Newbie Question - Sun or Shade

Hi all

Total newbie to WS'ing here. This winter is the first time I've tried it and I AM ADDICTED!! It completely satisfies my need to be playing with seeds and dirt all year round. LOL I'm teaching my little 3y.o. to do it and he gets a huge kick out of checking the containers each day to see if there's any action. It is so cute.

My question is where do you all put your WSown containers? Full sun, part sun, shade? At the moment I have mine in full sun but our weather is getting steadily warmer and I'm worried about some of the little seedlings that have come up cooking in their hothouses. Last week we had a couple of 70 degree days, this week we are back in the mid 50's. Would I be better off putting them where they just get morning sun? Initially I left the lids off the milk jugs but noticed that when it rained they became sodden, took too long to drain and I got worried about the seeds rotting. So now I leave the lids on and just poke a few extra holes in the top. On the warm days I take the lids off for some extra airflow.

Apologies if this has been discussed before - my search's brought up zero results. TIA.

I think most people try to find a spot with morning sun and afternoon shade. If your pots are getting soggy, poke some more holes in the bottom so the water can drain

In zone 10, I'd give them very little sun, and lots of ventilation. Has anything germinated yet? If so, I'd have lids off at those temps.

Karen

I have the lids off on the containers that have seedlings in them - Rudbeckia, Scleranthus biflorus, Liatris, & Lisianthus. Still waiting on the Gaura & Echinops to do anything. So far the Rudbeckia has the best germination rate of almost 100% while the others are around 20% :-(

I put mine in the shade but I live in a high altitude where the sun is extreme and it's very dry here as well.

Wgnkiwi: When did you put out the Lisianthus and how long did they take to germinate? I split mine and sowed some indoors as well, but nothing from any of them, inside or out. So, since yours are "up", I'm curious for tips as to how you did that!

Also, many of my containers have a little green stuff on the top of the soil. I'm SURE this question has been asked before, but, is this because they're too moist? Mine are in morning sun, afternoon shade.

Thanks!

Deb (first time WS'er)

Hey Deb
I had quite a bit of "green stuff" growing in my containers too. I think it was probably because they were too moist as well as there not being enough airflow. That's part of the reason I moved them into full sun. I put them in a ridged flat so that they are are not sitting directly on the ground and unable to drain as freely and removed the caps from the bottles to increase airflow. This seemed to take care of the green stuff. I only put the caps back on if it's going to rain, which so far this winter we have had very little of.

I put the Lisianthus out on 11/15/06 - we were going through a cold spell and I was eager to get going :-p. They germinated at the beginning of February. I didn't do anything unusual - just sowed them on the surface of the soil in the milk jug. I figured that if they had to be started 12 weeks before last frost date they would be good candidates for WS'ing. In this link to GW one of the posters recommends using heat mats and lights 16 hours a day buts says he gets results in a week!

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/annuals/msg0906192027061.html

Wgnkiwi: Thanks! I'll take a look. ...and sit back an be patient. :)
Deb