How wet should soil be for a seedling?

[Hella THC]

Couldn't get a solid answer from the search feature I tried...

I have my seeds soaking in water right now, and they have all sunk to the bottom. I want to put them into my soil mix (FFOF, 20% Perlite, 1/2 Tbsp Dolomite Lime per gal) but I'm wondering how wet the soil needs to be when I put the seed into the soil. They aren't showing tap roots yet, but I want to sprout them in soil.

Also, so they need darkness or light at this phase? I've heard both opinions. My school of thought is that if the seed were in nature, it would be exposed to some sort of a light cycle. The whole "3 days in a dark cabinet" doesn't make sense to me.

Any thoughts?

- Hella

 

[statusquo]

Regardless of how much water you add, the soil will only hold so much water. That being said, regardless of the plant stage I water the same way every time and it has worked for me. I just water slowly (switching between 2 pots) and try and get as much water in the soil with as little draining off as possible. If you just rapidly dump a lot of water, at least IME, it will just sink down the edges and come pouring out the bottom.

For any kind of transplant I start with normal dry soil and do said transplant as quickly as possible. After I have lightly patted the soil down I give it a normal watering and thats that! Hope this helped. Plus if you think about it, especially for your stage, people completely submerge seeds in 100% water so I wouldnt worry about over watering. Also, the seed will be close to the surface of the soil and this will dry out faster and provide for better air exchange on the top of the soil.

 

[KMK0420]

ive had great success (10/10 germination) by soaking the seeds in water, letting sink, placing them 1/2 or 1/3rd of an inch in the soil which was pre-watered and is now "moist". you do not want it WET, but moist. warm and moist...allows for best chance of germination

i keep my lights on even before they pop to simulate real life outdoors. up to you though some wait until they pop.

 

[smoke1sun]

I plant seed directly in soil

A lot of this has to do with me not being able to imagine dealing/transferring large numbers of wet/sprouted seed into soil after germination. I also feel it is important to keep Oxygen levels up throughout the process, and that soil is more forgiving in regards to pH buffering etc. Folks can sprout seed in any way they choose, but I'd just like to remind them to give some effort to preparing well for it, as apposed to wetting seeds out and stuffing them in a drawer etc.

My tools for sprouting seed are: 1) flats filled with a seed starting mix or a sifted soil mix to remove clods or large chunks of perlite etc. 2) a fine spray water wand 3) chopsticks 4) squirt bottle 5) a previously set-up and monitored thermostat controlled room set to 82-85F.

first I fill trays with soil and take my time wetting them out, usually 3 times over lightly with a fine wand works (gardena soft spray watering wand is a good one for this). I take my time, and try not to screw up the tilth of the soil- I want Oxygen levels up. Then with a chopstick (or similar) I make my holes, very shallow, quarter inch (half cm) max. drop seed in, pinch closed, then once more over lightly with the squirt bottle (so as not to float seeds back out) "marrying" moist soil to the seed. Then off to the previously prepared room.

Probably, the most important part of the equation is that previously prepared room. In my experience, maximum germination ratios are reached at or around 85F (-30c). Once that seed is moist, the clock is ticking, and the longer we take to get them up after that, the lower the germination ratio. Also, don't give up. Many times I have emptied flats after I thought I had all that was coming up, up, only to experience a new flush of germination (suspiciously, always right around the full moon) a week or two later. -Tom

This was a post by Tom in this thread

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?p=2616081#post2616081

 

[ibjamming]

Your soil mix sounds perfect...

MOIST not wet. If it will form a ball that sticks together when you squeeze it in your fist...it's perfect. No or very little water coming out while squeezing. Drop the seeds in...and slightly mist the area where the seed is to keep the seed damp. Once you see it coming up...no more water...for like a week. Unless you're using a very small pot.

When you water first time, water just enough to moisten the top that has dried out...and about that much again for the rest. It's an art really...you can't explain it...you just learn to "know" when and how much. There is no hard and fast formula...otherwise it wouldn't be the biggest problem beginners face. It depends on your medium, the genetics.

Over watering is the biggest killer. It's the hardest thing to learn. you've got quite a bit of perlite, by doing that, you widen the watering spectrum. Over watering won't affect you as much as someone with straight potting soil. But you can suffer under watering easier...but not many people do that.

