How do you water seeds?

[ClayGarden]

I have been pretty succesful with this, but i dont use a propagator that most people here seem to use. How do you water your seeds to germinate, and when they are tiny seedlings? I use a spray bottle which seems to do a really good job, but its a bit crap mechanically as it doesn't actually work sometimes. Needs a bit of a shake and pump action to get going.

If you have a good spray thingy (or something better), where did you get it from? i may follow suit.

[amandaandherveg]

Just the topic I've been pondering Clay.

I have hundereds of seedlings at various stages on windowsills throughout the house at the moment, any advice re watering them gratefully received. New to all this so uncertain how wet or dry they should be.

[terrier]

I sow the seeds in damp compost and cover. There should be no need to water. When the seedlings start to grow they still only require slightly damp compost. If the compost does start to dry out just stand the pot/tray in some water and let it soak it up.

[ClayGarden]

Amanda, i've found personally that spraying with that thing "when it works" twice a day works perfectly myself. Just wondered about the tools people used other than props.

[Eyren]

I use plastic propagator lids over normal seed trays for delicate crops (tomatoes, peppers, etc) - hardier crops like leeks and brassicas I don't bother. Also I don't water my seedlings unless the compost is looking dry and they are starting to wilt - normally not a problem this time of year unless we have a really sunny day.

I have a small watering can with a rose: I use the rose on small seedlings (make sure you keep them out of direct sunlight to avoid scorching) or for larger plantlets I use the plain spout and water the compost directly, avoiding the leaves.

The trick seem to be to make sure that the compost below the surface stays moist. Don't water every time the surface dries out, though, or you will drown the young plants. If in doubt, stick your finger in the compost!

[ClayGarden]

I sow the seeds in damp compost and cover. There should be no need to water. When the seedlings start to grow they still only require slightly damp compost. If the compost does start to dry out just stand the pot/tray in some water and let it soak it up.

Mmmmmmmm. Terrier, that is food for thought. I saw gardeners world this week where they did some tiny seeds and they just stood it in water too. I just hadn't realised that was enough, and since i already had my method which worked, hadn't thought about it much.

Does that work on all sized seed? even the real biggens' like maungtout? Do you have to water the compost first or will it literally rise from dry?

[amandaandherveg]

I made a heap of newspaper pots at the weekend to transplant some of the seedlings. I've watered the tray that they're sitting on, the newspaper pots suck up the water and stays moist without saturating the compost. Is that ok?

[ClayGarden]

I dont know amanda . I dont know what a newspaper pot is Is it grown in like a toilet roll pot?

[areia]

Newspaper Seed Starter Pots this is the best one i think its a little more sturdier personaly other grapes have tried,
there are other ways of making them. type in paper pots in the search thingy up there

[ClayGarden]

wow cheers areia, love the japanese newspaper (origami ))

[amandaandherveg]

Cor, looks a lot more complicated than the way I made them, but same principle, I'm really pleased with mine.

How about the watering, ie, keeping the paper moist rather than watering the plants directly?

[Mike and Louise]

We sow our seed in damp compost then leave it until it germinates. If the soil should dry out then we water just to make the compost damp again.

Once the seed has germinated though we water from the bottom but only after we see the surface of the compost has dried out.
The reason we water from the bottom is because it will encourage the roots to spread out and search for water.
If you water from the top then the roots won't have to grow downwards so much because all the water they need is right there on the soil surface for them.

Watering from the bottom can produce a stronger and better root system.

[amandaandherveg]

Now that makes a lot of sense M&L. Make the little b****rs work.

[ClayGarden]

Ahhhh, thanks mike+louise, that does make a lot of sense. Thanks a lot . Does this work with all sized seeds aswell? like mangetout (being my largest so far). I only saw it on small seeds on GW this week.

[Mike and Louise]

Ahhhh, thanks mike+louise, that does make a lot of sense. Thanks a lot . Does this work with all sized seeds aswell? like mangetout (being my largest so far). I only saw it on small seeds on GW this week.

We water seed that way regardless to size, from big Broad Beans right down to tiny Lettuce seeds.

Big seeds will have larger roots anyway so will naturally go down deeper but they still need to be encoraged to do so, especially with seed/plants that love free draining soil.

We learnt this ages ago by observing small seeds that we watered from above. A lot of the seedlings had very shallow roots and so they were not so 'rooted' into the ground. They would topple over easially under the increasing weight of the leaves, or by the wind.

And of course a good root system will benefit the plant, so it makes sence to start encouraging it early.