And a second question, will seedling fertilizer hurt the ungerminated seeds? I thought it might burn them?

Zippity,
1--You are too impatient. 5 days in not a long time in this case. More will probably germinate.

2-- you shoul provide light once seeds germinate. It is not going to hear the seed in the soil. The light will not go through the soil. Look what happens out there in the nature; sun shines regardless. What youcan do islimit light hours an graduall increase it.

3- Do not fertilize now, wait until all have germinated.
I have a liquid 6-8-6 fertilizer. The directio says USE 1/4 TEASPOON PER GALLON to spray/mist seedlings. That is what I have been doing, even slightly weeker than that at this stage (!/6 teaspoon/gal). There is no need for deep watyering when they are so small. Plus, you can spray moe such that it will penetrates deeper.
I also learned this here on GW. I make camomile tea. Let it cool and added to my mist, as precausion to mold growth.

4- High humidity, has risks of mold growth and roting. I have mine in my bedroom and humidity is low, but I mist them often insted.
ONE more thing: I have just used good compost/garden soil, sifted it and mixed in some pearligh. I was going to add some peat moss too but I didn't. My compost/garden soil mixture is just as good.
SO FAR SO GOOD.

It starts to cause problems almost immediately so remove it. The rest can be misted as needed until they sprout. They will still germinate without the cover. In fact many of us don't use covers at all because of the problems they cause. ;)

Dave

PS: no fertilizer of any kind is needed until the second set of true leaves begins to develop so skip it for now. Everything the young seedling needs is available from the seed coat.

Zippity,

I typically sow anywhere from 15-100 seeds in a container at the same time. As soon as the very first hood pokes through the mix, the container goes under bright light.

Not a fan of misting plants or the mix, I continue bottom watering - it causes the roots to grow to the moisture.

Mike

I do not endorse any links or pop-ups this forum adds to my posts and find it most annoying and a piece of crap.

i have several seedlings of my own. i started 3 days ago and they are cover in plastic wrap and are under a bright lamp for about 10 hrs a day. Im i doing the right thing? this is my first time with vegetables, none of them have germinated.

rosabel,

Depending on what you planted and the temperature of the soil, you should see seedlings sprouting up about a week after the seeds were planted. Some things will take two weeks.

For light growing it is best to use a florescent lamp. The 4 foot long lamps called shop lights are not too expensive at stores such as Home Depot or Lowe's. Incandescents do not work well for growing plants.

When the plants start to grow the lamp should be kept as close as possible to the top of the plants and be kept on about 14 hours per day. A timer makes this easy.

If you don't use a florescent lamp, the next best method is to grow the seedlings in a bright, south facing window. The plants won't be quite as nice but will be OK and will grow well once they are outside.

Jim

Speaking of fluorescent shop lamps, I bought a box of 6500 kelvin bulbs. I recommend you look for similar bulbs.

Thanks!

Cyrus..I guess if I thought about what happens in the garden, I would've been OK. I have been growing cucs and zucchini from seed out there for a while. I throw the seeds in some dirt, water once and they germinate. Somehow its seems more difficult when you start to read about lights and germination temps, and such...

Dave..thanks for answering the lid question!

Mike..I like the bottom watering too. This is my first time using the set up and it is sooooo much easier than what I have tried in the past!

Thanks Jim extremely helpful. Should i then remove the lamp? will it do more harm then good? or should i live it untill i buy the florescent?

"Should i then remove the lamp? will it do more harm then good?"

I think you are referring to an incandescent lamp, so yes. Remove it. Incandescents give off a lot of heat which is not good for the seedlings when they emerge, especially if the plants are close to the bulb. I suggest waiting for the seedlings to start emerging, then place them in a bright window if you don't have the florescent by then.

Jim