[andy135]

Before, after, or do you leave them to use whatever is already in the soil?

[BostonInbred]

water  straight away with a fine can. sometimes i put them in a tray of water and let capillary action do the job.,

[viettaclark]

Seeds need to be damp to start the process of germination, but not boggy!!!
You can sit your pots in a water bath so the compost soaks up the moisture and the root structure develops well by seeking moisture downwards.

[peapod]

Or you can water about an hour before..let it settle in and drain excess off, and then plant

Ask a few gardeners get many answers!

[solway cropper]

I water before sowing and then cover the seeds with moist compost. It might be fanciful but I figure that if the water's below the seeds they'll send roots down to look for it.

[Dan78]

i water before too as my watering can splashes the compost all over the place!! will get myself a new one at some point

Sorry to but in but im planting my onion sets this weekend.. should i water after planting them ?

[JayG]

Do you water when you sow seeds?

Yes (but I'm hoping my GP can suggest a cure!)

(Sorry, seems to have been that sort of day!) 

[Kristen]

I read this as an outdoor sowing question, is it?

This time of the year I doubt water is needed, but if the soil is dry I draw a drill, water it (from spout, not using a rose), leave it a while to drain in, and then sow and back-fill the drill.

Seems like a lot of "technical terms" in that paragraph, might be all Greek to a non gardener

[Ivah]

That's a criticism I have about the much improved GW - they are still very haphazard about seed sowing and watering. Or maybe I am just too fussy!
The early sowings in propagator or heated greenhouse I am particularly careful with. I fill the containers and water with slightly warm Cheshunt solution and let them drain. I then put them where they are going to be sown, pg or gh, for a day to settle to that temperature before I sow. I cover either with vermiculite or a mixture of fine compost and vermiculite depending on the size of the seed. I have a spray bottle of water kept at the same temperature, i.e. in pg or gh, and lightly spray over them daily. They don't get a normal watering until they are quite well on, probably first proper leaves.

[Kristen]

I do almost identical to you Ivah.

I put clear plastic covers over the seed trays (whether in propagator or not) and don't water at all until they come off (when seed has germinated) as the condensation that forms on the cover just runs back down to the compost.

My seedlings this year have looked very sub-par. I think I got the compost too wet by "soaking" prior to sowing seed, so for my later batches I have changed to getting the compost to the right moisture "feel" on my potting bench, and then filling the trays - i.e. no further watering beyond that. I reckon I had no air in the compost from getting it too wet during the soaking-and-draining phase, but that is what I've always done before.

This season I was using remains of last year's seed compost and it was very dry, so my re-wetting by soaking may have been wrong.

[Lupin lurcher]

I have done it that way as well and use a spray, glad Ive done something right.

[Loubs]

May I confess to not very careful slap-dash haphazard watering of pots using tap-water or tipping the condensation from the propagator lid back over the pots, that seems to work for me?

Or occasional leaving of trays of pots & seeds soaking in water for several days (only meant to leave them in for an hour but got a bit distracted). Which also works for me....