DIY Self-watering Seed Starter Tray

While it’s best to stick around and monitor seed starter trays, you may anticipate being called away, leaving the sprouting seeds to fend for themselves if you don’t have a gardening buddy to call on. You can buy commercial kits to self-water the tray or make a reasonable facsimile yourself. Self-watering depends on a principle of physics called capillary action, which refers to the ability of water to move against gravity if it adheres to surfaces containing thin tubes or wicking fibers.

Capillary mat
Plug flat
Seed tray
Seed-starting mix
Clear rigid top
Reservoir tray

Instructions

- 1
  Lay a capillary mat, a specially engineered type of wicking fabric, on the bottom of your seed tray. Allow 6 inches of one end of the mat to roll up and over the side of the tray. Pour in enough water to moisten the mat.
- 2
  Place the plug flat, which contains three to six dozen individual cells to grow seeds, on top of the mat, within the seed tray. Press the plug flat down so that the bottom openings of each cell contact the mat.
- 3
  Fill the cells with sterile seed-starting mix and your seeds. Water the seed-starting mix. Place the clear rigid top that came with your seed tray on top. Move the seed starter tray out of direct sunlight in an area of around 72 degrees F without drafts. Beside the kitchen sink is a possibility, perhaps moving the drainage board out of the way.
- 4
  Lay the free end of the capillary mat in a tray of water that acts as a reservoir.
- 5
  Check the seeds upon your return. Remove the rigid top if the seeds have germinated and add water to the reservoir if needed.

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