You're welcome! Glad I could be of some help

@AnnofPA
Good for you doing the winter sowing and starting indoors. I don't really have a good place to put winter sow containers and I would rather start early indoors as few as I do. This year I am starting pretty late. I would say don't give up too quickly on your seeds indoors. Even though I had problems and lost quite a few, I do have some good looking seedlings. And I had my most recent seedling appear only about 3-4 days ago (seeds were sown 03/15 and the first of this type was up within a week, the rest at various points between). I debated putting this thread in the seeds forum or propagation but since I mainly follow this forum I thought there might be others that do the same so that is why I posted it here. My biggest mistakes were getting my mix too moist, not having my lights close enough to the seeds/seedlings. As for the light bulbs I am using, they are daylight fluorescents so they don't put out a lot of heat.
What I have left all are getting their first true leaves!! I am thrilled to say the least!! I have a decent amount of the Summer Jewel Lavender, one lone S Stolonifera , 2 leggy but healthy S Penny's Smile, and 5 S Guaranitica var Purpurea. I lost all of my S Alegria seedlings. I have one little seedling that just appeared within the last week and I am not sure whether it is Penny's Smile (which is what the cell it is in contained) or one of the S Guaranitica var purpurea that is in the next section that maybe landed in the wrong cell. It looks more like the latter but so small I can't be sure. Guess I will find out when it grows. Pics are of all 5 of my S Guaranitica var purpurea seedlings and then a pic of the first to appear and largest of them that is taking up better than half the cell now. The true leaves seem to be growing fast now. I still have no S Guaranitica Santa Maria seedlings but am going to leave them be because I don't need to use the container for anything else and just maybe I will yet get one or more.

@jg0613

Judy, your seedlings are looking good.

Thanks Judy! Your seeds look so good! I started my indoor seeds 3/19 and one started to green up but then blackened. I honestly think my light was too hot AND as you mentioned too much moisture. I only had 5 seeds to start, so I'm going to keep trying with them. I stopped using the light and have just been moving them to the sunniest windows. We're having a cold snap that makes it too cold to put them outside at the moment anyway. I appreciate your starting this thread. It's great to learn with and through others : )

I took a close look this morning, and one seed appears to be germinating, and I'm fairly certain a 2nd seed is close behind. That was brought about with just direct sun over the past 4-5 days. I selfishly would like all 5-6 seeds to germinate just to see any variation in this hybrid. I don't exactly know how much variation may even be possible. Maybe none, this is new to me. None the less, I'm hopeful that at least these 2 little guys will grow! : )

Ann that is wonderful! I am glad you are seeing some results. Don't give up! Just now I can see another S Guaranitica var purpurea starting (as in I can see the first green starting just slightly above the "soil" line! And tomorrow will be 3 weeks since the seeds were sown.

Also another very good milestone- my 2 largest Guaranitica var purpurea seedlings have their second pair of true leaves starting!! I hope they keep doing as well as they have been, and once that second pair of true leaves gets complete I can transplant them each into the 4 inch square pots they will grow in until they are ready to be planted outside.

Ann and Judy

Wonderful!

Boy have I been busy since my last progress post! My seeds from Rolando arrived Mon April 4. I sowed them Tues Eve the 5th. Used an 88 cent foil cake pan 8 x 12 in rectangular that came with a clear plastic cover similar to the dome on my other tray, making divisions with plastic plant labels tilted sideways to separate the types. Made my mix the same except added a little fine Perlite to aid drainage. Poked holes in the bottom of the foil pan for drainage. I did not sow all the seeds and did not make my mix too moist. I sowed half of the x Jamensis Javier, the Guaranitica var Violacea, and the complimentary S Squalens Bright Red that came with my order- only sowed about a third of the new Envy in case of primary dormancy (so I would have enough to sow some again if that happened plus some left over). I think this container allows light to get to the seeds more effectively. I am thrilled to report that as of this evening I have germination on all of the types and near 100%. Even have 2 Javier seedlings completely up and a few Violacea almost (the green seed leaves can be seen)!

As for my first batch, I transplanted them into new mix with perlite last night. I have 4 healthy Guaranitica var Purpurea, and the non leggy Penny's Smile which each were put in the 3 1/2 inch square pots. The 2 leggy Penny's Smile both got damaged so lost them- they were so leggy they were hard to handle. I decided to use a 6 pack of the smaller cells for the 6 Summer Jewel Lavender, putting each centered in its own cell. They were leggy but I was able to plant them with the excess stem below the soil and still have them and their roots straight.

Despite the losses of the first batch I have learned and am pleased with the successes. Am hoping for more success with the second batch.
Pics are- 2 largest Guaranitica var Purpurea, then the 2 smallest of those, next the Penny's Smile, and last the 6 pack of Summer Jewel Lavendar.

