I'm here, but got some questions going through my mind.

My tom seeds have been outside since 4/16 and in direct sun, but only had to start giving the cups some water yesterday. They are in direct sun.

They are in old seed trays that you would get when you buy seedlings at the nursery, so the cups drain their water out and the trays are directly on the ground.

So I'm wondering if the paper box top is absorbing he water from them? Maybe?
I've never used any kind of cardboard box covers to hold my cups or any containers in, except maybe coming home from a swap.

When I fill the cups with water, I make sure the soil is really soaked wet by spraying the soil with water from one of those hose sprayers that is part of my water supply with my sink.
Then I put one seed on the top of that wet soil and cover it with a bit of soil and then spray it again.
Cover it with the market brand ziploc baggie and pull it down to the pottom of the cup, but not under it.

When I put the slits in the top of the cup with the baggie on it, I just take my little razor blade thing and always make 2 slits. nothing fancy, just slit, slit the top an into the tray they go. When they go outside, they are still dripping water and go straight down on the ground.

I don't use anything to hold the baggies on to the cups, never thought to do that and I don't zip close the baggies.

Cups are 12 oz styrofoam and the baggies are the sandwich size. The small storage size ones are too large to use, besides they cost more for less bags.

We've had some really crazy weather this past week. that heat and sun was a killer, and the winds added to it, dried up a lot of things, including quite a few of my other containers.
I usually don't have to water anything before the end of the first week in May, and this year I've been watering some containers for over a week.

If you have anything else to hold the cups in, like the trays I use, I would give them a try and be sure the soil is good and wet.

Who knows if this will be the nature of this way of doing things. I've been doing it for 5 years now, including this year and this is the earliest I've had to water any of my containers in 6 years of WS.

Here are some pics of mine

Fran

cup just filled, tom seed put in and the baggie over it.
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trays of cups outside since 4/16. this pic,, they needed a bit of water yesterday.
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These where fine
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These needed a bit of water yesterday
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well, yup, that's exactly what mine look like, so I've got that part right. You could be right with that cardboard absorption factor, though.

I'll toss them in a milk crate instead when I get home. And perhaps tape up my "scissor hole" vent that might be just a hair too big.

Thanks again!

Geez, Fran! Are all those tomatoes? You must have sowed toms for everybody you know and then some!

Did I read correctly that you cover the seeds with soil? I put some out a few days ago, and I put the seeds on top of the soil. Should I cover the seeds with a little bit of soil?

How the heck are you watering all of those?
Are you bottom watering?

Just wanted to say thanks again, fran for these wonderful instructions. I had planted my toms out last weekend; a little too early, I guess, and was wondering why they didn't seem to be doing anything. Maybe they're just working underground...
I put my stakes in next to them (oops..meant to put stakes in FIRST) yesterday, and gave them a little drink of MG for toms. Maybe they'll like it better. I have black plastic over the tom patch, and I put the Disco marigolds in between them. I'm VERY excited about "real" tomatoes this year! (as opposed to store-bought starts)

OK Dawiff, no picking on me allowed, especially when you just picked up and booted across the country and left us in the lurch minus "our WS partner", never mind that girl, we miss you so much. Especially now with the swap tomorrow.

How many toms did we sow? 122 individual cups of toms sowed for 8 people plus myself, so about 75 of them are already spoken for and the rest where the extras just to be safe.

I just take a bit of soil in my hand and just sprinkle the soil over the seed and press it down. they need to be covered just a little bit. if not the seedling has a problem getting the roots into the soil.

Ohsillyme, It is really easy to water them. Each of the ziploc baggies covering the cups has razor slits in it and I use my hose with a nozzle that has a shower setting on it. Just water away, along with all the other containers and seedlings. There are 602 containers to water until planted or potted up for the swap. all of them are inside a fenced in back yard with the hose right there. Just start at one end and keep going till they are all watered.

MMGCHDYGG, don't worry about the Toms not growing yet. They are too busy to grow from the soil line up. They are busy growing below the soil line, setting good healthy roots and spreading their bottom wings for you.

They will be fine, don't worry.

So MRS. DAWIFF, "I'm not going to do any wntersowing this year." Ha Ha Ha, sorry you are too addicted to suffer like that. Besides, the "little men in the white coats" don't know how to treat us WS addicted people. No help for us.

Fran