18 February 2016 Seedling containers

[Durgan]

18 February 2016 Seedling containers
Posted on February 18, 2016 by Durgan
http://www.durgan.org/2015/December 2015/18 February 2016 Seedling containers/HTML/ 18 February 2016 Seedling containers
Plastic cups from the dollar store were purchased to make seedling containers. Cup size is 266 ml or 9 fluid ounces with a height of 3.75 inches. Holes were burned around the periphery at the bottom for drain holes, using a heated soldering iron.A coffee filter is placed in each cup to prevent soil from working out of the drain holes,and to contain the plant roots when transplanting. The soil being dry, the cups was placed in a large container for bottom watering, also a syringe of water was placed on the top of the soil. All future watering will be from the bottom. This tends to inhibit mold forming and damping off. A cloth is placed over the cups to maintain heat and moisture (humidity) to some degree. The containers were placed on a heating pad, temperature monitored with a dial thermometer.The plants as they grow will be moved to larger pots as determined necessary.

 

[Christian]

With bottom watering, is moisture able to reach surface?

 

[Durgan]

With bottom watering, is moisture able to reach surface?

Indeed moisture rises, probably due to wick effect. Also one can put the plant container in a greater depth of water. If the plant container is large I place it in a pail. I am usually dealing with at a maximum of around 100 plants at the peak of the season.

Actually I seldom top water even in the outdoor garden. One cannot avoid what rain does but there is a bit of control with hose or hand watering.It is hard to get moisture to the roots by top watering. As an experiment water from the top and dig down to see just how far the water permeated. Often it is a surprise just how little penetrates.

 

[Christian]

Interesting. What is your recommendation when hose watering tomato plants etc outside. How long do you water plants til you think water has reached the roots?

 

[Durgan]

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?WLOBC 1 June 2014 Watering Tomato plants.
Rainwater collected in four barrels is used to water the garden.The water is transported to the garden area in a wheelbarrow with a milk carton to limit wave action and spilling. Each plant (25) received one bucket full of water.

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Watering Methods
Posted on June 21, 2012 by Durgan
http://www.durgan.org/URL/?XRXAU 21 June 2012 Watering Methods.
I seldom water except for very young plants, and extreme dry conditions. I don’t have a sprinkler on the property, and consider them inefficient and not very effective, except for watering grass. I never water grass. To inhibit moisture loss from hot Sun evaporation all areas of the garden are mulched with wood chips.

Usually I utilize my four barrels of rain water. The wheelbarrow is used to transport the rainwater to the garden area, utilizing a milk cartoon carrier(or egg carton carrier)as a baffle to prevent spillage due to wave action when moving the wheelbarrow.

In extreme dry conditions it is necessary to use tap water.The tap water is delivered to the plant root system using a water wand cut off and pushed into the requires area. I call it the Magic Water Wand. In the main garden it is quick to walk along a row and push the wand into the ground every few feet and get the water to roots, where it is required.The foliage is not wetted, and there is little wastage of water.

http://durgan.org/URL/?ARLGN 28 May 2009 Watering Plant Roots.
This method gets water to the root area of the plants. The hydraulic effect of the water makes pushing the wand into the ground effortless. The device is made by cutting off the end of a typical water garden wand as sold in most hardware stores.

 

[Durgan]

Interesting. What is your recommendation when hose watering tomato plants etc outside. How long do you water plants til you think water has reached the roots?

I usually go for about a pail full, around a gallon or so. If using the hose I run water in a pail and time it. Usually around a minute. Then jam the magic want into the ground near the root for the selected time. Also around the tomato root I make a small depression and dump the pail of water into this hollow so it doesn't runaway. This is when watering by pail. This is done about every 6 days depending upon the weather so the job is quick and not onerous. People doing top watering seldom get the wetness to the full root so most of the water is almost a total waste.