I am just now getting the hang of growing seeds [and thanks to lots of advice on the forums]. Last fall I discovered the same thing Natalie uses - round cotton pads. I leave my seeds in the fridge until I want to start them. I then mix a bowl of distilled water/hydrogen peroxide [1 T to 1 Cup]. I put a bit of this solution in each of the plastic baggies the seeds are in, put them in a colored plastic cup and put them in a dark pantry. I start checking after 4 days [usually sooner as I am curious]. When I see the little white nub [called a radicle] coming out of the seed, I get another plastic baggie, label it I use stick on labels that I write on with a Sharpie pen - Walmart, baggies come from craft section there], moisten a cotton pad and squeeze out excess and put seeds in. If there are only a few, I fold it over. If there are lots [I had all 7 out of one batch germinate at once] I get 2 pads and make a "sandwich". I put all these bags in a clear plastic cup and place in a bright window. I start checking in about 4 days to see if there is any green. I put my latest batch on the windowsill March 23 - as of yesterday, most started to show green. I will let the little root get a bit longer and see the beginnings of a tiny green leaf, then I will plant them. I use sterilized leftover containers from the annuals I buy and use a seed starting mix. I poke a hole, put the root facing downward, a pair of tweezers helps position the seed in the hole. I cover with fine sand [can get a bag in the aquarium section at Walmart] and sprinkle over the top to cover. Sand seems to help with gnats. I will put this in whatever it fits in so I can keep a level of water in the bottom - aluminum roasting pans work well, and I have ordered some of the seedling trays that fit perfectly. I have a shelf in my garage that gets bright light all day and this seems perfect for them. When they start growing leaves, I put a few alfalfa pellets around the seedlings - this has really greened them up and they are growing well. I spray leaves with fish emulsion and am going to try kelp. After getting some advice from the forum, am now going to start very lightly fertilizing with some liquid fertilizer. I found that the roots grow really fast and they will need to be repotted [or planted outside] in a few weeks. I think the coddling in the pots really helps, plus I enjoy fiddling with them. I have found also that my bare root roses do better with being first grown out in pots. My daylily seedlings that I started last fall are outside and growing well and I am watching them closely to see if any need repotting in larger pots - I already have quite a few that moved up in the bigger pots. I don't have a bed ready for them to be planted outside just yet, so they will stay in pots for awhile. I also am organized about the labeling as I want to know what the crosses are - from seeds I have ordered from the Lily Auction and ones I hybridized myself. To me, its no fun to see seeds bloom if you don't know the parentage. So I keep detailed records on my computer, but try to make it simple. For 2014 crosses - I label thusly: 14-01, 14-02, etc. I can put this number easily on a label in the pot - then refer back to it on the computer like this: 14-01 - Alice du Pont x Barbara Burkheart - then add any dates of potting, other information I want.
Everyone gets their own system and I have learned so much from asking questions and reading about what other people do. This works for me - I am still learning about fertilizing so still ask lots of questions. I will eventually get my seedlings up to 1 gallon pots and will probably put them in a kiddie pool with bottom water/fertilizer to grow out for the rest of the year. Tommy Maddox, a talented hybridizer, has been water pools for all his seedlings. Here is a photo of my sprouted seeds on a cotton pad. Good luck and have fun!
Judith
