Probably not.....especially if the soil medium is of a wettish type.

I bring the containers out as soon as they start coming up. They go right to lights or even better...outside if warm enough. Now my lights are in a warmer area and the rest of the seeds come up fairly soon later.

Perhaps you can have a heater down in the basement until more seeds emerge.

It can be a problem when seeds are started in those 4, 6, and more cell packs.

Pop the whole thing into some kind of a container that can help keep in the heat. Maybe one of those underbed storage boxes or storage bins, and then put some clear plastic over the top. That would probably help.

What is the temperature of the soil mix? Optimum temperature for germination varies among plants but, for most, a temperature in the upper 70s F is good.

After seedlings get started, a cooler temperature is better.

Jim

Planting a variety of seeds in a one-piece flat of cells probably wasn't the best idea. You're going to have to grab a pair of scissors and just cut them apart. The ones that have sprouted have to come out from under the cover or they could be subject to all sorts of problems caused by excessive humidity. They have to be separated.

Yet another reason why I moved to coffee filters. It is very important that they all germinate at once.

glib
How do you use coffee filters? I have a pot maker that I use to make newspaper pots.
Keski

I had this same problem with my peppers.

I used four-packs and planted two seeds in each. I need one pepper in each to reach my eight plants.

One pepper sprouted well before the others. finally I am up to six cells with a pepper seedling now.

I have a "Planters Pride" heated greenhouse thing. it has the heating mat then a tray - and then a clear plastic cover. I've put it under fluorescent lights so the peppers that have already germinated will have light while waiting on the others.

In this picture, it is the clear thing way in the upper right corner. I don't have a good picture of it unfortunately.

{{gwi:29979}}

Here is a link that might be useful: My Garden Blog

I start seeds in those standard seed starting trays (72 cells with a clear lid) over a heat mat. I use a single 6-pack for each variety, with the goal of having all the seeds in a 6-pack germinate within a day or two of each other.

As soon as the first seeds germinate in a 6-pack, I take them out of the seed starting tray and put them under lights (no heat). But I found that with some vegetables (mostly spinach and lettuce) the ungerminated seeds in that 6-pack would often take 9 or 10 days more to germinate (for the same vegetable) and often would not germinate at all.

I now cut up the 6-packs of spinach and lettuce if some seeds have germinated and some have not. I move the newly germinated seeds under lights in a cool room and leave the rest of the 6-pack, with it's ungerminated seeds in the heated, lidded tray. I use small strips of duct tape to label cells of trays that have been cut up. Sometimes I only have to remove one or two of the cells and the rest germinate together. It's a pain, but I don't want to have a 10-day difference in the germination of seeds for the same type of vegetable.

I will continue to use the 72 cell starter cells, it's the best way for me to get a lot of different things started in a small space. I can get them cheap at Agway or online and they cut up easily with regular scissors.

The coffee filter thing didn't work for me, I found it too easy to damage the delicate roots and found it more labor intensive to get the seeds planted in a hurry once they sprouted. To each his/her own.

Coffee filters work for efficient sprouting. You need coffee filters, markers, ziploc bags, an enclosed space and a source of heat. In my case the enclosed space is an ice chest, the source of heat are two fluorescent lamps (incandescent bulbs are too hot), and with the help of a light sleeping bag, closing the lid more or less tightly, etc., I can get any temperature between 65 and 110 in there. Of course, I work at either 77-80 or 86-90 F.

Place seeds in coffee filter, place marker in filter, marked filter in ziploc bag, put some water inside so filter is thoroughly wet but there is no excess water (this takes a little practice), close ziploc, place ziploc in ice chest, and wait. Once seeds of a given variety start germinating (from one day to one week), wait 1 or 2 days, then transfer them to cell packs, together with their marker. You can have 20 filters in one ziploc, though I see no advantage in germinating cabbage, carrot or lettuce in there. I use it for all summer vegetables except beans, plus cardoon, onion, leek, parsley, celery. I also use it in the summer for Fall greens starting.

glib:

Do the roots grow into or thru the coffee filters? I have only used them for drying saved seed, as I am a lazy instant coffee drinker.

I use paper towels, plastic sandwich bags, and heat from my tropical fish aquarium to germinate my tomatoes and peppers, because I start so many I thought filters would be too expensive.

I have never bought them, but am still using those left-over after the departure of the last female to darken my life.

The tap root usually penetrates the towel, and I have to tear or cut it to free the seedling, so paper towels are less than optimal. Wondering if a small expenditure would be worthwhile in saving some of my less than valuable time.

You can even do it with tiolett tissue.
This way, I think, it would be easier to separate the sprouts by slight wetting. Also use a twizer to pick and transplant them.