When do I "pop" the top off?

Hey all! I've been so busy at home that I haven't been able to get on here and play much :0(
I have been watching my jugs and they are doing great! Most of them have germinated and there are tons of little sprouts. When should I pop their tops? I was checking them today and started to worry that maybe I should have already done this for some. I hope I didn't mess anything up.

nohren, I'm popping mine this weekend unless it is too rainy to get out. Our night time temps "should" be around 50 from now on (hopefully). That is usually a safe temp for all but the most tender plants, and those aren't usually WS in our zone. I'm 5a, too. I don't plant into the ground until the beginning of May unless the spot is in a warm area of my yard.

Thanks Cathy, so I'm guessing with all this rain you'll wait until next weekend? That was when I was thinking would be a good time. I'm praying the weather will be nice next weekend.

I did loosen the tape yesterday. The hail this morning would have done a number on the babies, a few pieces went into the top holes. It tore leaves off the trees, finished off the last of the tulips blooms. More is expected in a little while, I'm going out to tuck them under a table. Hope you don't get it, too.

I will keep my fingers crossed for you guys. You are really getting hammered. Hope it passes soon.

I'm now a sun gardener. A tornado hit our neighborhood Friday. The house is fixable, the trees are gone. The plants weren't touched. The scariest and yet most amazing thing I've ever seen.

Cathy, are you saying that you have not roof either??? Plus the lack of trees means you are sitting in sun with no shade??

The roof is damaged, but still there, thank goodness. We'd be sitting in the rain, haha, no sun around here right now. Really, I'm sad about the trees but no one in the area had more than minor injuries, a miracle when you see the damage.

Praise the Lord you are all ok! We had a trampoline fly over our house and land ontop of my truck....craziness. Other than that all was ok. I'm enjoying these few days of sunshine we're getting.

Holy Cow Cathy -- so glad to hear no one was seriously hurt. yanno -- i was actually thinking of you at that time...

friends of mine were driving from Mesa, AZ to here in Wisc and they were driving into STL when that storm hit - when the airport got hit... they said it was terrifying.

I could not even imagine.....

I know it's sort of late in the season.... but when i was home last week... it was in the 80's and just plain HOT. i cut all the lids off.
out of my 75 or so containers... i had no germination in 27 of them.... most of those are perennials -- a few possible dud annuals.

I also moved all of them to where they get less sun -- instead of all afternoon, now they will only get 1-2hrs of "noon-ish" sun.

I didn't have the germination I had hoped for either, but I began in March. Nonetheless, with Bluestone,
winter sowing, and buying, I am almost full. However, I will never be able to stop winter sowing; it's
too much fun. Plus I have all these lovely perennials from seed! I have an array of foxgloves, delphiniums, echinacea, Shasta daisies, Maltese Cross, 3 or 4 kinds of primrose, lots of columbine,
Goat's Beard, etc. Already I am planning for next year, even though I have NO ROOM.

A friend said that Thursday at Smith Mt. Lake (about 70 miles from here) a mini tornado came through
and damaged trees and twisted electric poles, generally making a big mess. Finally, I have my tub
fixed so the shower head doesn't leak and I can sleep or hide in the tub. It's just awful.

Gloria, I promise that if a tornado ever heads your way, you won't care if you get wet in the tub. :D

We are making progress on the yard. DH has moved the plants that I wanted to keep to the small patch of shade in the back yard, the rest have new homes except for two huge hosta plants, but they will be moved to new homes soon.

DH put in a dry creek where one of the big trees came out, it looks really nice and I am starting to plant in that area with some natives that can take the sun.

The debris all around is about 90% cleaned up and roofs are being replaced. Still lots to do and some homes have to be totally rebuilt. But again, no deaths so everyone is doing well dealing with it.

gloria... many of my containers didn't germinate ... or had really poor germination.
[early May i tossed a bunch of Zinn seeds in 2 pots... i got 1 - yes only 1 seedling. ... and 5 marigolds]

the weather was so bad .... I wont get home to IL for a few more weeks... i'll check the jugs that did not have germination, and see if any more 'popped' but i'm not holding my breath... but most were perennials... so it's possible they might. annuals would be toast.