My heating pads fit 4 flats and I have 5 under the lights. Every morning I pull the far right flat out, slide the rest to the right and then put the one I pulled in the empty slot on the far left. I also rotate each flat 180 degrees. This allows me to see what has germinated and what needs to be watered.

I color code and number each six pack or flat, I also record the germination date to help determine if I should replant or give up on that seed selection, using the germination date on the seed packet to help determine which it will be. We reuse the plastic labels every year so the color coding of the petunias does not make sense this year. I won’t be sowing cold stratified perennial seeds until the summer for fall planting so no Pink tags, yet.

I typically sow multiple seeds if the seeds are older, once the plants are older and have true leaves, I’ll thin them and repot the extras. This leads to us having reserve plants in case the staring lineup fails to perform. Or to give away.

I planted onions from seed to get a late crop. We planted onion sets in the fall to have an early crop. These have light coating of vermiculite to see if improves germination and viability.

If your broccoli plants, or any seedlings, are touching the dome, it’s time to remove the dome.