early watering

[titan1744]

yo wats goin on all....I planted my germinated seeds yesterday, and id like to know how much i should water so i don't drown the seed, I originally used a spray bottle and just sprayed the top of my peat moss and it was pretty damp but quickly dried, should I water again? bottle or cup? i don't know I dont want to screw up this early hahaa feedback would be great. thanks

[stinkyattic]

You know those styrofoam trays that raw meat comes in? Those are great... just stand your peat pellets or nursery 6-pax or whatever on one of those, or any plastic tray really, and pour a little water in... watch as it gets absorbed up into the medium... add a bit more until it stops being absorbed, and pour the excess out.
Voila! Your seed starting medium is now perfectly moist! :D
BTW are you using pure peat moss? It's a big nono since it has a VERY ridiculously low pH and is hard to keep the right amount of moisture in.. either too much or too little!!! Booo!

[titan1744]

i mixed peat moss with potting soil from a local nursery

[stinkyattic]

Next time take the same regular potting soil and instead of peat moss, mix in another 1/3 or so of perlite. Trust me! It's a very useful additive for getting your plants to grow lots and lots of healthy roots and be easy to water and flush properly.
If your seeds haven't really done much in the way of sprouting yet, it's always possible to move them to new homes, but it's a trick to do... just make sure when you give them their first transplant at about 3 pair of adult leaves, they go into a peat-free environment, unless you want to spend the next 3 months of their lives farting around with pH up...

[titan1744]

so crap the moss and pick up perlite....or do 1/3 soil 1/3 moss 1/3 perlite?

[stinkyattic]

No moss. 1/3 perlite, 2/3 potting soil.
If you're doing a soil mix completely from scratch, a good BASIC soil mix is 40% perlite, 60% composted humus and cow manure. You can then add other amendments to tweak it, but the basic composition is right and the pH is stable at 6.8-ish.

[titan1744]

thanks stinky (no pun intented):D

[titan1744]

I saw at loews 8 qt of miracle grow perlite and 8 qt of miracle grow potting mix moisture control.. should those 2 mixed do the trick?

[stinkyattic]

Miracle grow is frowned on by a lot of people on the boards... I mistrust it too, perhaps irrationally, but some posters have great results with the stuff.
Just be careful because small sprouts can't take much fertilizer and the pre-ferted soils might burn them.
If you can find the organic miracle grow soil buy that instead. If you're starting out with something that is already supposed to be a complete potting mix, 1 bag of perlite should be mixed with 2 bags of potting mix.

[good ol daze]

Plant seeds in pre-moisted potting soil, shallow enough for a spray bottle's force to penetrate...poke several tiny holes at the bottom of a sandwich ziplock bag. Put it over your cup, zip it up a litte, but leave it open enough to breathe. Soil should stay moist longer. If you created a decent humidity dome, you'll see condensation on the baggie. When they've popped, take off the bag. Keep spray misting the soil until the seedling stands upright, then gently water as normal, letting the soil dry out between waterings. This has worked for me, twice now without even using the "paper towel" method.