Update...My Stevia seedlings are doing well! So far, 7 out of the 9 seeds I put in the two pots have germinated. 6 of the 7 look sturdy too, even for tiny seedlings. I'll post a pic of them on this thread within the next few days. The surface sowing seems to be the way to go. Last year when I didn't have many germinate at all, I put them about 1/2 inch deep into the potting mix. They obviously got pushed down into the potting mix a bit this year with the first few waterings (warm to hot water from a sink sprayer thing), so i'm sure if you put them on the surface then heavily water the first 2-3 times/days, they will germinate fine. It seems to be the right thing to do also to keep the seedlings above 70 degrees. I put the two 1 gallon pots I have them in on top of a normal heeting mat. The room stays about 70 or so with high humidity (so other seedlings don't get too hot). Now, we have to see if I can keep them alive & also how fast n well they grow into bigger seedlings. :) - Steve

Dave I don't have a set-up per se, I use our greenhouses. Our house is in the Cloverly/Ashton area and the farm is in Burtonsville. My husband is in the floral wholesale business and we have a small farm as a side business. There's no way that I could fit all my plants in the house. We are having a heated discussion regarding the GH's though. Because of the escalating cost of propane my husband only wants to heat the small GH and leave the big one just above freezing. I know there won't be enough room for everything. Last year propane ran $12K, 8K for the large house, 4K for the small one and this year we are looking at substantially higher propane prices : ( I'm not sure if you've seen pics of the GH that I've posted in the past so I'll post them again. There are 4 or 6 heaters suspended from the ceiling in the large GH. We use portable heaters in the small GH. I think your plumeria are way superior to anything that I've grown so far. I'll admit that I do like some other plants as much as my plumies. I love passiflora, citrus, brugs, datura, clerodendrums, orchids and iochromas. I have more brugs than anything, they're indestructible. lol I'd love to have you out to the farm one day, my backyard is just a container covered mess! I've been trying to talk my husband into having a GH built in the backyard, so far nothing's happening. 1st pic is the small GH, the others are the big one. BTW that's my husband's partner in the pic. Karyn

You need to move over to the Growing from Seed forum i think. It is linked directly from the top of this page. Its focus is, as the title suggests, Growing from Seeds. This forum is about seed saving and seed storage for later use. Once there, begin by clicking on the FAQ button as they have detailed instructions on all the basics. Dave Here is a link that might be useful: Growing from Seed FAQs

Wendy, lucky me in California we have access to very good quality C&S soil, with zero peat! It's ~40% pumice with Fir and Redwood "aged" bark and wood product and a little bit of sand. Since seedlings like it moist I use this as is for most applications. I add more small size pumice for plants that prefer less compost. For very tiny seeds I sprinkle a layer of sifted soil through a fine kitchen strainer so they don't fall through. Finally I sprinkle some small size pumice once the seedlings reach a reasonable size (a least equal to the size of the pumice I use). This has worked for me in my generally very dry environment. I have to be more careful over the winter or like now when the weather is more humid, most of all this season!!! Thanks to that vortex thingy, it's been wet and cool all winter here. Happy snails and slugs, C&S not so much, but won't complain, we need it :)