Even though it seems I’ve had more failure than success at this endeavor it wasn’t a total loss. There are some Japanese Irises that are growing; they are no more than 1/2 an inch tall, but they are growing. Also, some of my daisy flats have germinated and are growing. If they survive for me to transplant I think I’ll put them in a holding bed for this year and next year I’ll find a “permanent” place for them.
Things I’ve learned:
Using a container with a tapered top is not advisable unless you have large enough openings cut in the top and sides to allow water in. Many of my little flats dehydrated and never germinated because of this problem.
With a wide mouth container be sure you’re openings are large enough for evaporation to escape – slowly. You don’t want your flat to be too wet, but also you don’t want it to dry out too fast.
Use bleach when cleaning out old juice cartons. The paper harbors juice and particles that will mold in moist conditions.
Try to keep your flats out of direct sun and make sure they are thoroughly moist – not sopping wet – constantly until the seedlings are ready for transplant. I cut back on manually watering my coreopsis too soon and they died.
Oh, well. Guess I’ll try again next year.
On an exciting side note: It seems veggies and flowers aren’t the only things that will be growing this season. We just found out we are expecting another baby. They’ll be joining us in late December. It will be a welcome addition to our lifelong garden of love.