My solution to deer is to plant things they regard as cotton candy all around the deer corridors of my property. Except during drought or overpopulation, this strategy works very well and they leave most everything else alone. I noticed years ago the deer tend to use the darker areas of my landscape as their "highway" to the neighborhood lawns and gardens. I started lining hosta and other deer favorites along the spots that don't get heavily illuminated by the surrounding street and house lights on my property. While I rarely get to enjoy the over 90 hosta plants I have planted around the two acres I own, the ones closest to the house sometimes do okay and everything else thrives most of the time. Also it makes me feel good to know the deer and I are not conflicting to a point where more drastic, intrusive measures to their nature would be required ... especially since they were in this patch of woods first. On the topic of different sprout times occuring in the same tray, I'll leave the answering to others. I use to do that but found it so irritating to deal with that I quit putting more than one kind of seed in a container.

Jean, I was really into wintersowing for a few years, still sow a few every year. Takes a while for hosta to get big, but kinda like daylilies, fun to watch them mature. This hosta reseeds easily. I looked up H. ventrocosa & says it is the only hosta to come true from seed, but lots can be grown from seed & you can get some interesting ones when they cross. Thanks Ellie, the seedling is pretty large, 6" or so. You know I like large flowers, so that is what I go for. I just hope this one will continue improving, I think this is its 4th bloom & the first to fully open. Thanks Alexa, and I appreciate your ID of the hosta. You are absolutely right about the leaf, pretty plain, but a nice glossy green.

no use sterilizing the plastic pots.. and the medium ... if you are going to stick wooden labels in there ... the trick is to sterilize everything .... think hospital operating room ... 10% bleach for plastic .... oven or microwave for the medium ... and plastic bleached labels ... i have seen plastic knives... but my favorite is mini blinds ... garbage picked at the curb... cut into 2 or 3 inch length ... and then sliced thinner... heck.. these days.. you can probably get some at wallyworld for a couple bucks.. and make a million of them .... if they didn't grow much ... it might be.. since i lack facts.. medium exhaustion ... from jan thru march .. i repotted mine 3 times ... using fresh medium each time.. and i used 1/4 teaspoon of water soluble fert in a gallon milk jug every time i watered ... and always use tempered water .. meaning i have about 3 jugs ready to go .. and don't shock tiny plants with straight from the tap water ... if you leave the water next to the plants.. the water should be the same temp as the medium ... ken

Thank you Ken and Steven about the fungus gnats! Little buggers are annoying, as well as damaging I now know. Beneficial nematodes, ok, will do. Steven, your babies are huge compared to mine. And flower buds! Very nice! Maybe I can add a pic of mine if I figure out how. Don_r, thank you for the links! Babka, thank you for the Spinosad link as well. I'll have some reading to do guys! Jonnyb023, and BT? Well I really have to do some reading. :) Didn't think of the bees. :( Is it bad to want to kill wasps and yellow jackets though? Seems I have a lot of them. Deb, I don't mind your using my thread at all. I love your trough. Did you make it? Anyhow, thank you all for the great help, advice, nice pics and links. Liz I can only downlond one pic I guess, so here is a closeup of one of the babies. It is from seeds of a really large leafed blue hosta. Sorry I don't know the name, it was given to me. Thanks for looking :)