I was surprised you didn't separate them when you transplanted them. They need to be separated and it is very easy to to. Then transplant them separately. No need to snip or thin unless you don't want the plants for some reason. And there is no need to plant them so high in the cup either. There is no reason for them to stick out above the top of the cup. Fill the 10oz. cup 1/3 full with wet soil, poke a hole in the center with your finger and stick in the plant and its root ball, then add more wet soil to bury the stem. If you can't plant out until mid-May then these will probably need to be transplanted a couple of times before then. Make it cooler in the area they are growing and go easy on feeding them to slow down growth. Seedlings, under normal conditions don't require feeding, it is just optional and the need for it all depends on the growing mix you are using. You can use what you wish but fish oil is mostly N so you will need to use a very small amount and only if well diluted to 1/4 or 1/2 strength and only once every 7-10 days max. The goal is root development, not top growth. You apparently want to grow organically, correct? If so that's fine but you need to understand how organic fertilizers and composts work, how they differ from synthetics, and why many of them aren't really useful in containers of any kind given the lack of active soil bacteria, the soil micro-herd that converts them to usable nutrients. You can compensate for the problem by using one of the quality organic growing mixes that include that bacteria. G&B makes a good Planting/Growing Mix that would work well but their Soil Amending Compost is intended to be mixed with soil (dirt) to work. Dave

The seeds won't germinate in the fridge, the fridge would just be used to give the seeds a moist chill to break dormancy if they do not germinate. Germinated seeds, seedlings are not kept in the fridge....those need light and would quickly perish inside your dark refrigerator. If not winter sowing, the suggestion for the usual pink/purple and white variety of coneflower, echinacea purpurea, is to sow and give them 3-4 weeks to germinate. If they don't germinate in that amount of time, move the seed pots to approx 40F (refrigerator) for 2-4 weeks, then bring them back to warm (and light) for germination. Likely early June before you have germination even if they germinate with no chill, best case scenario would be just a flower or two at best this season and I wouldn't count on it. Very few perennial plants are geared to performing their first year, the payoff comes with many years of color later in your garden.

Let them get at least their second set of leaves and then pot them up individually until they get bigger before putting in ground. When they get a few inches you can braid and put together.

Thanks for the help everyone. I ended up getting Purple Arachne anyway because I didn't have any spiders and I liked the name and most importantly the nursery had it. This thread did make me realize that I need more daylilies so I think I'll start a daylily garden next to my garage next year. Any idea where I can get Parma Violet or some of the other Munsons?