It’s summer. It’s hot. We’re in the middle of a drought. There are water restrictions. How on earth are you meant to keep seedlings alive and thriving?

Baby seedlings are sensitive and needy. Forget to water them even once and you will likely lose most of them. I use the following tricks to help nurture my seedlings along.

1.Pre-germination

Although some seeds need light to germinate (hey statice, I’m looking at you) most seeds do just fine in the dark. When very hot weather is predicted, or there is a drying wind, I cover my freshly planted seedling trays with wet hessian sacks. Thoroughly water the seedling tray, then soak the hessian bag and place over the tray. If the bag dries out, water the bag, leaving it over the seedlings. This is a great method to ensure seed raising mix does not dry out and cause germination to fail. Lift the bag and check daily for signs of growth. Remover the bag as soon as any seedlings emerge.

2. Just germinated

If seed raising mix dries out at this critical stage you will lose your baby seedlings. I recommend keeping seedlings sitting in shallow trays that can hold a small amount of water, and watering into the tray. Don’t use metal trays as they will rust. Look out for second-hand plastic food serving trays or lids of plastic boxes in op shops and give that plastic another life (and stop it going into landfill). The shallow trays will allow the seedlings to wick up water as needed. Just make sure you empty the water each night o ensure seeds don’t rot.

A great trick during less hot months is to place seedlings directly onto wet hessian bags. This acts as a sort of wicking bed, and as it sits in direct contact with the soil in the seedling pots it keeps the bottom of the seedling pots from drying out. It doesn’t work so well on really hot days, but is terrific during cooler spring and autumn.

3.Leaving seedlings for the day

We all work, and even if we don’t, there are times when we all need to go out for the day. Although those that work from home do have a great advantage in that they can check seedlings regularly and water as needed, for those of us that have commitments outside the home it is great to have a failproof method up your sleeve to keep your seedling babies alive. I highly recommend a combination of the methods outlined above, combined with a deep tray method - think plastic storage boxes - with enough water to ensure it comes up about halfway on seedling pots. Seedlings will stay well hydrated, but cannot sit in that level of water for more than about 24 hours without risking rot.

I have teenagers who are ‘supposed’ to water for me in my absence, but I do like a backup system. This deep tray system works for me, even if I need to go away for a night.

4.Saving on water

This is really important, not just because we are in a drought, but every day. You can go as hardcore as you like, or take less rigorous options, but literally every drop you save counts.

For example, I love tea. I start my very early morning (5am) with a pot. And as everyone knows, you need to warm the pot before you make your tea. I recycle the hot water I use to warm the pot by pouring it either into the compost directly, or into a watering can to put out on the garden later. You might have a composting toilet - bravo! - but we do the best with big things (like using the grey water from the laundry on our fruit trees) to the little (like using the water from tea-pot warming).