I have my shelves in an unheated pantry. Granted we don't usually have southern temps this low (high 30's, low 40's) in our part of the country, but for the past several months they have been. As most of my seedlings are started in this unheated pantry, I noticed that the fluorescent lights themselves produce a goodly amount of heat. I raised the temps under those shelves recently to 70 degrees - not because of the seedlings, but because I wanted to heat up some fermenting sauerkraut - which needed that heat to continue to ferment. Anyway - I also use this approach for my seedlings. I enclosed the area around the seedlings with a cloth to further harness the warmth - and noted the thermometer registered near 70 degrees. Certainly warm enugh for broccolli and cole seedlings. You might try putting up some shelves, attaching fluorescent lights underneath, and see what the temp reading is. Bet it would work - unless your temps go way down - but another trick yet - I usually put my sprouted seedlings into yogurt sized cups, about 8 in all, which are then placed in a plastic shoe box (mostly to catch water). These boxes are easily obtained in various variety stores. A 2nd box placed over the top will create a greenhouse effect. I'll bet your little tads will be as cozy as a bug in a rug with this approach - and won't upset things in the OTHER nursery. Just my 2 c's. Bejay

It sounds like "damping off" a fungal infection. reducing watering & a fan will help. Also a fungalcidal drinch will help. Yes the mixture is partially at falt since both ingrediants retain moisture. Try 1:1 PERLITE & peatmoss

Hi Grace My answer may not help you at all but... I live in Sf and have grown dahlias out in the sunset for years (which is one of the worst environments for growing flowers) and in my opinion, you are causing more work than you need to for yourself. I NEVER have started my dahlias indoors, I never have dug them up for overwintering and I rarely even touch them after they bloom in year one. And I (just being honest) have a yard that is the envy of my friends and neighbors. Even in heavier rain years, I never worry about my tubers and in years like this, I find I have to go out and water in the winter in order for them to get ANY moisture. Do I lose dahlias? Sure do. But not often and usually only when I am lazy and allow the snails to have at em when they start sprouting. But if I lose a few (out of 90+ and counting), it gives me an excuse to buy more tubers the next year! You may well grow beautiful dahlias with all the dedication you are showing but for my money, it is much ado about nothing. Dahlias are hardy and once they get used to their environments, they last forever. And you know well in the sunset we get up to 2-3 months of NO SUN and heavy fog. So if I can grow beauties with little maintenance, I am sure you can also. If you prefer the high maintenance route, go for it. But I think you will find it a full time job because there will ALWAYS be something - mold, rot, lack of water, too much water, snails, too much heat (sun), not enough heat, freezing temps, long foggy months, staking, and maybe , just maybe, the tuber was no good from the get go DESPITE what you do! Good luck. And if you live in the sunset and want to see my yard some time, I have dahlias from May to November but the best month is August. Come on by!

In my experience tubers need: 1. Water 2. Light inside. When they go outside, the need soil. In other words, you could start them in wet newspapers and they'd likely eye up and sprout. Soil only comes into it when they sprout roots, and when you're starting tubers you're not really going after roots, you want sprouts. The more roots they grow indoors, the more work it is to transplant safely. I'd use the loosest soil you can find, and keep the tubers shallow in the mix. I started mine in a 50-50 mix of Miracle Grow Seed Starter and peat. Worked fine, but I doubt the soil had anything to do with anything. Cheers, Russ