Drowning my seedlings....

This is my first year growing plants from seed. I have fifteen 72 cell packs going and they all germinated fine. They are not big enough to transplant yet and for the past 3 weeks I have alternated between drowning them and having to let them dry out - only to start the whole cycle again. I then spent 8 hours meticulously figuring out with my moisture meter that each cell needs 1and 1/2 tsp. to be moderately moist for a day. Now I am hand feeding a total of 1,260 baby seedlings every morning so I don't kill them!!! I'm exhausted and there has to be a better way. Has anyone ever seen a watering can or device that measures out a specific amount of water that you can dial out or something to that effect? HELP! Sleepless in NJ...Please note, these are all set up on a rack in my dining room window.....the family is not pleased.

Can you water them from the bottom? Also, I've heard that chamomile tea is good to prevent damping off. Possibly a sprayer?

I tried watering them from the bottom, but evidently the trays I used are not meant for that purpose and the cells on the ends and corners were soaking wet and the middle were just damp. I've tried misting them but using the moisture meter, it takes me 65 sprays to get one cell to be moderately moist. I know I sound nuts that I actually measured off this stuff, but I've spent so much time trying to grow these seeds now, I'm becoming obsessed with not killing them. I realized too late that I planted too many and I'm trying to learn from my mistakes, but this is getting ridiculous!
What about the chamolile tea and how do you go about using it?

could you just set all your cell packs on a cookie sheet (with sides) and water from the bottom. Then put them back where they came from? I use those black plastic trays with the 4 or 6 pks in them and haven't had a problem. Good luck

Have you considered using a turkey baster, eyedropper, or plastic syringe to water with? Bummer about not being able to water from the bottom. :(

Put your energies into devising a way to water from the bottom--the seedlings will be much happier and so will you! The paks will suck up what they need--just be sure the tray is on a flat surface, and they'll all get it evenly--and you can tip out what hasn't been used. I've hundreds of plastic paks on the go at the moment; I find they don't need daily watering. Make sure they aren't in bright sun, either.

If you overwater them, a good remedy is more water with 10% by volume H202 in it (then drain). The added hydrogen peroxide will bring needed O2 to the roots.

Your first remark is the way to do it!
"Drown them, then let them dry out."
We have been growing 10s of 1000s of seedlings every year for 20 years.
Thats the way we water. Just don't water to often, as the roots need some air. If you have good bottom drainage, you can't drown them. We do set the trays in a pan of water to let them soak it up from the bottom. Leave them in there until you see the soil on top turning dark color, that indicates it is wet.
I don't what a moisture meter is, except for one that measures how dry a piece of lumber is.
Most of our watering is done with a wand on the end of a hose with 50lbs of water pressure. Soak them babies down!
Bernie

Thank you guys for all your help!!! I took up the cookie sheet idea and I lay the flats there until the top of the soil turns darker, then empty off remaining water. AHHHH I'm finally beginning to settle down. Only one tray of casualties!! I'm also going to try the Hydrogen Peroxide idea if I have another drowning episode going forward. Thank you all so much.

I had the same problem with watering. I finally come up with something that works pretty good. It still takes a long time to water.
I got the cheapest ($10.) pesticide sprayer. If you set it at the slowest and don't pump it more than once or twice, it works well. I was using a spray bottle to water the seedlings but that gets old really quick. Plus, it has a hose long enough to reach the back ones without taking the trays out all the time.
I know I should bottom water but that doesn't work very well with peat pots. You can't take the peat pots out without tearing them up.
I also use 1 part hydrogen peroxide to 19 parts water. I guess that's about 5%. I wish I could find it by the gallon. I'm using about 10 of the small bottles a week. Oh well. Small price to pay for no damping off.
I probably water too often too. Every day, or every other day. But I've lost some things waiting every other day.
Did you ever wonder why they call it a "Nursery". Takes a lot of time for those babies! : )
Hope that helps you a little.
Pam