What is considered moist/damp and is a heat mat necessary?

This may come across as a silly question.

I am currently sowing a variety of seeds and to my great surprise, I am doing fairly well.

I have sown:

Zinnia (sprouting happily)
Cosmos (sprouting happilyish)
Nasturtiums ( 6 days, I think they are starting to sprout)
Sweetpea (only planted them a couple of days ago)
Mariogolds (only planted a couple of days ago)

All the advice I have read is that soil should be kept moist/damp but not wet. I understand what is considered wet, or at least I think I do. But I do not quite understand what is considered damp/moist?

I keep my seeds in a long tray on a shelf in the conservatory and they get sun for most of the day. I tend to water them when I get up in the morning before the conservatory gets any sun. I worry that I am going to bed and not watering them properly.

Also, the conservatory is unheated. It doesn't matter during the day as it gets nice and warm, but during the night it can get quite chilly. Do i need a heat mat? I am a bit worried about the nasturtiums and sweetpea in particular. I am led to believe they are some of the easiest seeds to plant, but I never seem to have much luck with them!

Tony

 

Nasturtiums and sweet peas are the hardiest of the bunch, I'd be hardening off sweet peas now.

The others should be ok in unheated conservatory now and probably growing away well.

Thing to remember, you water when they need it, ie getting a bit dry, dont get into the habit of watering once a day, every day regardless of the soil conditions.

Watering early morning is good, the plants will prefer that than sitting in cold wet compost overnight at this time of the year.

 

The ones that haven't yet sprouted I would cover to keep the moisture in and humidity high and then they shouldn't need watering at all as the water can't escape, although I tend to spray the surface to make sure the area near the seed is moist - a plastic bag or one of those clear plastic dome lids that fit on seed trays. Don't let them cook though ... leaving a container in a bag in the sun might well get very hot. You could put them somewhere nice and warm (airing cupboard) but you'd need to check twice a day for any signs of germination and then let them have some light.

probably best way to water them is to stand them in a tray of water about 1/2 way up the container for just a couple of minutes. (If you water from the top it may wash the seeds about, or squish the fragile seedlings). If the container feels quite a bit heavier when you take it out then you are spot on

 

Thanks for this, I was concerned that I was going to fall into the trap of rigidly watering once per day. Luckily, commonsense has prevailed!

It's like a knife to the heart when I hear people say that nasturtiums and sweetpea are hardy. My fingers are their kryptonite!

 

Thank you, this is very useful. I have been watering from above with an old milk carton with little holes in the top. I have been worried about humidifying the plants, for the reasons you state. I.e. Baking them!