josie13, first of all, condolences. This is great fun when things go well, and not at all fun when they don't.

Where are you located? (We don't need the name of your town; just the zone and a nearby city or area of a state will be enough.) What have the daily high and low temps been lately?

When you water, how long do you leave the pots/cells soaking before pouring off the excess water?

Have you taken a temperature reading in early/mid-afternoon inside the little greenhouse -- with the plastic cover closed?

Did you use a plastic dome over your seedlings? If so, when did you stop using it?

How many days old are the seedlings when they die? Do they have their first true leaves yet?

Hi, thank you for your response.
My zone is 5A, in the Hudson valley, near Poughkeepsie. Its been pretty cool; 40-50s, I keep the seedlings inside if its too cold. I stick them in the green house during the day when the sun hits it, I don't take the temperature... Its probably 60 in there, maybe a little higher.

I only use plastic wrap over my seedling trays when they're germinating on my heating mat, never after.

I would say I bottom water each try until it feels heavy, I don't leave it in the water more then a couple minutes, unless it still feels light. Never more then 4-5 minutes.

My flowers are doing ok, have their first true leaves popping up, a bunch died yesterday from the watering issue ( I started this a couple weeks ago). My tomatoes and other crops (kale, broccoli, etc.) just germinated a few days ago and are doing badly, The first couple germinated in each cell (4 cells per tray), so I took the ones with germinated seedlings off the mat, but the others didn't germinate within the cell/tray, and now the soil is dry on the surface. They started out ok, but I can't get the watering issue right and they are suffering. I just bottom watered them yesterday evening after the drying out issue, but some of the soil didn't get moist enough because it didn't absorb enough water (I'm NEVER using that soil-less crap again). Its frustrating. I know if I water again, they will die because of the stupid stem rot issue. I can't win.

Is your water by chance treated with something, like a water softner?

In regards to the soiless mix, I've always found it has to be pre moistened by hand(mixed, like when you're making meatloaf).
My mom uses miracle gro straight out of the bag and it stays dry and dusty looking for the entire season.

Larry

this is so strange! I just did a google search for "am i watering my seedlings too much" and clicked on this result. then I saw your response with your location, po-town...I live just over the river in Ulster County! Maybe it's the air around here. :-) My seedlings are struggling really bad too. And I brought in organic soil and am using a raised bed. I tried to companion plant as much as possible too. I don't know what's up. The side bed I threw in as a way to use up some soil is doing excellent. There is only about 2 or 3 inches of organic soil just placed on top of a turned area of the yard. And the beans peas, cukes, zucchini, \are all doing better in there! Did you ever solve your problem?

The trickiest things for me starting seeds are regulating temperature and watering. I have my seedlings under lights on a countertop in my craft room but there is a south facing window there too. I left the shades open a couple of days when temps were only 60's-70's and bunch got sun burned! So leaving them in a closed greenhouse type atmosphere I am sure could also do that. Plus, with the temperature in the greenhouse going up so much during the day, it may not be possible to keep them watered enough without over watering unless you are able to water them at least twice a day. Depending on how small the containers are that you are using and how large the plants are, they might get dried out before the day is over, even if they are adequately watered in the morning. Trying to water them more in that situation can cause root rot, which then makes it even harder for them to take up water. I have only been doing it a few years but there are a lot people here with tons of experience. I would suggest taking a picture of your setup with the plants in it and posting it here so they can evaluate all of that. A simple inexpensive thermometer placed inside on a sunny "cool" day when you will be home will tell you a lot. I got a couple at Home Depot or Lowes for about $2-3.00 that I use when I want to track how hot/cold it is getting in any room and even the garage when I am storing plants or perishables there.

cyanapanasati: If you planted outside it was probably too early in mid-state NY zone 5. The temperature fluctuations, combined with cold rainy nights, will cause odd and hard to diagnose problems.

Here in northern NJ, zone 6, it's long been said that you plant tomatoes after May 15th to avoid the temperature and weather fluctuations. If this "conventional wisdom" is even partly true for northern NJ, then those in NY state need to be a bit more careful imho.

Oftentimes your plants will grow faster, healthier, and produce fruit sooner, if they are planted out just a little later...it all depends on the weather.

Just my 2c

This post was edited by sjetski on Sun, May 19, 13 at 22:09