jensyn, do you have an Ace Hardware store near you? Terrene said her local Ace Hardware got Promix Bx for her from their warehouse for the internet price. That reminded me that my local Ace has told me previously that they can get anything I see on the Ace web page with **no shipping charge**. They can put my order in with their own order to re-stock their shelves. They order at least once a week & will call me when it comes in. They have told me to either write down the item number from the web page or run off the web page with the item number & bring it to them. Or try calling it in. This looks like the compressed bale. Other people can tell you how much it makes up & how to mix it. (Think they said 1 cu ft compressed = over 7 expanded; 3.8 = over 26.6 cu ft expanded, but check with a user.) This price of $31.49 looks competitive with the price I have seen people discussing here but check with users. I only have a few jugs & can't use this much. Here are links that might be helpful: Pro-mix Bx with Mycorise - 3.8 Cu.Ft. Bale on Ace Hardware website Ace Hardware store locator

Just for fun I stopped at the Ravenna Gardens up in U Village this weekend (I took the bus since my neighborhood's side streets were totally snowed in this weekend). Renee's Garden seeds has packets of rose seeds. I thought it would be fun to give them a try. It says they've been scarified and pre-treated for somewhat speedy germination (I've grown plenty of roses from my own seeds and always just plant them in autumn and wait until spring so they get variable temps/moisture that they need to sprout in spring (or muuuuuch later)), but this is the first time I've tried from purchased seed. I thought it would be fun to give them a try. We'll see how they do, but I'm curious. It says they are small growing, small flowering types in various shades of pink with some white. Below is a nice link to the actual seed pack. Happy growing and sowing, Grant Here is a link that might be useful: Rose seeds from Renee's Garden seeds

I think a big part of your problem is the seed mix. I've been starting seeds for years and never found a commercial seed starting mix that worked well. They are usually made of a mix of peat, vermiculite and perlite. They have such fine particles that they are almost dust like when dry. It's sometimes hard to get them evenly moist before you start. They inevitably form a crust if you water from above, and they can get soggy if you let them sit in water for too long. The answer is to use a good quality peat and bark based potting mix and to avoid compost or organic amendments.. If it's fresh and your pots and trays are clean when you begin, you're unlikely to have problems with damping off. Look for something fluffy. I use Promix or Metromix and can water from above or below with none of the problems caused by seed starting mix. Look at the texture of my mix.

Seems to me I have seen people plant seeds in sections of eavestroughs . I found I had better luck letting them start under a mother plant and then when a bit bigger replant in a section I call my nursery area. Then again they seem to grow in the gravel paths where I have raked and some seeds got missed but still grow. I found that when I planted seeds that Dans garden sent me for my birthday one year all died from me either neglecting or over loving:(