I dont think its going to do them any harm by putting them in full sun. I start all my seeds the same way, after sowing they go directly to the garden for full sun. If you are worried about the marigolds that have already sprouted, you could move them to full sun slowly say over a day or two and they should be fine.

Ed, I think I way underestimated my seed number. I have been having a great time the last week or so getting them going. I write down what I plant, and so far as of this evening, I have 87. I have some soaking in cotton pads, some still in the fridge......so I bet I will have about 350. Luckily I have plenty of room and a greenhouse - plus can put on shelves in my south facing garage if I need to. I am really pleased with the results I am getting. The peroxide/distilled water moistened cotton pads seem to spur growth better than the paper towels - I tried the same cross in one of each - the one in the cotton pad is putting out roots and tiny green leaves while the ones in the paper towel are still just showing the radicle. I label each small plastic bag and put the bags in a clear plastic cup and place in a west facing window that gets bright sunlight. I found ones that had been there 9 days had amazing roots and green leaves. I figured out something else tonight. I have some tiny stick on dots [who knows what I got them for] and when I check a bag and there are roots and green leaves, I put a dot on the bag telling me it is time to pot them up - I put another color dot on the ones that are almost ready to pot up. This saves me from having to open the bags every day. I am seeing changes every day - taking the ones that are soaking and showing a radicle and putting them in the plastic bag with a cotton pad. This may be more work than most people would want to do, but it is fun and I enjoy it. Have planted 11 crosses so far and starting to see green tips. The cross of Pat Soileau x Freedom's Triumph amazed me when I opened it - have included a photo - its not too clear as was taken indoors at night, but you can see the long roots and the little green tips. When I put the cotton pad in the baggie, I fold it over in half so the seeds are covered. Am hoping to get a bunch of seedlings up and growing before we get our first freeze in November. We normally have cold weather thru December but not too many freezes. Is anyone else starting seeds? If so, how are they coming along? Judith

If it was a matter of moisture, mine would be doing that all of the time =). Its your temps, are you having above 50-55 degree temps at night? Your lillies are going to start jumping, heck mine do it below that temp sometimes. But those night time temps are usually the key. BTW common old h fulva will be sprouting under feet of snow sometimes.

In a perfect world all the seeds would sprout at the same time but - it ain't gonna happen. If you don't put the seedlings under light they will get leggy - even after one day. The seeds need around 75 to 80 degrees to germinate but that will cause the seedlings to become leggy. So you are stuck between a rock and a hard spot. There are two sides about if lights effect germination and I am on the side that it does. Not necessarily the light effects germination but I think the heat from the bulb dries out the top layer of soil and prevents the seeds from germinating. I start about 400-500 tomato seeds each year and each seed will go in it's own container. When it spouts it goes directly under the lights. If it were me I would put them under the lights and go from there. Patrick - Shreveport, La.