Watering can roses

Can any one please recommed a small watering can with a very fine rose, so I don't squash my seedlings or just a very fine rose that I can stick on the end of a standard watering can?
I am using a sprayer at the moment but that either comes out as a sharp jet of water or a very fine mist.

 

I think best to put pots / trays of seedlings in a gravel tray (or similar) with enough depth of water so as to nearly come to the rim of the container, give them 10 minutes or so to soak up some water, and then let them drain. Use tap water, not rain water, for seedlings.

This stops the surface of the compost getting damp, which encourages algae to grow and can also encourage fungal diseases like "damping off"

If you want a good Rose for a watering can I suggest one from Haws. Their oval brass rose, arranged to point upwards, rather than downwards, produces something akin to fine rain :thumb: as per the picture on this link:

http://www.haws.co.uk/useful_information/how_to_get_a_good_spray.html

 

I have used Haws 1 1/2 gallon cans at work for the last thirty years or so, mainly plastic ones due to weight, not metal. The brass rose can be inverted if required.

 

The plastic can is quite nice because it has both a Rose and a small-bore spout - both of which have parking-slots within the handle, so you can chop-and-change between the two. Its not really that clever, but I suppose it comes under the realms of a nice inventive step



I reckon that marketing image is wrong. The Rose will only fit on the spike within the rear handle, and the small-bore-spout will fit on the front spike.

 

Why is rainwater bad for seedlings?

Cheers
D

 

Picks up muck from the roof / waterbutt etc which small plants have less immunity to, adn thus can lead to fungal diseases in small seedlings.

 

Oh ok, thought tap water would be bad with chlorine.
filtered would take minerals etc out.

Cheers
D

 

It is best to let it stand a while - that will let the chlorine off, but also let the water reach ambient temperature so as not to chock the seedlings, but when my can is empty I fill it up from the tap and carry on watering, so I don't thing it does a lot of harm!

Although I tend to dunk my seedlings in a 2' x 2' gravel tray for 10-15 minutes (rather than using a rose), and that is always full of water, so even when I fill it back up by half the water is still probably warm enough.

 

Hello Louise. It's best to water seedlings from the bottom.
If you want a very fine rose you can buy little plastic cap things with fine holes that you put onto a used plastic bottle. You can buy them in any garden place for about 50p.

 

Thanks, I have ordered a small haws watering can, I had seenthose bottle top waterers on ebay and think I might try them out too.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Bottle-top-wa...HandTools_SM&hash=item3cb619c830#ht_500wt_949

I have tried watering seedlings from the bottom up, but it never seems very effective for me.

 

Thanks for the link Louise - I have now ordered one of their small water cans with a fine nozzle for seedlings .... I did try using a childs watering can but that didn't work either - so these ones look great !

Val