Watering question

[idontgivenames]

A friend of mine thinks he's over watered his seeds which are germinating. They're being germinated in soil and the soil is saturated pretty much. 3 days and 1 has popped. During seedling stages, about how much should he water nad how often when starting them in small 5 oz dixie cups. The soil is naturally a very loose soil and drains easily, but as said before it's already saturated so...


Another thing, since it's saturated and theyre only 3 days into germ should they be transplanted?

 

[dopamine]

Usually, growers don't water their seeds while they are germinating. (in the sense that you water your plants). If you have got your seeds in flower pots and are pouring water over the top of the soil with a watering can, you may have some problems with the seed getting washed around in the pot. If the seed is too deep when it germinates, then it won't make it out and will die.

You want to replicate the natural conditions that seeds have when they germinate in the spring, that is in moist warm dirt. If your seeds are buried no more than about a half an inch deep and the soil around them is well saturated, then leave them alone. You are giving them a good environment in which to germinate.

If the seeds have gotten washed down farther than that, then you may need to try something else.

Before I plant them, I let seeds sit over night in water (like in a shot glass). Many will crack and be ready to grow in the morning. It seems to soften the seed coat and make germination more likely.

The best method I have found for germinating seeds, after soaking them in water, is in Rapid Rooters, under a dome and over a prop mat. I just cracked 31 of 32 seeds using this method. Just drop them in the rooter pointy end up and leave them alone.

If you don't want to spend the cash on all of that equipment, a mix of 50% vermiculite and 50% perlite saturated with water will work too. I use 3 oz plastic bathroom cups with holes punched in the bottom. The medium needs to stay damp. Bottom heat seems to help, but not too much. You don't want to cook them.

 

[hoyt]

A friend of mine thinks he's over watered his seeds which are germinating. They're being germinated in soil and the soil is saturated pretty much. 3 days and 1 has popped. During seedling stages, about how much should he water nad how often when starting them in small 5 oz dixie cups. The soil is naturally a very loose soil and drains easily, but as said before it's already saturated so...


Another thing, since it's saturated and theyre only 3 days into germ should they be transplanted?

they dont need to be transplanted for normal reasons (rootbound). if you think they're over saturated, then you can get away with cuting a big cirle around the babies, and yankin the dirt out below taproot level. the taproot shouldnt be long, so you should be fine. i would transplant them into a dry dirty container so that the soaking dirt will drain. overwatering is the biggest problem so early on, and its better to be sure!

 

[Smurf]

The golden rule that works fine for me is - moist but not wet. If the soil you are germinating in, is too wet for what ever reason, then redirect some fresh air over the top surface of the container with a small fan. This will help remove some of the surface moisture. Depending on the RH in the surrounding ambience and the size of the fan (more cfm will remove more moisture) this will dry out the surface of the soil quickly, so don't leave unattended for too long. Otherwise you will end up drying the soil too much, possibly doing irreversible damage to the young seedling.
As dopamine also claimed..... some bottom heat will also be of great benefit to seedlings and young plants There are plenty of 'heated grow mats ' on the market that have temps pre-set for convenience (usually 25 deg Celsius). These can sometimes be expensive (depending on size, etc.) but well worth the investment. Hope this helped........ smurf

 

[idontgivenames]

thanks for the help guys, he's good then. mandala seeds recommends you germ them in soil to minimize fungus risks, for his seeds anyways. so, you know... anyways, have a nice night.