Watering seeds

Is there an anyone out there that can give me some tips about watering flower seeds growing in pots in the greenhouse? I have tried watering from above and below and still not sure which is the best – I always seem to get them too wet whichever way I do it. Advice welcome.

 

Use a mist spray ,then you don`t wash the seeds away or into corners ,spray from the side and the mist will gently moisten your seeds,then you can do it daily without soaking them.

 

Thanks Pam I'll give it a try.

 

I have grown a lot of seeds in the greenhse still do. The only thing I use is a a plastic watering can..with an adjustable top I take off for bigger plants.Not had any problems so far.To start off I put very little in the can so not to drown them.

 

I also mist them with a bottle you pump and then spray.

 

Another alternative is to place the pots on a bit of old carpet make the carpet wet and capillary action will do the rest.

 

I put a clear plastic dome/lid thingie on my seed trays. Any water than evaporates then condenses and runs back into the tray, so it is quite rare that I actually need to water them at all until they have germinated. For seeds that take months to germinate I stand them in a tray of water for about 10 minutes, about once a month, to give them a watering.

Once they are seedlings then that changes. I favour watering from below as it discourages moss / algae growing on the surface (which then competes with the seedlings)

If you are finding that the pots are getting too wet then either you are over-watering, of course!, or the compost you are using doesn't drain well enough. My perception is that multi-purpose composts used to be better in previous years, but maybe its just wishful thinking ... either way, I now put 10% Perlite mixed in with the multi purpose compost when I prick the seedlings out into pots / modules / etc. and I find this keeps the compost much more open and encourages the seedlings to grow faster as the compost does not become compacted as easily [with watering].

It is helpful to learn the technique of testing the "weight" of a pot to determine if it needs watering, or not. This will help stop you over-watering pots by mistake. Pick up a pot that you know is getting dry, and "feel" the weight. Then stand it in a tray of water for 10 minutes and test the weight again. Over time you will be able to judge if a pot needs watering by the "feel" of its weight.