Hi and congrats on the new sprouts. Any of the seeds that have actually germinated will need to be potted up ASAP. You can use stryo or larger plastic cups with drainage holes. I prefer plastic, but it really doesn't matter. The seeds that didn't germinate you can dry and store them in plastic baggies in the fridge until you're ready to start them. A good rule of thumb for planting depth, is to plant at least as deep as the seed is wide....in most cases that would be about 1/4" deep or slightly deeper. Make sure that the soil is damp, but not overly wet. You don't want your seedlings to damp off due to excess moisture. Leave the baggies on your cups until you see green that is a couple inches high and then remove the baggie. I'm not an expert, but this is what has worked for me.

Linda

Do a search on this forum for seed starting. Several of us who were new to this had a few threads going last winter and there were lots of very good tips in them.

The only thing I would add to Linda's comments is that I learned the hard way about fungus gnats last year. Somehow I got the luck of the draw for my seedlings to get infested. I lost more than half my seedling crop to them. These seeds are large enough and the seed casings hard enough that the adult gnats will lay their eggs in the seed casing so that the larvae will eat up the roots before the seedling has a chance to get started. All potting soils contain gnat eggs so you can't totally avoid them.

After many suggestions from many experts I landed on 2 things that worked and it is important to start them before you see any of those pests getting started.

The first thing I do is stir boiling water through the potting soil and let it cool before planting. That helps to reduce the number of gnat larvae that hatch.

The second thing I do is add mosquito dunk to any water I use on the seedlings or I use the mosquito granuals mixed into the top of the soil. I water from the top to make sure the BT in the mosquito treatment is effective.

Do a search on this forum for seed starting. Several of us who were new to this had a few threads going last winter and there were lots of very good tips in them.

The only thing I would add to Linda's comments is that I learned the hard way about fungus gnats last year. Somehow I got the luck of the draw for my seedlings to get infested. I lost more than half my seedling crop to them. These seeds are large enough and the seed casings hard enough that the adult gnats will lay their eggs in the seed casing so that the larvae will eat up the roots before the seedling has a chance to get started. All potting soils contain gnat eggs so you can't totally avoid them.

After many suggestions from many experts I landed on 2 things that worked and it is important to start them before you see any of those pests getting started.

The first thing I do is stir boiling water through the potting soil and let it cool before planting. That helps to reduce the number of gnat larvae that hatch.

The second thing I do is add mosquito dunk to any water I use on the seedlings or I use the mosquito granuals mixed into the top of the soil. I water from the top to make sure the BT in the mosquito treatment is effective.

The server/client connection hung up and I submitted my reply but had no indication that it was posted.

Thanks for the advice. I did indeed do the search and found the thread and printed it out for future use. I will use your suggestion of boiling water to reduce the problem of fungus gnats -- had never heard of this approach but it certainly sounds like a wise and effective approach. Fungus gnats are always a problem in the garden room! The only product I've ever found that kept them under control is called "Knock Out Gnats" and it's sold by a company called "Gardens Alive". I've included a link to the product below. It's the only thing that keeps my garden room free of gnats. It's a liquid that you just add to the water you're watering with, and it kills the larvae in the soil. MacThayer

Here is a link that might be useful: Garden's Alive! Direct Link to Knock Out Gnats

Thanks for the link. Liquid form would certainly be more convenient, although much more expensive than the dunks. One of the difficulties I had last year was that because the gnat larvae were in the seed casings they were protected from the liquid treatment.

When I started using the boiling water tip it just reduced the number of gnats that got started in the first place. It is messy but worth the effort.

Other methods to treat the soil, like freezing, did not work. One bag of soil I left outside frozen solid in single digit temps for over a month and the gnats were still just as bad.

BT treatments are so slow to work that the gnats can do a lot of damage before they die.

Suggest you use the eraser end of a pencil, and make a small oval depression in the soil. Place your sprouted seeds on their sides, with the root end turned down toward the soil. I cover my seeds with just a pinch of finely ground vermiculite, let the water run on the faucet until it is just a tiny stream, and wet the vermiculite. Works great for me! The bag of vermiculite will last a long time.
I cover my cups with ziplock sandwich bags loosely, and check them with a flashlight. Once I see green, I remove the bags. (I soak my seeds in 1 gallon of distilled water to which I add 6 tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide, and keep them in a dark closet. I do check them every day to remove those that have sprouted.) Once my seedlings have gotten their second set of leaves, I start adding one small scoop of Schultz's Expert All Purpose Plant Food to a gallon of water. I keep the cups in aluminum foil roasting pans filled with this solution.

