My personal preference is to avoid bagged peat or coir based soils altogether and go with an adjusted rendition of the Gritty or 511 Mixes, as described in Al's article on "Container Soils - Water Movement & Retention". I find that a more porous medium actually gives my plants' roots the proper environment to grow and remain healthy in, without perched water sitting anywhere, or soggy rootballs while the surface seems dry. The mediums i use are free-draining and give the plants what they need without remaining soggy for too long a period of time. Link - Container Soils Article It's definitely worth a read to find out what purposes plant roots serve, what actually happens under the soil surface, and to gain a little knowledge on the basic physics of how water moves through various materials within a confined space... and that's precisely what growing in a pot environment is... it's a confined space. Pots don't have the same army of living things that gardens do, continuously moving and aerating the soil, or the ability to avoid perched water tables. So, we have to control the elements that make up our potted plantings and keep them growing in a healthy manner. It's not the actual mix recipes that are important... it's an understanding of the concepts discussed in the article that are important. Once you understand the concept, you can adjust the ingredients you use, the ratios, etc... and make it fit your own individual growing environment... which will naturally differ from anyone else's. Happy Growing!

I have to agree with Rina, sounds like peat. I've never encountered your problem using a gritty mix. I've seen and rescued a lot of plants with that type of brick or concrete-like soil. It's very hard to hydrate. The first part of the rescue is to soak the entire plant...sometimes while it's still in the pot, in warm water and even then it's a real chore. The roots may be quite brittle so the warm soak helps with removing the dried soil from it.

Barrie - most of us don't plant multiple trays at the same time. Your method sounds like it would work well for a market grower or someone that has a large garden and plants tons of tomatoes, peppers, brassicas, or flowers at one time. It would definitely be quicker. I still believe that pre-wetting the mix prior to filling the cells or pots is the best method for the average home gardener as it allows the gardener more control over how much moisture is in the mix. I don't want germinating seeds sitting in overly wet mix. Prior to germination I use a pump spray bottle as needed and mist the cells to keep the top of the mix moist. After germination I begin bottom watering.

I use a two strand acrylic yarn. Some potting mixes have too much vermiculite, others none or not enough. A bit of confusion comes to bear when people who don't wick water start comparing their potting mix with those who do and vice-versa. Without some water retaining ingredient in the potting mix, (vermiculite or something similar) capillary action cannot take place. The wick cannot function under completely dry conditions. If a plant shows signs of consistently getting to much water through the wick, I dump it and replace the potting mix with some that has more perlite and less vermiculite. If it consistently dries out even though the reservoir remains full, I dump it out and replace the mix with one that has slightly more vermiculite and a little less perlite. I always use the same two strand wick so I only have one variable to deal with. I still have the odd one or two that will catch me napping but mostly, the system works.