Well gee whiz, mjkk, how many wpm you type surprisingly doesn't really effect my reading comprehension. You asked for advice, and I just wanted to get an accurate picture of what we're talking about here. It really sounds to me like you've already made up your mind what you want to do, so I'm not sure why you asked for input. I'm sure everyone on the board has made mistakes before and they take the time to give advice to others in the hope that they can help others be as successful as possible. And while you may very well be able to grow seedlings in the manner you propose, why make it harder on yourself than you need to? A high level of humidity is only necessary during the seed germination process, and after the seeds have germinated (which takes hardly any time at all for tomatoes), humidity should be avoided to reduce risk of damping off and for optimal seedling growth. Putting a whole bunch of newspaper pots/peat pots next to each other in a 12 inch deep plastic container is creating a perfect environment for fungus. How do you propose to water the seedlings? Are you going to lift all of them out every time you water and then set them back in again? Very time consuming on a daily basis. I understand the need for 'using what you have at hand', but flats are like $.95 cents a piece. There's a reason professional growers use them, they're the easiest and most effective way to grow from seed. At the very least, I'd consider putting the pots in a flat for ease of lifting them in an out of your polyethylene containers.

In response to a private email Lynda sent to me, I responded as follows: Lynda, you didn't do a single thing wrong. I messed up when I didn't check the box to have postings sent to me. I'm finding that it is quite easy to keep count when the emails arrive in my box. It's not so easy when someone doesn't include their zone, and I have to go back to the thread to track it down. I couldn't bear the thought of having to post the next 150 entries the hard way. I'm expecting 1400 emails before this is all over, so I figure it's best to make it easy on myself from the beginning. Regards, Seedmama

I think the key to raising healthy seedlings lies in observing them closely to make sure they are kept in optimal conditions... proper watering, root space, enough light, a well-draining medium... and making sure they are fed. Yes, Java... this will be my first year of growing hippeastrums from seed... but I'm an old hand at gardening in general, and have been growing some type of plant or other since I can remember! At one point in my life, I had well over 200 house plants in a small cape cod home! Half of those were moved into that small home from a one bedroom apartment! I've had my oldest hippeastrum bulb, a Minerva, going on 8 years or more... but I just recently became completely addicted to collecting, growing and breeding these bulbs! It's funny... for most of the time I've had my Minerva, I sort of neglected the poor thing... and she's been the most wonderful plant I've ever had! She blooms almost every year without fail, and this past winter, she grew a baby! Anyway... I was thinking along the lines of orchid pots for young bulbs... they tend to be tall and narrow, and have slits, which would allow the roots to "breathe"... it's just a thought, but I might experiment with a few. The clear, taller cymbidium pots would be worth checking out! I just planted a flat of hippeastrum seeds last night... I've got a 72 cell flat planted with rows of 6 seeds, each in a cell, the rows running across the flat... if you know what I mean. Planted are: 2 rows of Prelude x Self 1 row of San Remo x Self 1 row of Happiness x Candy Floss 1 row of Minerva x Self 1 row of Limona x Picotee 1 row of Charisma x Self 1 row of Limona x Self 1 row of Vivaldi x Self 1 row of Delphinium "Green Twist" - a gift from Lizalily! 1 row of Exotic Star 1 row of Lovely Garden If these do well, I'll plant more... I just want to be sure germination takes place, and one flat will be a good test. The medium I used is just plain old MiracleGro potting soil mixed with quite a bit of sand. I've got the flat covered with a little plastic greenhouse cover, and since it's been a bit chilly, I've got it indoors on a heat mat. Once I see a sprout, I'll move the flat outside to grow in the sun, along with all my other flats of annual and perennial seeds. I had very good luck germinating hippeastrum seeds by floating them in water, but once I transplanted them, they went downhill and all expired. I think it may have been due to the poor indoor propagation area I have... the ambient temperature fluctuates over winter, humidity is low, and my grow lights are cheap! After losing the dozen or so seedlings I started over winter, I decided to wait until spring to start again. This is a much better time of year for seeds to germinate and grow, and I can do it all outdoors in the natural elements of sun and fresh air. I think this time I will be successful.

Hi everyone, Bromadams, I have a very similar set-up to you with similar plastic containers but I only fill them to one third with growing media, and then put on the lid. This doesn't get opened again until they are ready for pricking out or inspecting. As our temperatures never get really cold this is usually sufficient to get an acceptable result. At about six months they are large enough to thin out. At this size I sort them into into two groups of 35 each and they then are planted into the same type of containers but this time with drainage holes in the bottom and the lid removed. It's hard to do, but the remainder are usually discarded. They grow in these until they are large enough to be planted in groups of six or seven into community pots. They remain in these until they reach a suitable size for individual pots. All the best, Nev.