Yes, they will get really big, so you will want to grow one seedling per 4-5" square. Yes, its normal that the stem will have a stretch, the 8" clearance under your lights will be good for a couple of weeks but thats about it, make more room on your dining room table. LOL I don't start mine till around April 19th and I don't transplant outdoors till June 1st. Sharon

Bluesmap. CB is fairly simple starting in pots. Either purchase a Seeding Mix or make your own. You can either use Peat Pellets or small plastic pots, 'to start.' Insert 1-2 seeds per pot..Water well. Cover with plastic, but cut straight lines of plastic for ventilation. Germination is fast. After seeds sprout, remove plastic. Place in a sunny spot, indoors. Water, when soil starts to feel a little dry, not muddy. Once babies reach 8" or more, more is better, plant in your garden, in a sunny spot. Good luck, Toni

Sitting here on Memorial Day, thumbing through the Forums and came across this one , as I have a bit of a deer problem this year, too. I AGREE with JC's comment! Why in the world would you want to cause the death of hungry, innocent animals in such a horrible, painful way just to save a few plants?! Good Grief! Go to the grocery store. It can't be THAT important to grow your own fruit! I've read all the hints on how to repel deer, and the chicken wire placed on the ground as an obstacle course seems to be the cheapest, most effective, most humane way to go. Of course, you WOULD have to keep the grass mowed off of it to keep it exposed, or it would just become padded and easy for the deer to walk over. Perhaps AH was too lazy to mow over the prostrate chicken wire! You know? In the long list of remedies to this problem: sprays, soap, radio left on nearby, electric wires with aluminum plates attached, peeing all around garden area (yuk!), I haven't seen ONE suggestion to use our ancestors' remedy..........a scarecrow, and just think, place a bale of hay, a few gourds and pumpkins around it's post at Halloween, and you have instant decoration! HA. Please don't kill Bambi! After all, we invaded THEIR territory, not the reverse! Jeanie

Hi linnea, " Months went by, and nothing happened. " The trick to getting quick germination from seeds with a relatively impervious seed coat is to breach the coat in some way. Use a file or an X-Acto knife to remove part of the coat until you can see some of the embryo. " There are very long stems (the first to emerge is a foot tall) with a big fat seed leaf at the top. I don’t know if the extreme length was just from planting indoors, or this is normal for these plants. " They probably are stretching because they don't have enough light in your indoor growing situation. " I assume it might be too late to get these in the ground and expect more seeds. " You should be able to purchase castor bean seeds from a seed company . That would be easier than going to heroic efforts to get seeds from your current plants, and you have a lot more to choose from when purchasing castor bean seeds. Be aware that castor bean seeds are poisonous. ZM