stead for decades of tomato growing, even going back to my own farmer father and his way of doing things with tomatoes for our many acres of tomato fields.

[Farmette]

I've tried watering from the bottom, also from the top with a spray bottle and other equip. Watering from the top works best for me. I feel I have more control. With very young seedlings I have used the spray bottle. Once they are a bit larger, I have used a teaspoon, tablespoon and then a small watering can. I would think a plastic bottle with a pointy tip like those that can hold condiments such ketchup and mustard would work too.

[PaulF]

Thank you for the clarification; I am now going to be a top waterer with one of those watering cans with a pointy little spout. The plastic squeeze bottle idea is good as well.

[Mark0820]

I guess I break all of the rules.

I use the bottom part (3 to 4 inches) of a gallon or half gallon plastic milk container to start my seeds. I poke holes in the bottom with scissors, fill with dry Jiffy mix, add the seeds and then barely cover the seeds with dry Jiffy mix. I lightly spray the top of the Jiffy mix with warm water and put the container in a gallon plastic bag.

Once the seeds sprout, I remove from the plastic bag and put the container under lights. Initially, I use a spray bottle to water from the top, but then convert to watering from the bottom (once the plants grow a little bit). At about 2 inches or so (when the roots reach the bottom of the container), I transplant into peat pots and continue to water from the bottom.

Tomato plants are later transplanted a second time into a 4 inch peat pot (pepper plants into a 3 inch peat pot). I understand the concerns about peat pots, but I like them because the roots don't bind in the containers. If the plant gets too big, the roots will grow right through the peat pot. This provides a good root system when transplanted to the garden.

Once the peat pot is nice and wet, it is fairly easy to keep the Jiffy mix wet. They do soak up a lot of water though.

Mark