All my experience has been with clones (One plant – haha), so when I popped a half dozen beans a week ago, I just watered by feel. My feelings suck… So how do you guys water seedlings? Pictured is a Jiggler – local genetics, dropped in soil 10 days ago.
Dollar store – turkey baster or condiment squeeze bottle. U could use a shot glass to help u progressively measure more as it grows. Underwatered? It will ask for more. Sometimes heat from fluorescent or general temp and humidity of your space affects your evaporation rate. Clear cups help visualize moisture content of ur medium and root health.
If you flip over a 5 gallon bucket it has a slight lip on it, I place my seedlings on the upside down bucket and cover the bottom with water….almost impossible to over water if you go with bottom watering. Also if you germinate your seedlings in a coffee filter or paper towel in a bag, you can get a seedling that looks like that in roughly four days from bone dry seed even off bag seed.
SIDE NOTE: People talk shit on bag seed for no reason. The bud curing process actually improves the seed viability. Vegetable farmers have known to let their collected seed ferment and have been using that practice knowingly or unknowingly for millennia.
My bag seed consistently pops better than my known genetics usually. I have no idea why. You can get the dank from bagseed but the bagseed has to come from the dank to get it. You can’t grow a shitty stain into five star weed believe me I have tried. You can get huge resin filled colas that look like the kill but are just mediocre. I usually pop mine in coffee filters instead of paper towels using that method. Put on a heat mat or on top of your tent for best results. I have found the warmth makes them pop faster right along with everyone else. lol
I like to water them when the medium is noticeably light, however I don’t want them to dry out completely to wilt though.
Totally agree you’ve got to know where it came from, and I have had seeds/plants from prohibition era that weren’t worth the trouble. I find that illinois dispensary weed has a decent amount of viable seeds in it, and they put the analysis on it so I get a rough idea where the final product will be. Is that (seeds common in dispensary weed) true everywhere?
I have no idea dude. Where I am there are none.
Excellent insight. Thank you gentlemen, and the rest of you too.
After I germinate them in a paper towel, I start them in a small 4×4″ container, which is easy to determine water needs by weight. Once it gets itself some good roots (see a few poking out of the bottom), I transplant them to their larger pots.
I agree with no vowels hapyns. I used a candy dropper to water. When I water, I do not water to the stem. No wet stem, no damping off.
Start with pre-moistened media, use a spray bottle for maintenance as needed. They don’t need much.
yep eye dropper or shot glass for seedlings, I’ve gone as far a s squirt bottle. less is more and as others mentioned just like you now know you over watered, you also know when you have underwatered and underwatering is easier to fix. Even on clones or small plants, your leaves will drape and hang as they get thirsty and some once watered will perk right back up. Lean more towards dryer pots versus wet. Think of the environment they grow at in the wild. A sativa is used to hot equatorial conditions so in that instance you have a plant used to sending roots on a mission to find water. I water in a ring outside the canopy around the perimeter of the plant when small to replicate this condition. Make the plant work for its drink don’t spoon feed it or it has no reason to be vigorous.
all good tips.
I prefer rockwool. I feel it provides me with a little wider goldilocks moisture zone for seedlings.