I, personally, use newspaper pots made from old telephone book pages, just wrap the paper around a couple of fingers to make a cylinder and put one piece of tape on it to hold them together. They have to be stacked close together after you plant the seeds, since they'll lean, but they're easy to water from the bottom. No need to water the surface at all. There's another way to do it, too. Use small paper or styrofoam cups with the bottoms cut out. Turn the cups upside down so the small portion is at the top and punch a couple of drainage holes on the bottom sides. Fill with planting soil and plant your seeds. When it's time to set out the transplants, use a spatula to keep the bottom soil in place to set them in the planting hole. Then just carefully lift the cup straight up and pack the soil around the root ball. Nothing surrounds your transplant then.

That's true, they don't need additional fertilizer to germinate, they have all the energy they need stored in one tight little package - always a miracle :) While some here will be planting out into their gardens at stage of first true leaves, not all of us can or depending on the type of plant, would want to. That's when those seeds if started in a seed starting medium rather than a general container mix will begin to need some attention, when true leaves are formed. My soil isn't perfect, its clay base not always friendliest to tiniest root systems and I like for plants to have a little longer head start and more developed root system before planting them out. I have to allow a margin for timing spading too, I cannot always dig in earliest spring, beds too saturated from our winter wet and spading then too hard on the soil structure. Perennials, trees, shrubs started in a container of potting soil with enough depth are fine left as is, in a seed starting medium they would need a dilute fertilzer solution regularly, or would need to be potted up into individual pots, not steps we may need to otherwise take.

ctlane - if you're new to starting seeds I would recommend you do some reading and not plan on doing everything that way at first. Not that starting plants from seed is hard, most are easy to grow, it does save you money, and you have a much better selection of what to grow than what the average nursery or garden centre stocks. It's just that there are a lot of things that have to be done right - if you do it wrong you can get discouraged, and you'll have wasted the money you just spent. So... Go ahead and do it - you may love it and it is intensely rewarding to look at something and say to yourself "I grew that from a seed"! But don't go overboard the first couple of years, and keep your expectations realistic. Here's what I tell people that are new to the process: 1. Seedlings need light, water and air. *Light - A sunny window is not usually a good idea. Even though it seems nice and bright, the amount of light your seedlings will get is not enough, and they will get long and spindly. If you have a huge window or a 'greenhouse window', then it might be good enough, but they will do better under fluorescent lights. A four foot shop light from Canadian tire or Home Depot is ideal. It can be put in the basement, garage, of spare room - whatever you have available. Don't waste money on expensive specialized plant bulbs. Cool white bulbs are all you need. Seedlings should be one to two inches (yes that close) from the bulbs. *Water - One of the biggest killers of seedlings is a fungal infection that is usually called 'damping off'. The stem gets a pinched look and the seedling keels over and dies. Overwatering is the main cause for this fungus to get out of control. Keep the seed starting mixture only damp - not wet. Amount needed varies from plant to plant and the age of the plant. *Air - A lack of air circulation is another major cause to damping off. A fan placed a few feet from the seedlings will both circulate the air and help the seedlings grow sturdier and stronger. 2. Seedlings need a lot of attention. If you cannot check on your seedlings at least once a day (preferably twice or more), then you will not be able to monitor them as they grow. They will need to be watered, thinned, and moved away from the light as they grow taller(the tops of the plants need to remain close) 3. All seeds are not the same. Some need to have been started months ago, many need to be started now, and many more need only be sown outside and not started indoors at all. Many seeds need a cold period (called stratification) in order to germinate. This can be done in your fridge or outdoors using a process called wintersowing. Figure out what you want to grow and ask specific questions about those seeds. So this spring, buy a couple of sorts of annuals or veggies you'd like to have, and give it a try. Use a sunny window, or get a light and go for that - whatever you want. Note what worked and what didn't, and ask for feedback. You'll probably still need to buy plants at the nursery this spring as it'll take a couple of tries to get the hang of it. But then, look out - you'll be taking over the basement with the seeds :-) BP

If you used a potting soil with fertilizer in it, do you really need to add more now? Do the leaves show signs of lacking fertilizer? Out of several hundred, 2 of mine have pale yellowish leaves and all the rest look fine and healthy. I dosed those two today with a balanced fertilizer. Learn to look at your plants and see what they are telling you. Don't buy into the hype over fertilizers. I only fertilize mine when I plant them out in the garden by mixing alfalfa pellets, compost and organic tomato fertilizer into the soil I plant them into. Mostly depends on the brand of potting mix you use and what is in it.