When are seeds watered?

[vigeo]

When do you water tomato seeds after they are placed in the potting mix?

[HL2601]

There are many great ways of planting your seeds, and watering. Personally I have good luck when I premoisten sterile, soil-less mix so it is damp before planting. I put seeds on top and press them lightly into the damp surface so they have made contact. I use a spray bottle and mist water over the tops. Then I sprinkle a light layer of dry mix over the top and finally re-mist all tops so everything appears damp. Cover with a dome. Put on a heat mat and under lights and voila.

While seeds germinate, I will lift the dome occassionally and check the moisture level, sometimes spraying the tops again to assure nothing dries out.

When germination occurs, I remove the heat mat, and the dome, and put the seed tray into another tray so I can bottom water.
This system works well for me.

I am sure others will chime in with their systems.
Heide

[jamiethemime]

Craig LeHoullier demonstrates his technique is to moisten the top of the soil, pretty similar to how @HL2601 describes but instead of the humidity dome, he places a sheet of plastic wrap loosely over the soil and flips it once a day to keep the condensation off the soil
https://youtu.be/3IxMQdDhapw?t=568
probably nobody but him needs to copy his technique in terms of seedling density, but if you don't have a dome, a simple sheet of plastic wrap seems to suffice

For my seeds, I did the moist paper towel in a plastic bag because it's my first year and I wanted to see the whole process-it's not necessary, but it was fun . Once roots sprouted, I'd move to seedling mix and use spare aerogarden domes to keep individual cells moist on top until leaves popped up, checking occasionally to see if the surface needed extra moisture, and if it did, I'd spritz it with water

[karstopography]

I put well moistened Baccto Premium Reed sedge potting mix into seed starting cell, put a very thin layer of Jiffy seed starting mix over the Baccto, making sure the thin cover of starter mix is moist. Then I place and press my tomato seeds onto that, then cover with sufficient amount of mostly dry starting mix and lightly press the mostly dry jiffy starting mix and mist that with mist sprayer until moist.

I don’t generally have to water again until well after the seeds have sprouted some 5, 6 or so days afterwards , although I might mist the surface of the jiffy starting mix if it appears to be drying out too much. I don’t use any plastic covers or domes or humidity traps and maybe that’s more about my climate. The air inside the house where I start the seeds even in winter is never quite so dry and devoid of moisture as it might be in more northern locations with often already dry air that might have been heated so it is even drier.

Once the seeds have sprouted and are up and growing, I go by the weight of the starter cells. Dry cells feel very light, wet cells are heavy. Generally, I want them to edge towards getting dry, but never so dry they wilt.

When the cells truly feel light and are nearing a stage where wilting is becoming possible, it’s time to water, I hope then that there is a relatively warm spot with relatively warm water available, usually outside here, and I top water gently and thoroughly with the cells or containers in a pan to soak for a few minutes in a centimeter or two of water, then drain the pan and allow the seedlings to air dry in dappled sunlight, hopefully outside with plenty of moving air.

I don’t know if it is the right way, but I’ve never had dampening off so I will stick to the way I’ve been doing it.

[GoDawgs]

I pre-moisten the potting mix in the container the day before I sow seeds and let the containers sit overnight to make sure they're well drained and all of it has been moistened. Then I carefully wallow out a small 1/4" deep hole with the eraser end of the same pencil I've used for years, (the eraser happens to be 1/4" long), drop in the seeds, use the pencil point to scrape some soil over the hole and gently pat them on the head to insure good soil contact.

I use plastic wrap over the top to keep the soil moist and have never used a heat mat. However, the containers are under the lights and that provides a bit of warmth. As soon as seeds pop, the plastic wrap is removed and there's no moisture loss. This is the same way I've been starting tomatoes (and everything else) forever with great results.

After seeds are up I just lift the container to see if it's light or heavy and water sparingly if water is needed.

Although I've had no problems with condensation, I like Craig's method of flipping the wrap.

[brownrexx]

I do the same thing as others. I fill the cells with seed starting mix and keep watering until it holds water. I place my seeds on top and then cover with a small amount of seed starting mix. I use my sink sprayer to lightly water the whole tray of cells and then cover with a dome and place on a heat mat until germination. I don't usually water again until I have germination and then I move them off of the heat mat and under the lights. I water them when they are dry.

[vigeo]

All right, so it seems that I can lightly water the first day without worrying about rotting the seeds before they have the chance to germinate. My follow-up question: When the time comes to transplant the seedlings to a larger container do I have to put them into store-bought potting soil or can I use my own compost? I guess seedling-destroying disease is still the concern at this stage.

[bower]

@vigeo if you have a top notch finished home compost that holds water well, you certainly can use it for seedlings. I have seen it done, and none the worse for it. You can as easily get damping off from store bought soil, if not more so. Avoid cold and wet soil conditions, that's the best prevention for damping off. Your compost should have a healthy microbial community, which should be a plus, not a risk.
Since my seedlings are indoors and it's a winter start, I don't use my own compost for a couple of reasons, the main one being I don't know what I am bringing in from the great insectarium out there. It's impossible to manage stray insects in a system that's closed off from outdoors.
For the store bought compost that I use for starts, I'm adding some perlite for indoor potting up, just because it is a bit too fine and will tend to harden if it dries in the indoor conditions. Our home compost for some reason tends to have much better water retention. A bit more fiber I guess.

[JayneR13]

I'm a paper towel woman, and this year I'm using repurposed food containers with their lids on a heat mat to create the warm, humid environment needed for sprouting. My indoor air is very dry and I moved 15" of snow yesterday, so humidity and warmth are required. Once my seeds germinate, I pre-moisten my seed starting mix and plant my sprouts in that, then on the heat mat with plastic wrap until I see green above the soil line. I use Miracle Gro seed starting mix. Last year I used Espoma and had nothing but problems! So I went back to the tried and true.

I don't see why you can't use finished compost as a starting mix. You might consider cutting it a bit if it's too heavy, with perlite or potting soil for example. Seedling-destroying disease happens. Do what you can to prevent it, which means cleanliness. Bleach your pots and any tools you use, and that should go far. Good luck!

[Yak54]

I pretty much use the same technique as Heide and it's been working very well for many years !

Dan