So this is my second year hybridizing. Im in zone 7. could I keep the seedling indoors for the winter? just to try and accelerate their growth? I have a decent sun room it gets a bit cold maybe in the 40 during the winter. would I need lights on top of that? Whats the best for the job?

Based on my personal experience, I absolutely recommend keeping your seedlings indoors the first winter. I am in zone 7a, Northern Virginia, and have only been in this game, seriously, since 2014, but I have done a couple of crosses (and harvested a gazillion bee pods). My first cross I over-wintered indoors and it bloomed in its second year, with large, sturdy plants. The second I put outdoors and lost half the seedlings. Those that survived look rather puny and look like they will not bloom until their third or fourth year.

If I had a sun porch I would just keep them watered and let Mother Nature do the rest, although heating pads, timed to match the sun cycle, might be helpful.

clockworkhawkins said:So this is my second year hybridizing. Im in zone 7. could I keep the seedling indoors for the winter? just to try and accelerate their growth? I have a decent sun room it gets a bit cold maybe in the 40 during the winter. would I need lights on top of that? Whats the best for the job?

It depends... As Dave says, (and gathering from comments on this forum) Zone 7 can be tougher on daylilies than most people would suspect.

How big are the seedlings right now? (height, approximate # of leaves, typical fan or crown diameter at the base of the leaves)
When were they planted/sprouted?
Are they in individual pots or planted in group-pots. (how big are the pots?)
Were you planning on lining them out in the garden soon, or were you going to bloom them in the pots?

In general, if they're dormants, lights won't matter. Your porch temperatures are plenty cold enough to give them a proper winter chill. However, with lights and mild bottom heat, you can definitely extend the growing season of the dormants. I've kept dormants growing until early December before, let them rest for a couple of months, and had them bloom the next year. I've seen seedlings go dormant and then pop back up fairly quickly. Some seedlings don't always demonstrate the growing habit they will have when they're mature plants.

Good lighting is kind of pricey, if you're running enough to simulate outdoor sunlight. You can keep them growing with less-than-optimal light though, and that will give them a good run on next year. The bottom heat is a good idea, if used with a thermostat to keep temps under control. Too much bottom heat and long photoperiods will promote soft growth—I'd probably only use that to extend fall growth and get things going earlier in the spring.

thanks for the info guys. I should have been more specific 7b almost zone 8a. some ofthe seelings took off and are prolly 12 inches high or more but others are less than 3 inches

what is soft growth i dont see that term on google

Mr. Clockwork

While I hate stomping on newcomer enthusiasm, I would discourage you from trying to "get ahead" by growing in a sunroom. If you are in zone 7 bordering 8, you are already blessed with an extremely long growing season that is quite adequate for planting your seedlings outside in real dirt and seeing mature plants the following year. You are, after all, hybridizing to sell plants to gardeners who grow their plants outside! So letting Mother Nature take care of the weaklings is the best way to go IMHO.

I do agree with Davi, if the plants are being grown to sell. If they are just being grown for fun, either way would work. Maybe that was mentioned in a different post.

im more in it for the genetics fun. while natural selection would kill off the weakest it might also kill off the carrying good genes