Hi everyone So, after planting the seed last saturday the seed germinated, i have a little sprout about 1cm tall, it lost the seed cap already. Before planting i watered the pot thorougougly till run off. (with phed water) After that i sprayed phed on the surface every other day. (last time was yesterday, just after it emerged). I am very scared not to give it enough water; Coco is very weird to feel, it feel moist everytime to me, even the fresh one in the bag feel kind of moist. My pot feel moist in the surface, but if you go like 4 inches deep it is probably not that moist as when i sprayed water i tried not to give too muhc, but just enough to moist the first few centimeters. Anyway it is in a large pot, about 15liters, maybe 18, under 60w cfl for now at bout 4 inches away. Shall I give it proper water to the whole coco pot or shall I just keep using the spray water for the surface now that is still small?and most importantly, how often shall I water my seedlings in coco (they emerged yesterday, cap is lost, just 2 embroyonic leaves preent)? I am scared that just spraaying water on the surface won't reach the roots. Also, reading online, many people suggest to start with coco a and b nutes straight after the seed cap is lost, starting at about 1/4 strenght or something. SHall I start giving it these? if yes shall I just stick to spraying the solution on the surface or am I supposed to water the whole thing; it is really small, i am scared to drown the lady. Please some reply to this. I have been seraching everywhere online, but I didn t find anything to clear and I found too many divergent opinions.
No need to drench the whole pot for the moment mate, just a little water around the plant when it feels dry 1/2 inch below the soil.....over watering is more risky to the seedling really, so a little bit at a time and you will be fine.
Oh and nutes are needed early on in coco, but for the first few weeks I would stick with 10-20% rec amount, then gradually up the dose along the way, as with the watering, it's better to give a little less than a little more.
Agreed, avoid watering it too much. When your plant is 6 weeks old, it will have roots all throughout the coco and will be able to absorb all the water, but how much water can a 1cm seedling actually use? Not much, but it can sit in soaking wet roots for a week and then rot to death. All the advice about runoff and stuff you may read can't apply to a small plant in a large pot. As long as the main pot isn't dry, just water like half a cup around the actual stem until the plant is bigger. Much the same with nutes, it is small and has tiny roots so although it does need some food, it is a baby so keep it light and easy. Less is more, and work up as the plant grows.