How do you water seeds?

[ClayGarden]

I've got a couple large terracotta pots, soaking up right now, and you can see the water level rising as the pots must be absorbing it too. Is that right? They have my tomato plants in.

[ClayGarden]

To check. I have a few large terrocotta pots with my tomatos in, ~24 odd cm ish, i've had them all day today in a large tray with held 2 of them. I could see them get wet as the compost absorbed the wetness.

Maybe i should post a pic because it sounded prettty strange to me. If the terracotta pot is wet, it doesn't mean the compost is too wet does it? +worried.

Before i get accused of worrying, i've already starved my produce by just spraying it!!!

[Janna]

I was given some of that capillary matting last year and didn't bother to use it, tried it on the bench in the polytunnel this year and it's brilliant! Now I just have a tub of water at each end with the wick in and fill those up occasionally. Better germination than ever before, and much better root systems when it comes to planting out/potting on.

[Paulottie]

Really it depends how big the toms are. A tom will use a lot of water when it comes up to fruiting and it is hot, if you don't keep that water regularly supplied you have problems galore. If its just a small plant in a ten gallon pot it won't be able to use all the water in that pot and the compost will sour( With toms I pot on each plant every few weeks they are the exception and should be planted asdeep as possibe each time ans they throw more roots from the stem)...too dry and the plant will wilt ( this will check its growth).

As mentioned, Damp capillary matting should be fine in the early stages.

[rustic]

all my pots , from germination to planting out , are stood in watertight trays. trays are watered daily, the amount varies with the weather and plant size. but aim to avoid wringing wet compost or bone dry compost.
ive just been reading an oldish book on growing hydroponicallky in gravel tanks, the technique there was to flood from the bottom to just below surface level with nutrient solution once daily stand for a few minutes then drain completely to let air into the gravel and root system. the plants need enough water to absorb nutrients and prevent wilting but will drown if the roots are permenantly waterlogged.