Hi!

How exciting! I'll give you the short version of my indoor planting experience. I like to start tomatoes, peppers, marigolds and gaillardia indoors. The troubles I've had include:

1) too lanky

2) difficult to "harden off"

I'm going to try to fix #1 lanky problem by keeping the plants closer to the bulbs (or the bulbs closer to the leaves). That means I'm going to have to adjust the lighting as they grow. That being said I wouldn't want to have to do that with Cosmos because they shoot up so fast and tall.

I think your snapdragons would do very well and what a glorious flower bed you will have. I would try the small trays and see how it goes. Knowing you won't keep the snapdragons in the tiny cells for months--they might stop growing taller and bigger--and just maintain themselves as their roots fill up the little space. Then as they acclimate to the outside and their roots have room to expand they can take off again. My experience with marigolds, tomatoes and peppers has been that I've never had to transplant them into larger containers before planting outside.

I've had more trouble with my baby plants when I started the seeds too soon. They sprouted up, started to grow, then fizzled out and died. I have to restrain myself from starting too soon. I don't know what zone you're in. I'm in zone 4/5 so I have to guard against freezing weather.

As a newbie can I ask you a favor? Do you mind setting up your messaging? If you click on someone's name (like xiangirl) it takes you to my page. In the top right corner there's a box that says MESSAGE. That allows people to email directly, give addresses and information without posting it to the threads. Then we don't attract stalkers. Also if you edit your username include your location at the end. You might put Samantha M (Alabama zone 7) or wherever you're from. That helps us know what USDA zone you're in, what seeds will do best in your area, fine-tune advice to your area.

I hope you get more answers. Please share photos of your set up and your successes! I'd love to see 72 blooming snapdragons! That would make my day! Sorry if I sound bossy--not trying to tell you what to do. Check out Gardening/Round Robin/FOTESS (Friends of the Earth Simple Swaps). We're a group that swaps seeds and cards once a month. We get to know each other better. If you're interested in joining a swap we'd love to have you.

Heidi

Oh...I'm not sure how you get to Round Robin if you're on your phone. That's the best way on the web. The app is a real piece of work!

Samantha, I'm interested in hearing what others have to say as well, since I'm planning on starting snapdragons and a few other annuals from seed indoors (typically I just start vegetables like tomatoes and peppers inside). I'm zone 6 and snapdragons are supposed to be started 8-10 weeks before the last frost date, so it's on my calendar to start mine anytime from Feb 4th-18th.

I'm also using 72 cell trays, and hoping that I won't have to pot them up at all inside! One thing to think about if you're using them for cut flowers is starting them in succession so you don't have them all blooming at the same time. For example, I plan to start 15-20 plants between Feb 4th and 18th, then another 15-20 a few weeks later so they mature at different times. Just a thought! Have you ever read Floret's blog? I think you might like it! http://www.floretflowers.com/2014/02/flower-focus-snapdragons-2/

If you don't want to deal with transplanting large seedlings, snapdragon seeds are very tiny, you should start the seeds all together in a big pot, then transplant the tiny seedlings one to a container, bigger than the 1.5 inch you have planned.

If using fluorescent lighting, keep the plants no more than 1 inch from the light to prevent stretching.

Tomatoes start in large cell paks to begin with (3"). The earlier you start seeds, the larger the starter cells should be if you don't want to transplant. Be careful not to overwater. Plants like zinnia and marigolds can be started 2 weeks before last frost in small cells.

Air circulation is key to prevent dampoff fungus. A fan or slightly open window in the room will do.