Upstate NY, started seeds, am I late? help

Im in upstate ny, and planted a bunch of stuff 1/12 weeks ago,,,1st time planter too... should i be okay or am i late? Just about everything has spouted, I try to keep lights on them

Another question, I was not sure how many seeds to put in each peat pot....so on some i divided the envelope between 5 (which is the row in the kit) and some have LOTS of tiny seedling,,, what do i do now?

jane

I usually put two seeds per peat pot. Once the seedlings emerge, I gently remove the first set of leaves, once the next set grows, I transplant the peat pot into a bigger pot and keep under the lights, until I am ready to start hardening them to the outdoors. Which being in upstate I won't start bringing them outside for at least another week and a half to two weeks. I bring them out on the patio during the day and then bring them back inside at night, because you never know when we will be frost free. Generally we are frost free for sure by the 1st week of May. After that I dig them in.
I started my seeds in early March because I wanted to get a good start on them so I would have some sizable plants to set out. I did however start my hanging baskets very late, and the seedlings just started to pop. You should be ok if you wait til May to set them out
Hope this helps

2 seeds? Are you kidding me? some of my little peat pots have aleast 20 little sprourts!!!! I only planted flowers..... when the package said only 10 seeds i put all the seeds in one little peat pot ......O-M-G! I messed BIG TIME...Do i just pluck some out?

jane

So I take off the leaves? Will that leave me with a bunch of sprouts that a bare like stalks? Can I use my tiny scissors that i use for snipping threads ?

jane

Jane,
I wouldn't worry about trying to remove any leaves, you don't need to and there is no benefit. I would recommend waiting until your seedlings have at least one full set of true leaves and then cut the peat pot apart and gently remove as many seedlings as you can and transplant them into separate pots. You may have to use some potting mix to add to the peat pots to cover roots when you transplant them. Or, you can get some good potting/seeding mix and transplant seedlings into individual pots/cell packs/ yogurt cups or any container you feel like recycling.

Personally, I don't use peat pots for a number of reasons, there are many threads on their benefits/detriments. If I want to plant many seeds of one species/variety and the seeds are small or I am unsure of the germination, I will plant the seeds into a small pot (2.5 - 4") and then transplant seedlings into individual pots when they have one to two sets of true leaves.