Just wonder how many seeds you start this year? Is 200 an average number? Do you start them at the same time? Or do you do a specific number each week?

Karen,

I am in the process of planting. Started December 13. So far I am at 300. Last year I did 250. I plant between 200 - 500 per year. About half have already germinated.

Hmmmm .... I don't know. I would guess around 200+. I try to do mine all at the same time. I have to wait until they all sprout before I know how many I am actually growing.

The real question .... where will I plant them all this Spring? I guess I now need to focus on the front yard lawn. I have eliminated most of the backyard lawn except for a grassy path. Front yard still has some lawn space that needs to be re-purposed. It's going to be a busy year from the looks of my seed sowing and other plant additions. And I have numerous seedlings that I hope will bloom for the very first time this year. Can't wait to see their fresh faces!

You are right, Becky! That is going to be my next question. How far apart do you space your seedlings? If I have 200 seedlings, how big a bed do I need to properly fit them in? If I plan to have them in the same location for at least 3 years, how far should I space them?

I have over 2000 seeds that I collected in 2015. I have 6 trays (72 holes) that will hold a total of 432 plants. I plan to begin some in a few weeks. I'm going to get just two trays started first and see how it goes. If all goes smoothly, I will probably start two more trays a few weeks after that, etc. This is my first year doing this. Mid December I tested five seeds just to see how things progress. All five germinated. Two within 4 days and the other three by day 10. Planted them in a 4" pot and am keeping them under an Ott-light that I have for reading. Two of the five really shot up fast, the other three were slower to germinate and grow leaves. One them has already died off. It seemed to dry up...maybe. It's so hard to tell if I'm under watering or over watering. The other two of the three slow ones look questionable. The two that shot up still look really good and have three leaves each. Makes me a little nervous to get started full force. Oh well, I guess I have enough seeds. I'll just keep going until I have all healthy ones. Wish me luck.

Karen - I can't answer that question. Because mine ... for whatever reasons.... never get real big the first year or two, I plant them close together. (Probably too close.) But it is out of necessity. I also have raised beds for most all my daylilies which I have to squeeze them in. So during the growing season, they cover the raised beds pretty thoroughly. But typically mine stay at only a single or double fan that first year and sometimes the second year.

Fred gets nice big plants from seeds pretty rapidly. Sometimes I want to know his secret and sometimes I don't. If all my seedlings got big like his, they would not fit in my yard.

I've been avoiding the culling process for several years now. I think that is the thing I fear the most. I am always afraid I will remove a seedling plant that I later find out I should've kept. I have a hard time parting with any of my babies. I need tough love.

Sue - Add a little 3% hydrogen peroxide to your water before watering your daylilies. In Winter, I typically water once or twice a week. The H2O2 will help them from damping off or developing root rot. I've never lost a sprouted seedling (except the albinos) since I started using H2O2.

Wish you the best, Sue! I too am a novice at this. I started about 30 seeds two weeks ago just to try. Most of them have germinated and are growing. Some are already 2 inches tall! I am shocked how fast they grow.

Becky, I have found that it helps to be in a really angry mood if I need to thin the herd.

Right now I have way more seeds than I have room for, sitting here. I'm paralyzed about starting any of them, though, because DH is making noises about travel to visit DD (who just left here a week ago!) and members of his family (on the opposite coast). I know that I can't leave baby seedling pots untended outdoors... Bad Things Happen (birds, squirrels, slugs, snails, and even (if I leave the pots in the wrong places) deer and raccoons).

beckygardener said:Sue - Add a little 3% hydrogen peroxide to your water before watering your daylilies. In Winter, I typically water once or twice a week. The H2O2 will help them from damping off or developing root rot. I've never lost a sprouted seedling (except the albinos) since I started using H2O2.

I did add H202. Maybe I should add more. I have a 16.9oz. bottle of drinking water. Per a video I saw on the internet, I put one capful of H202 into the bottle. Should I be adding more?

Here is a pic of the little sprouts. The littlest one is between the two big ones...a bit behind them. Hard to see, it's not going to make it. The other on the far right looks bad also, the tip of the leaf is drying out. Should the soil be kinda dry as you can see the lighter brown? Or should I be watering so the whole surface turns the darker color? I do water from the bottom. I'm so afraid to water too much.

