watering after seeding are older

[dtnmmz]

Question ? I have moved my seeding to a 4" cow pot . They are under lights and seem to be growing well. How often should you water. I seems that I come home from work and they look like they are wilting . I water them and they bounce back up. I seem to need to deep water every other day. Plants are about 10 " Is this normal or should I water every day.
I am using Promix for the soil

Thank you
Tom

[rxkeith]

how often to water is dependent on growing conditions.

make sure seedlings aren't being cooked by the lights. some lights give off heat, and if too close to seedlings can damage the leaves.

when i first transplant, i water everything in well. some water should come out the drain holes on the pot. then i don't water again until the soil is dry to the touch. when seedlings are small, this might be a week or more. once seedlings get bigger, water demands will increase, until i have to check them on a daily basis. i may have missed a plant, not watered one enough. i have my plants growing in the basement under lights. temps down there are in the 50s. its more humid down there unless i have the dehumidifier running. growth is slow but steady. water demands are not as heavy.

so, water well. let the soil dry out, but not to the point of plants wilting. avoid too wet conditions that promote damping off or other nasties. have plants in a cool vs warmer environment with minimal temperature fluctuation, and adequate light. for you, if that means you have to water every other day, then water every other day. don't let them sit in water.


keith

[Gardeneer]

I did mine 5 to 7 days apart from bottom, until saturated and then discarded the excess water.
if you are behind watering you will notice lower leaves wilting. That is a sure sign that they are thirsty.

[dmforcier]

A 10" tall plant with good light is sucking up a lot of water - more than the 4" pot can retain for much more than a day.

But that's not bad. They can do the wet/dry thing for a long time. Just remember that the root ball is becoming more and more bound. To slow down growth, you can cut the light period. How long, do you think, until plant out?

What's a "cow pot"?

[slugworth]

put the pots in a plastic tray with sides, you can water the entire tray and monitor the amount of water the plants are using per day.

[Durgan]

http://durgan.org/2017/March%202017/...D%20lamp/HTML/ 4 March 2017 Nine days growth under LED lamp
Five Black Krim growing under LED lamp, nine days from planting. The plants are not leggy and appear strong. They are watered from the bottom about every four or five days.

[Patihum]

Plants in cow pots dry out much faster than a plant in a plastic pot will due to wicking and evaporation. Watering every day is probably needed for plants that are as large as yours.

[Father'sDaughter]

Originally Posted by Patihum

Plants in cow pots dry out much faster than a plant in a plastic pot will due to wicking and evaporation. Watering every day is probably needed for plants that are as large as yours.

The need for seemingly constant watering is part of why I stopped using cow pots and switched to plastic. The other was the cost and hassle of having to buy more pots each year.

The new soil may be high in available potassium, which causes plants to use more water for a while (although it's supposed to help them to be drought tolerant, but I think that's more of a long-term benefit). Tomato plants will use a lot more water once they reach a certain size, too (ten inches sounds pretty close to the size). If the room is warm, the soil will dry out faster. If there's a fan, they'll also likely dry faster.

From what others say, it sounds like cow pots are the issue, though.

[dtnmmz]

Thank you everyone I agree next year I will use plastic pots.