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  • Pricking out seeds.

    When I am pricking out seeds I let the compost dry out a fair bit so as not to put weight on the roots. My neighbour tells me that is wrong and should give them a good drink first. Just wondering what do others recommend.
    Bob.

  • #2
    I'm a water first person - not soaking, but just wet enough that the bit of soil attached to the roots, as you move the seedling, is damp.

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    • #3
      I water first,seems easier to move the roots but what you’re doing isn’t wrong if you’re succeeding in doing it.
      Location : Essex

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      • #4
        I usually water the day before pricking out. The seedlings get moved into compost that's been watered an hour / couple of hours beforehand.

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        • #5
          I'm another one who waters first.
          Location....East Midlands.

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          • #6
            I water first too, before pricking seedlings out of a seed tray. However, I really don't enjoy that process, and I'm more and more inclined never to do it again, and use modules instead and sow in each module only what I want to keep in that module.
            https://nodigadventures.blogspot.com/

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            • #7
              I'd be reluctant to water just before pricking out. When I worked at the garden centre the seedlings we were potting on were in moist but not wet compost, and were pricked out into new compost that had not been watered. We then watered them well with a fine rose straight after pricking out.
              A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP. - Leonard Nimoy

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              • #8
                I don't water because I'm about to prick seeds out. I try to always keep the compost moist(not wet). I try to knock off any excessive compost from seedlings when pricking out but if it doesn't come off willingly, I just make a bigger hole with my dibber. Imo, drying seedlings out will stress them and risk bolting later.

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                • #9
                  I move the baby plants from propagator tray into new pot and then water to help settle them into the new compost. Same principle as dibbing in leeks, just smaller.

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                  • #10
                    I try to make sure the compost is always damp, rather than dry.
                    By "pricking out" I mean digging them out with a spoon or knife tip so that I take plenty of soil with them. I usually make fingertip size holes in the new pot and put the seedling in them. Then water the pots by standing them in a tray of water - not watering from the tops as the poor little things just keel over.

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                    • #11
                      As soon as I have them repotted I stick the tray in a tray of water and give them a good soak.
                      Friendly with the people that own the local nursery and they were showing me there potting machine. There compost is dry and gets spread over the pots/trays on a vibrating table to settle it in. The next machine makes a set of holes and the next pushes the plug plants out and they are lifted in to the new pots/trays and then sprayed with a mist like jet of water. They supply plants all over the U.K.
                      Love watching the speed with which it works.
                      Bob.

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by veggiechicken View Post
                        I try to make sure the compost is always damp, rather than dry.
                        By "pricking out" I mean digging them out with a spoon or knife tip so that I take plenty of soil with them. I usually make fingertip size holes in the new pot and put the seedling in them. Then water the pots by standing them in a tray of water - not watering from the tops as the poor little things just keel over.
                        Veggie Chicken, I'm thinking that is what has caused the problem with my onion seedlings-that I'm watering from the top not the bottom. Why is that?

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                        • #13
                          In my mind, watering from the bottom is gentler. Poor little seedlings have just been uprooted from their "home" and then they're hit with a jet of water that knocks them all over the place before they've had time to get the roots down.

                          Just me thinking like a seedling - probably totally wrong and there's a valid scientific reason that eludes me.

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by veggiechicken View Post
                            In my mind, watering from the bottom is gentler. Poor little seedlings have just been uprooted from their "home" and then they're hit with a jet of water that knocks them all over the place before they've had time to get the roots down.

                            Just me thinking like a seedling - probably totally wrong and there's a valid scientific reason that eludes me.
                            Your probably right, I think like that too. A bit like why I don't shove seedlings into large pots as they may feel less snug ��
                            But... In nature rain comes from above!!! Decisions decisions....

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by emarisa28 View Post
                              But... In nature rain comes from above!!! Decisions decisions....
                              Rain drops are much lighter than water coming from a watering can.
                              I water most of my seeds/plants from the bottom.

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