Percentage that survive

I was wondering what the percentage of seedlings is that survive. Even if you only do one (or half) flat per species how many from that actually survive.
I have been starting a few seeds and I am finding that I have some dying. If some didnt die then I would definatly would have way too many plants for my yard.
Just curious.
Janice

Janice, I can relate - I started out with a firm resolve to start only 18 Veronica spicata (Speedwell)plants. I wasn't sure of the germination rate (it was traded seed), so I over-planted. THEY ALL GERMINATED!! So then I had hundreds of seedlings - I couldn't bear to waste so many, so now I have 60 potted up. (I rationalized that my MIL and SIL can use some in their gardens, and maybe I can get some of my neighbors to take a few....LOL!!!!)

But I think the real question is why are your seedlings dying? Are they drying out, or are you experiencing damping off? There are a couple good threads here on how to prevent damping off. I think most "backyard gardeners" expect to have less than 100% germination on most things, and they deliberately thin out their seedlings, but they don't count on a significant percentage of their seedlings dying to "thin themselves out". Does that make sense?

My biggest "problem" is over seeding to begin with. Almost all of the seeds that I started this year were from trade, so I wasn't sure about any of the germination rates. I've had wonderful success with most things, and I almost always have to thin out. So far, once the seeds have germinated, I've not had any die. I have had a couple of problems with some. I had to repot several from the seed trays into cups, they thrived after that. One plant was getting too much light, so I moved him out from the growlights, and now he's fine. One I was overwatering, so I cut back, and now he's thriving. My Oriental Poppies were doing great until I took them out to the greenhouse. I brought them back in, and they are recovering. Same with my Chilian Glory Flower.

Good luck!

Trish

I also overseed and have found that all of the seeds which germinated have done well, so far. Some varieties seem to need more pampering for germination, ie..Queen's Wreath Vine, Canna..but for the most part, everything took off fine. I kept my grow lights on all of the time until the seeds germinated, then I started shutting them off at night. I thought I was home free once I had good germination on the many seeds, however, I found that you have to check with them everyday or your could lose some seedlings very fast. Some seedlings need more water, while some are still damp and don't need refreshing. Some seedlings do better on the cool side of the light strand, while others need the warm strand, although I do turn the flats under the lights. I also found that using a higher mixture of peat was the wrong choice for some seeds. The peaty mixture either gets too soggy from a bit of water or it dries too hard and "captures" the growing seedling. Now, after all of this scientific method..lol..of getting those seeds to grow, many of the outdoor sown seeds have germinated in reused/baked soil with no pampering - go figure!
Trish

I get about 98% germination.

I start about 25% more than I need, to allow for cats/dogs and drops..


Byron