Do you have the native Wood or Celandine Poppy, Stylophorum diphyllum? If so, check to see if they are developing seed pods.(A very hairy, oval pod that hangs down under the leaves). Seed is the best way to establish a new colony. Wait until the pods begin to turn a tan color and start to split open, then remove the pods and place in a paper bag. Wait for about a week and shake the bag vigorously. The seed should become dislodged and ready for planting immediately. Don't delay planting them, as they lose viability very rapidly. I dig and move some to pots almost anytime. Take as much soil as you can with the roots, to avoid loss of turgidity. If they wilt a bit after transplanting, they will usually recover within a few days.

Elisabeth I use the 2 inch soil blocks. Soil blocks work great. As others have mentioned for large onions only one seed per block. I grew Candy in blocks and they were the largest of all the onions I grew last year. Start your seeds in the blocks and then when ready plant out spacing plants (not blocks) about 4 to 6 inches apart. Plant just deep enough that 1/4 inch of soil covers the block. It's that simple. There is one down side to blocks. A 1020 tray will only hold 36 two inch blocks. I want 200 storage onions this year so for me that would be 6 trays. That is half of my light area. From your post you are new to blocks so I will tell one thing that helped me. Get web trays and put them into the 1020 trays when you make your blocks. To bottom water I take another 1020 tray and put water in it and then lift the web tray containing the blocks and put that tray into the water. Let it sit till the blocks absorb the water then transfer the web tray back to the original tray. That makes it very easy to water the blocks. Good luck, Donnie Mac

The seedlings are growing their 2nd sets of true leaves...but how long can they stay in the soilless mix? When they're young, they basically live off their seed leaves. However, if they're working on their second set of true leaves, they're going to need some nutrients soon. You can start them off with a mild fertilizer solution (preferable) or get them into a richer soil mix.. And how long do they have to stay under the lights? Until they're hardened off outside, of course ;) I'd avoid transplanting unless you either need to thin out your seedlings or unless they outgrow their pots. Transplanting is generally a shock to plants. Will the plants be strong or even survive if they stay in soil-less mix and under florescent lights that long? Plants don't need soil to thrive. That's what hydroponics is ;) The sun is better than pretty much any light setup you'll build, but most plants can survive just fine under fluorescent lights, provided you make sure there's sufficient light. When the seedlings are 3" or 4" can they be moved to sunny windows and I can keep using the lights for the youngest plants? It depends on how sunny your windows are. You could consider supplementing them with additional light in their new location, if possible, such as a clip-on spotlight fixture with a bright CFL.

Horribly windy day . . . I was just reading over this thread and thinking. Earlier, I was looking at some seedling pictures, too. ~ sob ~ Will spring ever come?? First of all, I'm really looking forward to seeing how the orach is doing! A mother plant is always left in some corner to go to seed. Last year, Mother was right beside the compost pile - I may be sorry for having picked that location! The spinach that will come later in the season just isn't all that much more tender and tasty than the orach. I'm real happy that it is there every spring! The dandelions and lawn violets will be along soon. Snapdragons will reseed but last year's plants can't survive our winters unless they are right up against the house . . . someone's house. Mine is too shady after the tree to the south leafs-out. I do look forward to growing spuds each year, now that I've gotten back into that! Every year, I have to hold my breath hoping the potato bugs don't find them. I think it may be because there are so few gardens around in that location. Little disturbed soil so there are few nightshade weeds, also. Out in the bigger garden with the cultivated farmland around it - the ease in which I've grown the potatoes the last few years would probably be lost. But you know tomatoes . . . ?! Those were in the pictures I was just looking at. I complain about tomatoes every year. Seed is sown 8 or 10 weeks before they are set out. So, I've got another 2 months of growing them than any of the other crops, except peppers (& snapdragons ;o). I've got to get them thru the leaf stage, flower stage, fruit stage, right up until they are really at the "seed stage!" After all, a sun-ripened tomato is really what is intended. The seeds inside are fully mature by then, or nearly so. (You can't image the level of frustration when I've taken care of a plant thru all the months and have 1 or ZERO ripe fruits at the end of the season!! Maybe you can.) However, I always have lots of tomatoes by September. Sometimes, I have the early cherries by the 1st week of August! Some varieties have never failed me . . . I am really looking forward to starting some seeds. Steve