only thing I see is your seed mix looks very wet

It does look pretty wet, but that might be the photo. If it is wet and you haven't planted the seeds yet allow it to dry out a little first. Make sure it can drain freely and doesn't sit in water. A small fan off to the side will keep the air circulating. Other than the possible wet soil it looks good. Once the seeds germinate water from the bottom and lower the light to just above the seedlings. This will keep them from reaching and becoming leggy. Good luck with your marigolds.
Karyn

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so i propped up the lid a bit and I will remove it totally tonight when i get home.

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and i added a fan!

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That looks great and now that the seeds have germinated get rid of the lid completely. You can raise the light as the seedlings grow. Since fluorescents burn cool you can almost have them touching the plants. You can also allow the surface of the soil to dry a bit between waterings and give them water from the bottom. As soon as you get true leaves you can give them a diluted fertilizer.

Karyn

Thanks karyn!

so I added a second light but I am going to end up with 4 total before the end of this weekend

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my germination rate is not great but it has only been 4 days. package says 5-8 days for germ

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and the little guys look like this

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how does it look to you?

You're doing it just right! It's not as tricky as it seems. I've grown from seed almost every year but I'm sitting here reading the garden web instead of getting my New Zealand Delphinium seeds going. I'm such a dork! I have a similar set up to you and it works out great.

I was wondering if you got the pellets at WalMart?

got the whole kit at Lowes, but they also sell pellets solo.

I was wondering because the ones I got at Walmart are all apart on the top like yours.
The Jiffy pellets have the netting hold together on top better

I actually pulled them apart. The instructions said to gently pull the tops open and rough up the peat a little.
they would have been pretty closed if i didnt....

regaldozer

are u going to transplant or leave it as is??

thanks
crystal

y'know what Crystal, that is a really good question. I guess I was hoping to let them just stay in the peat until I can plant them in the garden. they are a dwarf variety so they should stay fairly small. I can't really plant until mid/late May....

LOL, I never read instructions on the pellet box, just use warm water overnight and they open up with out having to mess around. But then again I only use pellet for the geraniums and they get bumped up after 2nd set true leaves.
Marigolds and Zinnias I use baking pans with plastic clear lids. Slit one on the bottom so they can suck up water and place another over that so I can bottom water. I start tons of annuals in those baking pans and at 2 inches of soil they can hold till they get planted outside. That way I can start may more varieties under the lights, and if one of the pans hasn't germinated as fast as the other then lids can stay on till they are ready.
The clear lids under shop lights doesn't fry seedlings like the sun will, also.

Looks to me that your seedlings are off to a great start! I have used the pellets for a number of years to start a variety of flowers and tomatoes.

Regarding transplanting, I do transplant the seedlings into 3-inch pots. I find that the plants outgrow the pellets quite quickly--roots start showing through, and it can be difficult to keep them from drying out. So once I know I have good healthy seedlings, they can be transplanted any time. (Of course this takes MUCH more space under lights, but that's what happens!)

The variety of plants (e.g. dwarf), or your climate may make a difference. I live in Alberta, Canada, and plants cannot go outside until late May/early June, so by that time they are far too large for the pellets.

Just some friendly feedback!

The reason I brought the transplant question is when I recently transplanted I lost ALL my plants. I was growing marigolds and sunflower and they came real good. I then transplanted into 3 inch peat pots I bought in lowes using a starter soil with little fertilzer mixed in. They did fine for a few days and then oneby one all died approx 48 of them. feel really bad dont know what i did wrong. probably did not water them enough or not enogh light.
I live in zone 8.
Thanks
crystal