The right way to water your plants is crucial to their health, especially when they are seedlings.
Your seedlings will wilt and die if you give them too little water. If the water pressure is too strong, they might rot, drown, or fall over if you give them too much water.
The amount of water you give your seeds will determine whether they produce a good harvest or die before their first flower blooms, regardless of whether they’re started indoors or outdoors.
Seedlings can be difficult to tell whether they need water or not, and how to water them correctly.
We have provided a guide below to help you ensure your seedlings receive all the hydration they need to grow into productive gardeners.
How Often To Water Seeds
Before you plant your seeds, make sure you water your garden plot or seedling tray. As your seeds grow, this will ensure that they have all the moisture they need. In order for seedlings to thrive, their growing medium must be moist at all times.
How dry your growing medium is is a good indication that your seeds or seedlings need water. It should not feel too wet nor too dry when you touch the soil. It should feel like a moist sponge instead.
If you water your plants too much, your plants will be more prone to diseases, pests, mold growth, and other problems that will eventually kill them. Seedlings will wither if the soil becomes too dry, and they won’t get the moisture they need.
It isn’t always the case that mature plants bounce back after a seedling dries out. That’s why it’s better to keep them healthy from the beginning.
You should check on your seedlings several times a day when growing them indoors in flats. Test the moisture of the soil by touching it. When it feels as if it’s beginning to dry out, you should water it.
You’ll need to give your seedlings more water as they grow. Be sure to check on them frequently.
It is still important to check on direct sown seeds daily when they are planted outdoors. If your area doesn’t get enough rain, you may have to supplement with some watering if you don’t get enough rain.
You can test the soil by sticking your finger in it for an inch or two. Give them some water if they feel dry. Leaving them alone if they feel moist is a good idea.
As outdoor seedlings reach for water and nutrients in the soil, their roots are strengthened, strengthening their growth. The soil right on top of outdoor seedlings doesn’t need to be continuously moist, as it is for indoor seedlings.
It is also possible to purchase an inexpensive soil moisture gauge that will tell you exactly how much moisture your soil contains.
Top vs. bottom watering
Watering indoor seedlings can be done from the top or from the bottom. For small, delicate sprouts, bottom watering is usually preferred, even though each method has its advantages.
Watering your seeds and seedlings from the top is known as top watering. You can use this method for seedlings that are larger and more established, as well as for keeping the soil moist before seeds germinate.
Watering seedlings from the bottom is the gentlest and easiest method of watering but requires the use of a self-watering seed tray. You can purchase or make these yourself, which is good news.
Your seedlings’ growing medium will remain moist with minimal effort using capillary action, or wicking water up from higher water concentrations to lower water concentrations.
Seedling Watering: How To Do It
The method you choose for watering your seedlings will depend on which system you choose, but both are fairly straightforward. Here’s how each method works:
Top Watering
Use a mister or a spray bottle to water your sprouting tray’s top when watering your seedlings. A water bottle cap or other small container can also be used to make a seedling watering can.
Basically, you need to ensure that the flow of water is very slow and gentle. You may easily knock over your seedlings if you don’t do this.
You should check on your seedlings several times a day and water them as needed. In order to preserve as much moisture as possible during germination, it is also recommended to cover your seedlings with a humidity dome.
Bottom Watering
It is necessary to purchase or set up a self-watering system in order to water your seedlings from the bottom. Place your cell tray or seedling containers into a flat tray.
When the seedling tray is placed in the flat tray, add enough water so that about one-quarter inch of the bottom is covered with water. Seedlings’ soil will stay moist as water soaks up through the bottom of their cells.
Check the water level around once a day and add more water as needed. Until the seeds germinate, you’ll still want to use humidity domes to keep the soil moist.
In Summary
You’ll often be deciding whether or not your efforts to raise plants to maturity depend on how much water you give your sprouting seedlings at this crucial stage.
The right way to water your plants will ensure that they grow up to become vigorous growers and produce beautiful blooms and delicious fruits and vegetables.
Water your seedlings with room temperature water whenever possible to avoid shocking them with too hot or too cold water.
The tips outlined here will help you ensure that your seedlings get off to a strong and healthy start, even though not all plants need the same amount of watering.