Bottom Watering Killed Seedling?

2 years ago

last modified: 2 years ago

I was bottom watering three mini planters earlier today (of three different flowers), and one of the seedlings died from damping off (Camellia japonica; rather rare in these parts). What exactly did I do wrong? I was under the impression that it was safe to bottom water them to wick up and saturate the soil.

I still have some other seeds in the same planter that haven't germinated yet, so I'm sure new seedlings will sprout, but I'd still like to know to prevent future problems. Did I leave it in for too long (around 30 mins), or is that particular flower not very water tolerant? For now, I added extra soil to force the planter to be drier.

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Comments (8)

roxanna7
2 years ago
Try sprinkling some ground cinnamon lightly around seedlings as a preventative to damping-off -- it has anti-fungal properties, apparently. It worked for my seedlings...
John S
Original Author
2 years ago
@roxanna7

Oh, I wasn't aware about that. I just looked that up here, and you're right, it seems to help prevent damping off. I'll definitely buy a jar next time I go shopping.

How do you apply it yourself? Just at the time of planting, or only after seedlings show up? And how much should I sprinkle on?
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I appreciate all the concern! In fact I did test my well water. It came out fine. I live essentially at the top of the watershed for a large portion of the western US. While not immune to problems I would bet my well water is many times cleaner/healthier than what the majority of the US gets in their municipal tap. Keep in mind aruzinsky that a modern water wall is a closed unit and very far underground, pulling water filtered through many layers of rock and sand. It is not a well like Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water! Suzi I also use the potassium chloride instead of salt now. Seems healthier all around. I will add that my poor neglected house plants all look fine and they have been watered solely with the softened water. But perhaps they are more resilient than a little seedling. I agree it is important to figure out what's killing them but mostly for my sanity! I don't have time to waste with entire flats dying for no known reason. The 6 bulb t-5 lamps do generate a fair amount of heat, I am wondering if that could have anything to do with it. I thought tomatoes could take a decent amount of heat though.
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I use a combination of overhead and bottom watering. When overhead watering seedlings, I use only a mist bottle with a pump. The medium is moistened before loading into the trays, it sits overnight, checked for even moisture, then gently loaded into the cell trays and sown. After seeding, a light misting is done repeatedly until the soil is less-than saturated. Water is put into the bottom tray, a dome is placed over top, and away they go. The dome is taken off for a while, and put back on throughout the germination time depending on humidity of the air and the moistness of the mix. Some seeds are given heat. If the soil shows too much drying, it is misted. May seem like a lot of maintenance, but it's really not. You do have to be careful with domes, it's just experience which lets you know when to remove it, and when to keep it on. I like the the surface slightly moist, but not overly wet. Too dry, and crusts form. Too wet, and damping off can happen. Bottom watering, with a good medium, is just science. Capillary action and cohesion are the active forces. Water... wicks. The key, as was mentioned above, is a good seed starting medium. If you are having trouble bottom watering, more than likely you are working with a medium that lacks the structure favoring the bottom-watering technique. Btw... especially in times when I did not have the money, nor enough pots, I transplant my plugs into paper Chinese food containers. Being square, they fit very well together into a tight mass on a tray. However, being wax coated, as long as you don't puncture them, they are water tight. If you rub off the wax they disintegrate. The only way to really tell if they need watering is to pick them up and weight them in your hand. That too, as was mentioned above, is just experience. Again, too much water...because they don't have drainage holes, the soil compacts and you lose air pockets. Too little water, well, that's obvious.
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cearbhaill (zone 6b Eastern Kentucky)
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Are you using a sterile seed starting mix?
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
2 years ago
agree with cear ... always start with sterilized media ... so you are sure there arent any pathogens to start with ...

and then 10% bleach all pots.. trays.. tools watering cans.. etc ....

its easier to avoid.. that cure a problem .... i think of it starting hospital clean ...

ken

https://tipnut.com/sterilize-soil/
roxanna7
2 years ago
John -- I have given up on seed starting now, but as I recall I just used the store-bought cinnamon jar with the shaker feature and sprinkled lightly right after I sowed the seeds. The amount sprinkled was visible, but not thick or heavy -- hard to describe. Good luck!
windberry zone5a BCCanada
2 years ago
You can't kill plants by bottom-watering (although you could by over bottom-watering). For sure must be other reason for your problem.
mad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)
2 years ago
Where are you?

What is the pH of your water?

(we can guess the second if you tell us the first)
davidrt28 (zone 7)
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
Mad_gallica - nice adage but remember practically all municipal tap water in the US has something added to it to boost the pH beyond 7 and into the alkaline range. If it isn't already alkaline. This prevents it from dissolving copper pipes. Of course we don't know if OP is watering with tap water, well water, rain water, or river/stream water.

I grew Camellia seedlings for the first time this year and have found them a walk in the park compared to various other things I've grown. I hate to seem like a product endorser, but I know now to avoid "fly by night" seed starting mixes.* One I bought years ago was so loaded with composted manure a lot of the seedlings got damping off immediately. Absolutely moronic way to formulate a product like that - more moronic was me using it w/o reading the label. Might have been ok for vegetable seedlings but not rare trees and shrubs. I highly recommend getting one's hands on the TRUE promix - NOT the garbage sold at HD, Lowes, et al under that name. The one with both biofungicide and mycorrhizae.

https://www.greenhousemegastore.com/supplies/soil-and-soil-amendments/pro-mix-bx-biofungicide-mycorrhizae

No kidding, have not had anything damp off using it. Including ridiculously rare things like Nothofagus. I fertilized my camellias very lightly after they had fully formed their 2nd true leaf.

AND FWIW in the interest of full disclosure, I used the product above but added, in my concrete mixer, maybe 1/2 gallon of fir bark to 4-5 gallons of Promix. There is a Promix product that already has bark added but I decided it was more flexible to mix my own. The fir bark is actually easiest to buy at Petco, etc., as "Repti Bark". For, you guess it, pet reptiles.

* - and yes if you're wondering, I would say fly-by-night is anything other than what a professional wholesale nursery would use - and a lot of them would use the real promix!

Bottom Watering Killed Seedling?

Comments (8)

roxanna7

John S
Original Author

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Bottom Watering Killed Seedling?

Comments (8)

roxanna7

John SOriginal Author

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John S
Original Author