Here's a tip to get the feel for things: Use a wooden skewer or chop stick or similar to test the moisture level of the container medium. Just poke the skewer all the way down to the bottom, leave it for a minute or so and pull it out. If the skewer is wet, you don't need to water yet. If it's dry, it's time to water.

The top layer can get really dry and the bottom still be sopping wet. This is bad.

I usually water completely, but, I also try to use a small enough container for the plant / roots to fill it out. In other words, I wouldn't put a new seedling in a 3-5 gallon container, or probably even a 1 gallon really. I go from sprout to 4" containers, then depending on the plant, either 1 Gal or 5 Gal. (or the garden).

Thanks for the info. Off to find a chopstick.

Found a wooden skewer. It came out dry. Watered from the bottom cup.

Thanks.

Sprinkled a touch of water on top also.

This post was edited by jifjifjif on Tue, Feb 12, 13 at 20:34

the chopstick or wooden k-bob skewer is a great way to tell if you need to water as tsheets said. I used to use them a lot. After a while, you will learn just by picking up the container if it is nearly dry or not. But if unsure, the wooden skewer method works great. You can get pack of about 50 of them about a foot or so long at Walmart for a buck. They are in the craft section and the housewares section.
Bruce

From one newbie to another...

With larger plants, you can actually wait until the leaves start to droop before deep watering. It is actually supposed to improve the roots by stressing in such a manner.

Ok. Thanks for the help, guys.