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Vegetable Gardening

'Self-Watering' Seed Trays

14 years ago

Hello all,

I was curious to know if anyone has tried to do a bit of a "self-watering" seed tray.

I have the standard black plastic six-packs that sit in a black plastic tray. The tray does not have any holes in it to let out water - although each of the six-packs do.

Therefore, has anyone tried just pouring water directly into the tray to let the six-packs soak up the water into the soil?

Just wondering if it has been successful for anyone. I am growing my Copra Onions in this sort of manner and I have a clear plastic lid over the top of them. The soil is very, very damp, but all of the water in the bottom of the tray has been fully soaked up.

None have sprouted out of the 144 that I planted so far - and it has now been a week.

Just not sure if the seeds will sprout if the soil is completely wet or if this will be fine and then reduce moisture after they have sprouted.

Thank you all.

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Comments (5)

spiced_ham
14 years ago
I sprout my tomato seeds in fully hydrated soil, bottom soaked as you describe, and then when it dries out I start all over again, though I usually pull the pots out of the water bath as soon as they hydrate (15-30 minutes). I have left seedlings sitting in standing water when I was growing in a greenhouse and had to relie on students to do the watering. It did affect germination rate for the soggiest cells in that case, but not subsequent growth.
vikingkirken
14 years ago
I've been experimenting with making my own self-watering trays this year... so far, it seems to be working pretty well. Steps:

- Use some scrap wood, recycled pots, etc. to create a "platform" in your watering tray.
- Cut a piece of wool felt or cotton flannel to fit your surface. Make it long enough so that one end reaches down to the bottom of the watering tray.
- Place your cell packs on top of the fabric, where they will sit above the water level.
- Fill the tray with water, and it will wick up the fabric to the pots. (You can wet the fabric right away to get the process going faster.)
- Refill the tray as necessary.

I'm happy with the results so far... pots are staying moist but not soggy.

Lori
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Well, the instructions stink. :) To put it politely. Those self-watering thingies are ok if you use them like you would normally bottom-water with any other container; that is to say, pour water in the resevoir when the cells are dry, allow them to soak up what they need, and dump the rest. Seeds won't germinate, and seedlings won't grow, in a constantly wet, soupy bog. Which is what peat/soil will be if you allow it to sit and soak up water all day long. Sorry for your struggles, hopefully you still have enough time to get some new starting mix and seeds and try again; this time, wet the medium, squeeze out extra water, fill the cells, add seeds and cover. Don't water again until the seeds sprout and the soil is dry. Hope that helps!
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bsntech
Original Author
14 years ago
I think that is the problem I am having with the system I'm using - with just putting water at the bottom of the trays and allowing the packs to drink up the water.

I've left the clear lid off of the trays today and started that last night. They are very wet and soggy and don't believe this will bode well for onions.

Just being overly cautious as I want to ensure the soil doesn't dry out - then the seeds won't germinate with dry soil.
nycynthias
14 years ago
I usually really saturate the daylights out of the seed starting mix before I place the seeds in, but then I just let the excess run into the bottom tray and leave it there. It takes a couple of days to dry out but when it's time for additional water, I do *not* water "from the bottom, though. I use a spray bottle and a heavy trigger finger pre-germination. After germination I use the same spray bottle but turned down to mist...and pray for patience as I sit there and mist each 6 pack carefully until it's moist "enough".

Lori's method sounds like a really great idea and I wish I had thought of it!

bsntech, I agree that really soggy soil isn't great for onions, but since they haven't sprouted yet I think you're still OK leaving the cover off and letting the soil dry out some.
bsntech
Original Author
14 years ago
Same thing I used to do nycynthias.

Decided this time to put everything together than put all the water in through the bottom of the six-packs to allow it to be absorbed through the bottom.

After that, I'll just use a mister I have to ensure they stay moist.

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