Nancy

Thanks again for the advice! I did use boiling water to moisten the germinating mix. I mixed it up in a big pot I have, and left the top on for a while -- THAT should kill at least most of the eggs, I should think. I was hesitant to pour boiling water into my potting tray, which is a tough plastic, but plastic none-the-less. Has anyone ever done this? Has anyone ever used a microwave oven? I've heard that can be done, but I don't know the particulars. I did use the eraser end of a pencil to make the holes, and set the seeds as you suggested Nancy, right down to covering them with fine grade vermiculite, and watering in with a small drizzle of water. They are in plastic cups -- I think 20 ounce -- the big ones. I didn't have any styrofoam. I have poked many holes in the bottom so I can bottom water them, and they are sitting in a tray. I have just a 4 seeds in plastic bags in distilled water and peroxide sitting in my pantry (dark). I just wanted an even number of seedlings -- may as well fill up those cups! I chose fresh seeds that were nice and plump to begin with -- freshly picked and really healthy looking.
So I think I've got that right. Hopefully I will have seedlings this time! Do you keep water in the bottom at all times, or do you let it dry out?

As far as the Knock Out Gnats, I know the bottles can seem expensive, but I have only used 2 so far in my growing season (which began in early March) and I used quite a bit when I made up a propagation chamber because I was worried about keeping warm, constantly moist soil around (as in: ideal conditions for gnats!) So far, 4 months with the propagation chamber, two sets of cuttings grown, and no gnats. The stuff really persists in the soil. So those 2 bottles kept my garden room (with two grow sets of 3 shelves each) and a small greenhouse and a propagation chamber virtually free of gnats. At the first sign of a gnat, I started watering. Generally, it only took 2, or sometimes 3 waterings to eradicate the pests. And then it persists in the soil (without harming the plant) so any new gnats that hatch don't last long. If they never mature, there are no gnats to lay eggs inside of seeds, right?

I just saw a couple flying around, so I will start treatment now, and not put my seedlings in that room until all signs of infestation are gone.
MacThayer

My seeds are out on the porch (shaded) where the temperatures are in the 90's during the day, so I keep water in the pans all the time. I understand you should not let them dry out.

I do have a close daylily friend who is trying something a little different. She is planting them as described above, but not covering the seeds and she says they are all growing. I did that today, and will let you know how it goes. I do have some seeds that did not grow, even though they had sprouted. I should know if that works better in a few days, if Hurricane Ike doesn't run us out of the state! I hope not, because I am still tired from moving them all indoors and back out again during Hurricane Gustav's wanderings.

When poking holes in the plastic cups, I used an old long-tined kitchen fork, and heated it up on the gas burner before poking the holes. It makes it much easier. I used the plastic cups last year, but this year I bought a box of 500 styrofoam cups. It's much easier and faster to poke holes in them, and also to write the crosses with a Sharpie. The only thing I don't like about the 20-oz foam cups is that they are tall and too easy to tip over. I did buy a bag of rocks today, and am going to drop a few in the bottom of each cup to see if that helps make them more stable when put in the pans of water.

I do change the distilled water/peroxide solution at least every three days in all the bags. I also refill the bags with fresh solution if I remove any sprouted seeds.

This year I got lazy with so many seeds, so I skipped soaking many of them in the refrigerator for six weeks first. I think I had much better germination rate last year with the long soaking/chilling period. We also had a very dry summer, so I think perhaps that may have had an effect on the viability of the seeds, too.

Nancy

Sounds like you are well on your way!

As far as the microwave goes, several people suggested it to me last year too. However, I did not try that and here is why.

I'm sure it would work great on the gnat eggs but I would only use that method if I had a microwave that would never again be used for food. The microwaves super heat what ever they bump into. Potting soil has all kinds of minerals, even some level of metals in it. Super heating could release small particles of toxins or metals into the microwave which might then land on the interior only to be release when heated again...and this time land on your food. I felt it was better to be safe.

If the potting tray is heavy duty plastic it should be OK with boiling water pouring into it so long as the heat source is removed. But like you said, if you have any doubt that it might warp from the heat then don't use it.

When I used the boiling water I just set the soil filled cups in a sink and poured boiling water into them, stirred it up a bit. That way I didn't have to move wet dirt around between containers. That was just my personal preference. You can do it any way you like. It doesn't make a difference on how well it works.

Nancy, hope the storm doesn't run you off!

I used the jiffy peat pellets..poured boiling hot water over them to rehydrate and then place my already germinated seeds in them..and placed them under lights..didnt cover with baggies or anything..they did really well and I only bottom watered..once the roots started to really come through in the pellets then I transplanted them in styrofoam cup. I didnt worry about boiling the potting soil at this stage..they were decent size and the weather was warming up enough I just started getting them acclimated to the outdoors..they did fine..but I still only bottom fed them. didnt have any trouble with gnats or dampening off..

Mac

Due to a delay caused by the intervention of Hurricane Ike, I am just now able to give you the results of sowing the daylily seeds in cups without covering them. My friend was right -- not covering them resulted in much better and faster growth. You can always add a little potting soil on top of those where the roots or seed cases are showing once they start growing.

Nancy

Thanks for the addition Nancy. I will sow the rest of my seeds on the surface, just pressing them into the soil without covering them. It certainly makes sense! After all, when Mother Nature drops her seeds, they land on the soil, not under it, and with perhaps only a bit of "newly developed natural mulch" from that season to cover them. Perhaps having the light on the seeds also help them to grow faster. Whatever! If it works, that's what I'm going to do! Thanks again for the advice! MacThayer