Couldn't wait. My 2 oz cups have never had fertilizer in the media and were getting almost dry. These cups have several plants growing in them so they were the priority.

Was easier than I thought. Filled the tray about halfway up the cups and in a minute or two, I could see the sand on top suddenly looked saturated. I used a turkey baster and emptied all the fert/water out of the tray and am (I think) good to go.

I still have the larger 3 oz cups to do but they don't have very much growing in them so they can wait until Sat. or Sunday.

Thanks anyways!

:-)

I guess I should've mentioned, these 'cups' are for starting conifer seed, not growing plants. Whole different deal altogether. I actually want to water from the bottom. lol

Oh well, thanks anyways and sorry for any confusion.

:-)

you were clear..you did say you were starting seeds..I've only planted seeds outside in the ground when it's warm!..not the same at all..

Yeah,

I just went through a bout of damping off (indoor seeds) and bottom watering is one of the things recommended to 'help prevent' that. Not sure if it does but I'm being abundantly cautious.

The amount of fertilizers are at very low levels, like 1/4 of what the MG labels tell you and it will only be for the first month, by then the plants aren't supposed to be as susceptible to the fungus. :-)

maybe someday I'll start seeds inside..I have enough of a mess overwintering plants..my husband would kill me if I had tables of seed trays,grow lights etc..

I have never codified how I do it but I always bottom water when starting seeds. Watering from above disturbs the seeds and risks damp off. First time I add water until the mix is dark on top. After that I water only when the mix is clearly dry. It's easier to perk up a slightly thirsty seedling than to reverse overwatering. I don't use lights or heat. Damping off is exceptionally rare, maybe once every few years.

I do the opposite. Always water from the top. But then I mainly use 511 mix for most seeds and cuttings and sometimes use gritty mix too. Usually I would use a humidity dome till the seedlings have one or two sets of true leaves. For small seeds I put a thin layer of coco-peat or peat moss whichever is handy. Damp off is very rare since the top never stays too wet with either of the mixes. Neither 511 or gritty is amenable to bottom watering - well they are designed to prevent wicking up too much in the first place.

Thanks everyone!

i had very little trouble last year with only a few tiny Tsuga canadensis seedlings damping off. But this year it's like a plague.