I mentioned this in my grow blog but am now realizing its a little more complicated. For some reason, the cells in my seed trays are drying unevenly, the middle rows of cells seem to become bone dry all the way to the bottom after 3-4 days whereas the cells on the left and right most rows remain damp for nearly weeks at a time. When I bottom water, the bone dry cells will not absorb any water no matter how long I wait. I know this is a silly question so my apologies but what should I do about this? Continue to bottom water and top water the bone dry cells if they wont absorb water?
Question on uneven drying/absorbing of water in seed trays
- Thread starter manfisher
- Start date
There are four possibilities that I see:
EDIT: I suppose that another possibility is that the soil in the center cells is so dry, and the bottom watering is so minimal, that they simply don't have a chance to rehydrate enough to start wicking the water. A remedy for that would be to dribble water into the top of those cells—enough for it to make its way to the bottom of the cell, then do a good bottom soaking.
- the soil mix is different
- the tray is not flat
- the affected cells have blocked or inadequate holes in the bottom
- artificial lighting is dramatically different over the affected cells
EDIT: I suppose that another possibility is that the soil in the center cells is so dry, and the bottom watering is so minimal, that they simply don't have a chance to rehydrate enough to start wicking the water. A remedy for that would be to dribble water into the top of those cells—enough for it to make its way to the bottom of the cell, then do a good bottom soaking.
Last edited:
This is my thought. The soil was so dry that it was hydrophobic when I top watered it, had to really soak it before it absorbed. Since it was dry all the way through, I am assuming that the hydrophobia prevented water from being absorbed. I think my new plan of attack is to make sure those cells that dry our are always slightly moist so that when I bottom water, theres room for water to be absorbed.
