Safyre--sometimes it is better to start a new thread rather than adding onto an old one. As for your question, it really would help to know what plants you're talking about. (As to the OP where how many seeds really depend on the plant). Are you talking transplanting into pots indoors, or into a garden. Since Houzz got rid of zone info, where are you at? I'm in Denver, so starting seeds now would mean I can't transplant out until April/May at the general earliest (my veg garden is just in plans right now for seed starting soon). But I have lots of pots indoors for the winter. All are different--I have some newly sprouted chives that I seeded directly into their pots. But I won't start my basil for another month or so, because it shouldn't go out until end of May due to our night temps here.

Ok, since my family doesnt know much about my hobbies (though they try, which is nice) i have gotten the same chia herb kit 6 times in 3 years. Here is my report: Cilantro does great! multiple plants in one small pot, the leaves are small, but i have had this plant for 2 years, and its growing good inside. I do have to root prune (which is challenging, because they are grown in the little brown painted sponges), and i top prune accordingly. Although not in the kit, rosemary (although varying rates of success for germination) does good too. Chives cannot stand this treatment for more than a little after germination. They fall over and die once they get about 3 in tall. That is really all the herbs i have solid evidence, that happens the same way multiple times

Are you growing them under lights? In a sunny window? We need to know more about how they're currently being grown. The lids on those seed starting flats should be removed as soon as the seeds sprout. The fact that you are describing the seedlings as puny makes me wonder if they aren't getting enough light. If that is what is occurring, they are becoming etiolated because they are stretching to find more light. We commonly refer to etiolated seedlings as being "leggy". The solution is to get them growing beneath lights. I keep the lights on my light shelf just an inch or two above the tiny seedlings. As the seedlings grow taller, I raise the lights higher. You do not move seedlings outside to harden off until they are stronger and older than they are now. They need to be strong enough to tolerate sunlight and wind and I fear that seedlings described as "puny" might not be ready for either sunlight or wind. Once the seedlings are strong enough to tolerate being hardened off, you could move them into a sheltered shady location for a couple of days, and then begin moving them out to a less sheltered sunny location. The easiest formula is to put them in sunlight only 1 hour on the first day you put them in the sun, then 2 hours the 2nd day, 3 hours the 3rd day, etc. Wind can be very hard on young seedlings, so if it is windy during their first few days out, put them somewhere out of direct wind. Once your plants are tolerating 8-10 hours a day of sunlight and wind, they will be strong enough to be transplanted into their outdoors containers if the weather allows. Now, regarding carrots...they usually are not sown indoors in flats but instead are direct-sown in the ground. Being sown in flats that are too shallow for them can give you deformed carrots if they survive being transplanted. If you want to grow carrots indoors from seed, they should be sown in plantable pots that have the bottoms cut out so they have the best chance of surviving being transplanted. Without seeing your seedlings, we're just guessing if they are puny because they are so very young, which is a possibility, or if they are puny for some other reason, like perhaps being grown in weak indoor lighting or in a sunny window (which may not be enough light for them). Be sure you don't overwater them. Keep them evenly moist but not wet and soggy. Seedlings kept too wet in soggy soil tend to get fungal diseases (referred to as 'damping off') which kills them. You can harden off your lettuce and broccoli and put them outdoors in their permanent containers when they are around 3-5 weeks old as long as you're able to keep them under adequate light indoors until then.\. With the carrots, the sooner they go into the ground the better, but understand that since starting them indoors is not ideal, transplanting them may not work out well. Be prepared to sow more carrot seed directly into the permanent containers outside where they will be grown if the ones you started indoors do not survive transplanting. I don't know where you are in Oklahoma, but I'd be careful with the young seedlings for the next 2 or 3 days and do not even think of moving them outdoors for hardening off until this rainy, cool and, for some people, snowy weather, moves on in a couple more days. It would harm them to go from a warm, pleasant indoor setting outside into cold, windy, rainy weather too abruptly. Hope his helps, Dawn

For many years I have given programs to groups interested in learning how to grow and use herbs. One of the first things I tell them is to avoid commercial herb kits - a terrible joke foisted upon an unsuspecting newcomer to gardening as they are almost invariably doomed to failure. First let me note that this is NOT the best time of year for starting your herb seeds, with the exception of the cilantro - but as rhizo_1 noted, none of the herbs you list should be planted together in that box. Scatter your cilantro outdoors if possible, but if not, just put that into the planter you have and fine other containers for the other herbs. Your kit contains coriander, sweet basil, and chives. The first is a fast-maturing annual that easily may grow to 3' or more in good soil. In my garden, it gets planted every few weeks throughout the summer from early spring through late fall in order to ensure a steady supply of young plants with usable leaves - though I always let a few go for the seed, which is coriander (making cilantro a plant that is both an herb and a spice). Once the seeds mature and turn brown & hard, they will self-sow or you may harvest them for culinary use. Seed sown in late fall in my central Ohio garden will sprout and the young plants will go dormant but survive the winter for an early crop the following spring. It frustrates me that nurseries sell small 3-4" pots for $3- 4 sown with a dozen or more cilantro plants - none of which will amount to anything useful left in the pot and which may or may not successfully transplant into the garden, but gullible inexperienced growers do not know this. Usually upon transplanting, if they survive at all, the plants will bolt to seed within a very short time and without yielding enough cilantro to garnish an enchilada. I have seen these pots of small plants offered for sale in produce sections in the grocery store only a few feet from generous bunches of freshly-cut cilantro selling for 50-89 cents - far and away the better bargain! I broadcast seed thinly in the garden; leave at least 6-8" between seeds and then use every other one as they grow to give the remaining plants more room. Basil (Genovese being the choice of most chefs for pesto) is an annual that, properly pruned, will yield a lot of fresh flavor the whole summer. Just one plant deserves a gallon pot of its own; a plant in open ground easily can reach 30" or more. For best yield, as soon as there are several sets of leaves start pinching out the topmost leaves just above the next pair - even if you have no use for the leaves at the moment. Continue as all the side shoots develop, a pleasant task that needs to be done every 4-5 days in full summer, perhaps even more often if watered regularly. Note that your kit most likely came with a packet of basil seed; only sow a few and save the rest for next spring. All the seeds you have will remain viable for at least 3-5 years if properly stored (in paper packets, in a cool, dark, dry place). A better candidate for container-grown basil is a cultivar such as Spicy Globe or Greek Columnar basil. I have had excellent results with each, and the columnar basil can winter over indoors. Other basils have a finite life span and will not survive long indoors. One should plant a number of chive seeds, whether in open ground or in a container. Chives are perennial and winter-hardy so may go into open ground where they will return each spring or into a generously-sized pot (a quart, at least). I never have brought any indoors, but they may well survive on a windowsill, though I suspect they would become yellowed and thin. They undoubtedly need a period of dormancy in order to produce edible pink balls of flower clusters in spring (followed by enough seeds to start your own chive business!) Clumps of chives will grow to about 15-24" depending on soil and variety. For growing in containers, I like to use Pro-Mix organic soil mix to which I have added 1/3 measure of good leaf compost since I do not use chemical fertilizers.