those jiffy peat pots are notorious for containing active cobweb mold spores just waiting to get wet to start colonizing the pellet. Take some H2O2 (Hydrogen Peroxide) and mix it with water at a ratio of about 3 parts H20 to 1 part H2O2 and give the mold a couple direct shots. You'll want to mix this up fresh every time because H2O2 breaks down into water when exposed to light - now you know why the bottles are always brown... ;-p As a fungus, cobweb mold is a very fast colonizer and will "lock-up" a substrate (your peat moss) in no time flat and your plants are literally drowning inside the moldy peat moss because the gas exchange has come to a standstill inside your little pots. --- If you're plants down bounce back after that you'll have to either chaulk them up as a lost cause or - if you're really dedicated - you break them out of hte pots, remove as much "dirt" as you can from their roots and dip their roots directly in full-strength H2O2 and then planting them in a new medium. But unless you're dealing with some really exotic plant that's a real pain to germinate from seed (i.e. gerbera daisies) I wouldn't go through the hassle. Considering seeds are only a couple dollars each, you have to weight the effort .vs. the opportunity cost of just starting over. <shrug> I should go back to school for mycology, heh.

OK Karen now you've went and gone toooooo far! LOL I agree with most here that poop is poop. I live on a lake and all my neighbors are just terrified of the goose poop. I started a new pile last year and a huge part of it was just that. I'd go around a very big area once a week and get 90% of what they left and wow you talking about being gone in a hurry in less than 6 months I couldn't even tell where the pile was because everything decomposed that fast. Strouper

Amna, I use those strawberry containers all the time, been doing so for 6 years now and never had a problem with them. Holes are fine, as well and my containers always go in in direct sun as well. Soil goes in, miracle grow, I don't fill it quite to the top, seeds go on soil. sprinkle some soil on top and press down to be sure it is good and moist. snap the cover down and out it goes. no tape no, baggies unless the containers are reused and the cover has finally broken off. As temps warm up I sometimes need to add vent holes to the top to get more water in. Covers come off the seedlings when the seedlings are really hitting the cover of the container. I have never worried about not enough head room with covers or with baggies on them and have never had a problem or any seedlings damaged from being a bit compressed with a cover or baggie. My hose is out back near the containers, so if they need some moisture, water is handy when needed. I am in MA as well, near the Nashua NH border and I don't sow my cosmos till mid April. to huge a risk of late frosts around MA that will get the tender seedlings. Cosmos are really hardy with early frost in the fall and will continue to bloom through those early frosts, but the tender seedlings will be history for you if they are zapped by late frost now. Picture 1 should be fine outside without the baggie. just be sure there are vent holes on the top. Don't leave the container inside the other one on the bottom. That will catch rain and could make the soil stay far too moist and soggy because the container will just sit in water. pic #2. looks fine. just be sure there are drainage holes in the bottom of the container and you have slits in the baggie for air to circulate and rain to get in. (hopefully we have seen the last of snow, sleet, freezing rain and ice for this year) Pic #3. looks like you used masking tape for labels. That won't last very long. it will come off when it gets wet from rain. You can cut up plastic covers from margarine, cottage cheese, sour cream, coffee, etc and use them for labels. you can use a deco paint pen to write with, that will last forever and put the tags inside the container. or use sliver foil tape as a label and write with paint pen. sharpies fade quickly when the heat and sun get on it. Be sure the containers have drainage holes in them, air holes in the top and when you put them outside, don't pile them on top of each other. Each one needs to have it's cover exposed to the elements completely. Some pics of my containers I have been using for 6 years A mix of those blue containers mushrooms come in, strawberry containers, take out containers, cottage cheese containers. I use anything that is at least 3-4 inches deep, but do not use gallon water jugs. I just find them far too awkward to use and I don't use tonic bottles either. We rarely drink any and the bottle return leaves no one with any to get them from. Fran

My motto is "Always leave a p**ing male alone", including DH. And secondly, I am jealous that they can and I can't. I was once in Israel's great southern desert, the Negev, traveling by car with a girlfriend, and we had to go. So we stopped the car and hiked behind a tiny hill with a tiny bush on it. An oncoming truck squealed to a stop and the driver got out, carrying a rifle. He screamed at us "You crazy women, don't you know that there are Bedouin men around here? Next time, hold it in!" Then he stood there with his rifle until we finished, adjusted ourselves, and slinked back to our car embarrassed as heck.