Yes I too am interested in Karen's question. How far apart should one space the seedlings when you put them into the beds? I assume they can be packed quite tightly at first, or no?

Polymerous - I would wait until you get back from your trip. I have started seeds at all times of the year (except the hot summer months).

Sue - water them thoroughly and then don't water again until the soil at the top is dried out. The babies may not have enough roots yet to be getting to the damp bottom soil. You might want to add a diluted amount of liquid fertilizer to the water every few weeks as well. Yours look more yellow green or is that just the photo. They need bright light. Like near a sunny window sill or under lights. I am not sure of your set up for growing them.

Glen - I plant the young seedlings about 8"' apart in the ground when they are single fans. Just remember though that they will need to be transplanted as they develop more fans. Double work to dig and replant. Mine just don't grow that fast here with what I am doing until the second or third year.

Here is a link on seedling growth from seed to bloom. Seedling are planted 8" apart.
The thread "Seedling Progress" in Daylilies forum

I might start 10-30......

Kathy - the problem is that I don't know when, or even if, we are actually making a trip - or trips!

Fred, for the link to that thread. It is most helpful and so nice to see pics that show progress of your seedlings beds.

beckygardener said: You might want to add a diluted amount of liquid fertilizer to the water every few weeks as well. Yours look more yellow green or is that just the photo. They need bright light. Like near a sunny window sill or under lights. I am not sure of your set up for growing them.

The photo makes them look a lot more yellow than what they really are. The light is very close to the tips. I think I'll move them to the shelving unit that I have set up for the large seedling trays. That location is in a south window where they can get some REAL sunlight.

What fertilizer can I use on the seedlings. I realize it needs to be mixed half strength (or less), but what is a good, common brand name that I may be able to get locally? Basically have just Fleet Farm and Menards around here. I've read here on ATP that some use MiricleGro, while others say "no" to that.

I use miraclegro liquid at half strength.

Fred - thanks for that link.

Sue, this is only my fifth year, so I'm still a beginner, but nevertheless I will pass along some things I wish I had known in the first year. That year, I did cell trays, as you seem to be doing, and I started in November. That turned out to be way too early, as I have a similar climate to yours, and couldn't plant out until May (it might even have been early June that year). What I learned was that seedlings in cells get real tired of those cells after about three months. So you're right not to hurry. Early Feb is fine. Since that first year, I've started in very late January, taking until early March to get 3000 seeds planted, and the seedlings did just as well with that shorter time (although I switched to 12 oz Solo cups by then, and have stayed with that - 3 seeds per cup. 18 cups fit in a standard tray, so 54 plants per tray).

Secondly, get some Gnatrol from Amazon and use that from the get-go to avoid fungus gnats. I found this was wildly overpriced on other garden sites, and that Amazon is the best bet. $20 will buy enough for the season. Maybe if you're only doing 432 sdlgs overall, you could get away with less. It is only good for 2 years, so I buy new every year. I also recommend yellow plastic markers gooped up with Tanglefoot (also available on Amazon -- a $10 can will last a lifetime) and put some of those around. That will alert you to the presence of gnats and this is how I knew when I needed to do another Gnatrol treatment as the sdlgs were growing (although I usually did it every 2-3 wks anyway).

Glen - I would use Fred's method if I had the room, absolutely. Much better for the sdlgs to have enough room to stay in place for 2-3 yrs without moving. But I do NOT have enough room to do that. First year I planted seedlings a few inches apart in rows only 6" apart out of necessity. Second year, I planted the contents of the Solo cups in one piece (not separating them, so three sdlgs in the space of a cup, placed 8" apart from the next 3). These worked okay and saved a lot of room, but you need to dig out our selects as soon as you identify them. If you leave them this close for 3+ yrs, they start to grow together and then you have a real nightmare separating them and making sure you don't get a piece of a sib. So I dig the best ones out in year 2 (first year of bloom) and move them to roomy quarters. Doing this, though, you get some that resent moving and don't bloom the next year. You also need a short-handled spade, if you don't have one, to dig in those cramped quarters.

Some day I'll get a place with PLENTY of garden space where all seedlings can be planted with enough room to remain in place until they have bloomed for at least a couple years and have either been selected or tossed!

Rob - I like your ideas and your future dream.