Good news everyone! I started my impatiens March 1st and today is March 5th and they all are sprouting! Yay! I can barely believe how quick they germinated the packet says for one flat in 14-21 days the other flat ( different variety impatiens) says 21-28 days till germination. All I can say is thats a blessing for sure! I been keeping the light on the seeds 24/7 and it has been a steady temp between 73-78 (soil temp) since I turned the one out of two light fixtures off the second day. I will most likely remove the dome once the seeds have lost there shell. Then once they all are completely germinated I will turn the light off at night, it generally doesn't fall below 65f when the light is off. Does this sound like a good idea???

Carol I also root them, like Katkin, when I find a really great color and the plant is in a place (like a park or yard) where it is okay to snag a cutting. I get alot of "spent" plants from snow birds that have seedlings in the soil in the pots, so sometimes I just don't know what color they are. And I don't like all the wild, bright colors mixed up together, even though I love them separate and enmass. So for me, I like to keep reds and oranges away from pinks and lilacs. But I can't comment on if they come true or not . . . I never paid that much attention to them the way I do with crossing my hibiscus colors. My faves are the deep, rich purples. The only time I've ever eliminated any was when I got nine-hundred red babies, so I potted 'em all up as soon as they bloomed (even with only two leaves!) and gave 'em to my Sunday School class kids to give to their Mom's for Mother's Day. Sorry 'bout the exaggeration! Susie

not under humidity dome. Biggest cause of dampening off which i constantly fight. Two days ago spent all day at an annual grower that supplies all of west MI Home Depot. green houses as big as foot ball fields. Asked all kinds of questions. There starting mix is 80% peat, 12% vermiculite, 8% pearlite. Fanatical on hygene and eliminating pathogins. Even had to step on Chlorex soaked pads before entering green houses. Both for controlling disease to seedlings and for eleminating any disease as they ship across state lines. They do not cover seeds, was told almost all seeds germinate uncovered as they do in nature, My guide said no problem getting impatients going. Start New Guiney from cuttings, just stick into same potting mix and NO hormone powder---too harsh. The whole secret is humidity, heat and light They heat from bottom to 72. Air circulation important in eliminating dampening off, also keeping surface dry and using a sterile mix, They don't even use trays over again. Send to plastic recycler to grind up and remold. more efficient than a Chlorine wash. they Add 2% chlorine to water as they have well water. City water is 3.5% also use both a basic and acidic liquid fert added to misters and drip system. . I'm starting to add 2% chlorine as i have well water and have sterilized all starting medium in the microwave 3 min until it reaches 200. I am experimenting with some impatient seeds in a wet paper towel/plastic bag in a sunny window. This will determine rate of germination

The mistake I made when first planting impatiens is I buried the seed too deeply. Just place the seeds on top of the soil and lightly press them in, then water. I use a bottle with a spout similar to that of a shampoo bottle to water. It has an opening small enough to allow one drop of water at a time. Check often and don't let the soil dry out. You could put plastic over the planting tray, I don't do this because I wind up too often with moldy seeds. If you plant the seeds in the late winter in an unheated room, it will take a while for them to sprout so don't give up too soon. To be honest though, some mixes of certain varieties still fail for me, so then I'll try another variety, like instead of Accent, I'll try Sunny Lady for example. I collected seed from only burgundy colored impatiens last fall just to see what would happen. They sprouted and grew well. I got plants with burgundy flowers, but also got plants with salmon and with violet flowers too. The plants are all healthy and floriferous like the parent plant. I am satisfied with how everything turned out and am going to try collecting only white impatien seeds for next year.