 

[Core]

just keep the top soil wet with a spray or something.just that the topsoil does't dry out to much and so the seedling

but ime i find it easyer to adjust your waterings....with that i mean you should poor less water when they are smaller....

i start of with a 15 ml dose when they are rooting in a clonebox..... then i transplant into a 2L pot using a 50 ml in the beginning to a 125 ml dose of water at e end...then i set them in there final 7L pot and i switch to a 250 at the beginning to a 500 ml dose at the end...
once they are bigger just use the 'hand weigh methode' to see if the pots need water

and they need light once they come out of the soil...much of it

 

[Hydro-Soil]

MOIST not wet. If it will form a ball that sticks together when you squeeze it in your fist...it's perfect. No or very little water coming out while squeezing.

If you have to, squeeze every handful to get the excess water out. I also find that covering the tray/cup tightly and keeping it in NO MORE THAN 75F temps is awesome. If you cover it, don't go over 75F or you risk cooking your seeds to mush.

As soon as the seedling sheds the seed hull, remove the cover halfway. After 12 hrs you should be able to remove the cover completely.


Oh yeah, my seedlings are also sprouted in lighting that is between 4K and 5K candlepower (edit: registers 40-50 on the x500 setting. My math sucks today. LOL) on a GH cheapo light meter set on flourescents. (I use PL-L lights) In other words, they're about 8" away from my lights where my vegging mums are around 14". I believe the intensity of the lighting is the reason I can go from seed, to a seedling in full strength nuted hydro in less than 2 weeks time.

Whatever you do, don't do the paper towel method. Yes, it's worked for years but it's just so prone to contamination when the seed sprouts outside of the final medium.



Remember....... To check the germination rate of 5,000 seeds, you put 100 in a damp paper towel and count how many sprout successfully. I'm sure somewhere along the line, someone asked the grower if they could have the sprouted seeds and BAM..... a crappy way to sprout seeds for growing was invented.

Your milage will always vary.

 

[Hella THC]

Some great suggestions, guys! Thanks a bunch. Very, very helpful.

 

[Hella THC]

Okay, well, the good news is that I put all of the seedlings in their pots. (4"x4") The bad news is, I don't think I watered the soil well enough before I put them in.

As I was putting the soil into the pots, I was mixing it with water, and grabbing a handful, squeezing it, and checking to see if it clumped. When it did, I filled up the pot and repeated the process to all the pots. By the time I got to putting the seedlings in, a lot of them were drying out. Not very much, mind you, but enough to make me want to soak the tops after I planted. I took a spray bottle and soaked the tops real good, and covered them loosely in saran wrap. I'll probably do the same to them tomorrow morning. The soil wasn't anywhere near wet enough I don't think, so I'll just be keeping an eye on it for the next few days. It really is something I just need to get used to.

I also think I put the seeds down too deep. Some are in there about a half inch... maybe less. I figure its a plant though; It knows what to do and how to do it. I gave it everything it needs for tonight, so I hope they do what they are programmed to do, and GROW! I'm so nervous though... the first time is always filled with doubt.

Give me your feed back, and come check out my grow! http://icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=136708

All the best,

- Hella

 

[facelift]

Hey. Go ahead and cancel my account. My post here was deleted and the person deleting it did not even answer the question.

Your actions have left a crust on the top 16th inch of my last nerve.

 

[Hella THC]

Hey. Go ahead and cancel my account. My post here was deleted and the person deleting it did not even answer the question.

Your actions have left a crust on the top 16th inch of my last nerve.

Whaaaa? I'm confused.

 

[Farmer Stealth]

X2

 

[feral]

x3
what was that about?

 

[Mr. Greengenes]

With small sized pots, like those 'pony packs' veggie seedlings come in (or shallow flats as Tom uses), it's basically impossible to overwater because there's so much air around the soilmix. 4"X4" is a bit large for one seedling, but if the mix is light enough you should have no trouble even if you soak it good, which you should directly after planting.

I like to cover my seeds in complete darkness until they're well above ground. I usually wait until they're pushing up the folded newspaper I put over the pony packs.

1/2" is not too deep at all, they can easily push up through an inch of light soil unless they've lost a lot of vigor from age.