Monroe County Master Gardener Association

Naida sent this article for a reminder to us all:
Wanted to give all my gardening friends a heads up on a problem you may
not have experienced. Several days ago I decided it was time to start my
“Big Mama” and “Super Sauce Hybrid” tomato seeds. First I had to clear
a path inside my potting shed, where all my large summer garden
containers and statuaries were in winter storage, but managed to get to
the seed starting mix and a tray to bring to the house and sterilize.
I was concerned because the mix was several years old and the zip lock
top had opened allowing the soil to dry out, so I called Jennie to see
if she thought it would be good to use. She assured me that it would be
fine but to make sure to wet it thoroughly.
That done I filled each cube with my starting soil and set it in the
sink to absorb water. Day 2 – noticed that the soil was still dry as a
bone so I filled a spray bottle with water and started spraying the top
of each cube. Day 3 – top looks wet but when digging down found soil
from center to the bottom still completely dry. I continued spraying
the top while still soaking in the sink – even had my husband spraying
every time he walked by – but soon realized that the water was just
running out the bottom without being absorbed in the mix. Day 5 – soil
still dry from center down so I emptied the tray into a large pan and
wet and mixed thoroughly – Mission Accomplished and a good lesson for
next year learned!
I now realize that my problem with seed germination last year (3 plants
germinated out of 25) was probably that the starting mix was not wet
enough.