Usually the pots sit in a tray, and there is some water in the tray. If they are in a tray with any water on the bottom, they will be fine. After the water run out, it needs to be replenished, immediately if in the hot sun, within a day in more temperate situations.

You mean the pots sit in a tray of water for 24/7. That would make the soil very soggy - especially my peat based potting soil.

Especially your peat based potting soil needs this, because while peat holds water, it also dries out and pulls water away from the roots. The best way to water is from the bottom.

That said, you don't want to let the pots stand constantly in water. Let the tray dry, then add more.

Too wet, the seedlings get "damping off" and die. Too dry, they wilt and die. Where you live, in the dry heat with such a strong sun, I tend to say more water rather than less.

Seedling root growth can be suprisingly rapid, more so than green growth aboveground. But you don't say what kind of seedlings these are, and that makes a difference.

My seedlings are inside right now therefore they don't face the hot sun except for the early morning sun. They are cucumber, pepper and tomato.

My real problem is to determine when the soil has dried out. The surface does get very dry (because of the fan that is constantly running near them), - so dry that it becomes very hard over the top. But down under I am guessing it is not dry. Now because there are quite a few seedling in each pot, it is difficult for me to determine the moisture level down under (not enough space to put my finger in to determine the condition under the surface).

Therefore I usually just mist the top with a sprinke of water to ease the hardness off the surface. That is a little bit. Is that ok?

For the overall bottom watering I use the weight as an indicator that it is dry after which I bottom water. Inside that happens around every 4-5 days.

I donâÂÂt generally have a fan on my seedlings. I do water from the bottom. When I notice the top is getting dry, itâÂÂs a good indicator that the water in the bottom of the tray has been all soaked up. I will typically add an 8th to a 4th of an inch to the bottom. The idea is to keep the soil moist but not soggy.

You could try to stick a bamboo skewer or something thin like that in the side of one of your pots then see if the skewer is picking up any moisture. If so you could probably put some grit on-top of the soil to stop it from drying out so much.

Good Luck!!