Sol,
This what I do.
Because my seedlings are pushed I can give at least a preliminary evaluation in year one. At that point I pull probably 0.2% of the seedlings out of the seedling bed to examine further. These are generally seedlings with incredible color, interesting form, neat patterns or extreme size. Oddly enough some of these do not pan out in a second year and are discarded. They were just "one year heroes" or I've thought too highly of it in the first place.
By year two, many of my seedlings are clumps. They generally look as they appear at that point from then on so I can pull the interesting ones for further evaluation. In my crowded seedling bed I can't discern whether they are going to make pretty clumps so they are grown in spots of their own. Those that make pretty clumps and are excellent on all other points are considered for introduction.
I do keep a few other things for breeding stock. So I've kept 8 of the F1 'Killer' X 'Denise's Cobweb' as I use them as parents each year. None of them produce lots of seed and each seems to produce a different set of offspring. I also have one small red that is a SCREAMING red but is a horrible plant in every other way. That one may disappear this year as it just makes me angry!
As my lines progress, the seedlings from those lines become more and more perfect and there are few duds in those rows. For example, there are 10 rows of seedlings from a red that I just named 'Red Zinger'. It gets up to 8" in diameter for me and is a good bright red that holds its color. There is not a bad seedling in that whole group. I have marked three to separate and observe but I expect I will pull more next year too.
I do evict some seedlings early if any show rot or insipid colors. No sense coddling something.
Kevin
