Seedlings have everything they need to get started, it is stored withing the seed. They need no food until they get true leaves. I usually use Pro-Mix without fertilizer, and I don't feed them while still in the jugs. I'm usually planting out into beds once they get true leaves. I try to remember to add some mild organic fert in the planting hole when planting out but don't even always remember to do that. However, my beds are ammended regularly with homemade compost and that probably helps them thrive. Every year I do have a few jugs that don't sprout but the vast majority do very well. I've never had dampoff with WS seedling but I have had fungus gnats. Mosquito Dunks soaked in water worked well on them. Both dampoff and fungus gnats result from too much water. You can't control the rain, but I do try to protect from too much water in extremely wet weather. Sometimes I stick them on my porch under roof for a few days during days and days of spring rain, or I have been known to cover them with a plastic tarp. Also lots of big drainage holes are important. I agree that potting mix is a better choice than peat moss. Potting mixes have perlite and vermiculite for even soil moisture moisture and better drainage and aeration for roots. And if "weeds took over the pots" I suspect the peat was already contaminated with weed seeds when the containers were planted. I occasionally get a weed from a seed blown in outdoors (mostly maple trees from my neighbor's nearby maple) but there shouldn't be enough seeds floating in the air to "take over" a covered container. What kind of containers did you use ms minnamouse? Something with a cover? I'm glad to see that you are giving it another shot this year because this really does work so well most of the time. Karen

The seeds respond amazingly well to winter sowing. Been doing it for years. I do get my seeds from seedrack.com because they are cheap, but the germination is pretty bad. Sowing in doors gives me far worse results than winter sowing though I will say. I will get on the order of 20-30% germination. Considering I plant several hundred seeds that is a lot of seedlings. I do this every year. So far only one seedling has persisted against the zone five winters. It is has survived five winters now (minimum -15 Fahrenheit). Remarkably easy to grow from cuttings as well. I have numerous clones now. If anyone has Cunninghamia lanceolata "glauca" cuttings I would be very happy to trade. Many thanks, Werner J Stiegler www.binghamtonmemorialtree.webs.com

Yes. I winter sow them as well and then put the container in a dark place. We have an old ancient brick ice house on the farm here and I put the container in there with a paper bag over the top to block out any light. I forget about it and a few weeks later I think of them and go take the stuff off the top and there are baby delphs! Then I take them and put them on a shelf on the front porch---still in the cold--but now they can have light. Also--delphs do better watered from the bottom---less damping off. I set the container in a tray and put the water in there when they need it and let them suck it up from the bottom. Hope this helps. Aunt Lou

I have had huge success with my own Bhut and Naga seeds,from fresh seeds from my own pepper pods. Not dried out first. I plant them fresh. maybe dry them for 1 day. I plant mine under the lights in one of my AeroGardens,and use clear plastic wrap on the top of the small pot I plant in, tie the plastic on with a rubberband, it makes it a small greenhouse I think, and I get nearly 100% germination. Seems to love the intense lights. The soil is very warm from being wrapped with the plastic on the top. I think that helps. I have bought seeds from peppermainia.com,but she doesnt have these this year,but hers nearly all came up. I have gotten them from all over the world ,through trades, and I get some really good ones, others I get, none come up at all! Maybe you shouldnt dry them out first. I have had trouble with all my super hot peppers this year. They all have stunted growth for some reason. No taller than 2 feet? But I get a few peppers. I only need a few anyway. But I hear from many growers that they all seem to be having this problem as well. Must be something with the seasons or the seeds. All my hot peppers are fruiting, but they are so small in height. Except my newest one, my 'Hawaiian Chili', that I got seeds from a guy in Hawaii. It is growing like a weed and is still growing, it has peppers shaped like bullets,and very hot. And grows into a big 'shrub' that lasts for years, so he says. Well I have great hopes for these. It just doesnt seem to be the year for Bhuts or Nagas....at least not for big plants.