They look fantastic!

I agree. You have been a busy bee, Judy. Hope everything goes well.

I am pleased to report that both sets of seedlings I have sown are doing well. The first group is almost 1 month post sowing and growing faster now that they are settled in their larger containers. All have 2 pair of true leaves and the 2 largest Guaranitica var purpurea are getting their 3rd set! I am kind of surprised the seed leaves (proper term cotyledons) are still on all of the first batch- however the ones on the largest seedling are looking like they are getting ready to fall off.

The second batch, which are only 9 days post sowing, are doing well too! The x Jamensis Javier were the first up, at about 4-5 days, followed shortly by the Guaranitica var Violacea. I lost one Javier seedling of the first 4 so I have 3 left and they are also now getting their first true leaves. I did sow more seeds than I have seedlings so far but more may yet appear. If not I am more than satisfied with the quantity that have come up. The Guaranitica var Violacea seedlings look exactly like the Guaranitica var Purpurea ones did- guess that isn't too surprising as both are types of the species so I imagine they will continue to look alike until they bloom with their different colors.

Most exciting for me, I have 3 seedlings of the new Salvia Envy and a 4th one almost out of the seed coat. The only one with no seedlings is Squalens but they may yet, and only sowed 3 total of them. Pics are (top to bottom): Largest Guaranitica var Purpurea, the one Penny's Smile that made it, the Summer Jewel Lavendar, and then of the second batch the Javier, then the Guaranitica var Violacea, and the Envy (the newest of those is pretty tiny.

Judy

Hope your seedlings do well and all flower. Looking forward to seeing the blooms.

They look great Judy

I agree with Ronnie.

It was after 5 am EDT when I posted and I wasn't seeing too well, since I hadn't gone to sleep yet.

Well my little indoor project is growing. All of my first batch that were transplanted to individual 3 1/2 inch pots are thriving and growing.

With my second batch I think I actually had lights too close (thus heat) and my pan so shallow growth seemed stalled. So.. I went ahead and moved each into its own of the larger pots they will grow in till they go outside. I corrected the lighting as soon as I realized it. My 3 x Jamensis Javier initially looked good- they already had first true leaves and small second sets. However for some reason they have shriveled up from the leaves to the stems. Strange because none of the others did this and the stems still looked healthy. The 3 Envy seedlings look great- have 1-2 sets of true leaves. My Guaranitica var Violacea seedlings are growing in a way I can only describe as strange- at least very different from any of the others, even the Guaranitica var Purpurea. Instead of just a pair of leaves between the cotyledons there are multiple leaves sprouting. I am just watching them for now but meanwhile started a few new seeds- 1 each of Javier in the pots from the wilted ones, and a few more Violacea plus one more Envy and one S Squalens, which is the only type that produced no seedlings the first try. One reason I did this was to see if the Violacea grow the same way now that I have corrected the problems.

I am learning by doing and really am enjoying this. I definitely plan to keep growing some from seed, especially some not hardy in my zone. Pics are in order: one of my Guaranitica var Purpurea, one of Sumner Jewel Lavender, 1 of the largest Guaranitica var Violacea, one of another of the Violacea, and finally the largest of the Envy seedlings.

Seedlings look good, Judy.

Thanks Marilyn and anyone else I forgot to thank. It helps having positive feedback. I think my first batch are big enough to begin to harden them off to outdoors, where I will let them grow a little longer in the pots before planting them in the ground. That is if the weather clears up for a few days. Today was stormy in the morning and again off and on all evening! I sure hope we get a few days break so the ground can dry enough to prepare the soil and planting holes.

Rain here lots this week and still more to come in the coming days.

Well I am still learning, some challenges but enough success that overall I am pleased. My first batch of seedlings are in the process of being hardened off to move outdoors and grow a bit more in their pots before planting in ground. I have the 4 S Guaranitica var Purpurea, 1 S Penny's Smile, 5 S Summer Jewel Lavender, and the 3 S Envy- all still doing well. I started 4 new S Guaranitica var Violacea to see if the first ones were growing so weird because of s problem, and yes they were! Because the 4 new ones are growing exactly like the var Purpurea did- they all have their seed leaves and 3 of the 4 have ONE pair true leaves with the fourth starting its first pair true leaves. Pretty sure the others got too hot from lights being too close.
Pics are, in order: the Guaranitica var Purpurea and Penny's Smile all together, the Summer Jewel Lavender, and last is all the Envy. As soon as the Guaranitica var Violacea get a second pair of true leaves I plan to harden them off to go outdoors as there really won't be a need for them to have to stay indoors since frost danger should be past.