1) Is the growing light too close? 1-2" above is what is recommended although it isn't needed until germination happens as already mentioned. 2) The 2" lid has side vents that I opened half way to let some air in. Is this OK? Should I open the vent at the top of the lid? No, because your soil may already be too dry as Flora said. The tray/cells is loaded with moist potting mix (thoroughly wet and then wrung out), not dry, and misting is not enough. If you moisten your soil properly then you can use the vents if you wish. Most lids do not have them (it is a pay more gimmick) so it isn't really an issue. 3) Should the growing light be on 24/7 for the time being? Do I need to worry about melting the top of the plastic lid from the heat of the growing lamp? No, once needed on 16-18 hours, off 6-8. 4) What about watering from this point on? I believe I'm supposed to remove the seedlings from the flat, add water (how much and how often?) to the bottom of the flat and put the seedlings back in so that they could draw the water in from underneath. Right now the only water I added was when I moistened the soil prior to planting the seeds. Then if it was wet you shouldn't need any additional watering until after germination.. if there is moisture on the inside of the lid there is enough water in there. Raise the lid for an hour or so each day to let fresh air in. 5) Is growing in my garage not advisable for any reason? We're getting a late start to the spring here in the Northeast and its not exactly warm in my garage but not exactly freezing cold. Most of us construct some sort of small enclosure so you don't have to heat the whole area. A simple plastic tent works well and can raise the temp inside the enclosed area by 20 degrees. 6) I will be out of town for four days next week. Do I need to ask someone to care for them in my absence? Yes because if they germinate they will need to be removed from under the lid ASAP. You apparently have mixed multiple varieties within the same tray but they will have different germination times. One the plant breaks the soil surface it has to be out from under the lid. One reason why many never use covers. 7) Do I need to monitor the temperature of the heating mat and/or get a timer for it? If it has no thermostat (an optional purchase) it is set to keep soil temp 10-20 degrees higher than the surrounding air temp. Another reason to build an enclosure. If it is 40 in the garage then the heat mat will have to run constantly just to keep the soil temp up to 60. If you review all the great FAQs here you'll find most of these questions are covered by them, not in detail true, but the basics are there. Some great discussions here too with even more details that the search will pull up on specific questions. Dave

It truly is exciting to anticipate a bloom that has never been seen before. Because of this, I started purchasing seedlings in 2008, the year I got crazy with the DL. Some of them bloomed last year and it was very rewarding. My first seedlings of my own seeds got planted last year: Strawberry Candy x NOID and Coquina Key x Best in Class. I doubt that they will bloom this year because of crowding. I do have a scape from purchased seeds planted in October 2008 (Triple Cherries x Blue Lake). Today, I finished preparing 2 small beds to crowd in about 600 seedlings, most from my crosses from last year. Hopefully, we'll get good ones! Ben

I'm getting scapes on my 2009 seedlings this year too. Not all of them, but about half so far are showing scapes. I even have one on a 2010 seedling, that one is Bela Lugosi X Storm Chaser, and both of its parents are putting up scapes right now. On my older seedlings, some of them their parents are putting up scapes, on another cross the seedlings are scaping but not the parents. They bloom later. I'm all sorts of excited to see what they'll look like. It's like Christmas, in summer! Karen

They won't bloom until next year, but I have seedlings started from: Rainbow Drive X Destined to See Bold Tiger X Night Embers Ledgewood's Silver Lining X Strawberry Candy I also tried Primal Scream X Night Embers, but none of the seeds sprouted.