HYB:Seed:Potting:Techniques:101

This one is for the beginners.  

I'll start this with my techniques and hope Linda and others will jump in was 
theirs so the newbies can learn and choose.

1) Several weeks ago, I determined how many pots I would need for this years 
seedlings.  I've been emptying pots with an eye to achieving this number, 
forty.  (I've in excess of 250 pots but all were full!)

2) Yesterday, I bought several bags of Bacto potting mix.  Of the different 
types I've tried, this is still my favorite. 

3) Sometime in the next week or so I will fill the forty pots.  I'll water 
them every couple of days to settle the potting mix. After settling, the soil 
should be about an inch from the top of the pot.  I use mum pots. They work best 
for me. 

4) Around Thanksgiving, I'll plant the seed . . . approximately 25 to each 
pot.  The idea here is to have cold temperatures settled into the area.  Unlike 
others, I do not want my seed to sprout this fall.  If my new garden is warmer 
due to total exposure, I may adjust that back to Christmas in the future. 

5) Then, I'll place the pots in a shallow trench down the side of my garden 
and water well every day for a couple of weeks making sure they are soaked 
going into winter. Shallow is important since iris seed float! The man that 
broke/tilled this garden provided me with the trench so I don't have to dig one this 
year.

6) Cover the pots with some form of mulch . . . usually shredded leaves, etc. 
In the past I kept a piece of chicken over the pots, but under the mulch, to 
discourage squirrels and the like.  Acquiring mulch is a problem this year.  
If all else fails, I'll layer the tops of the pots with coffee filters. 

7) Wait for spring and sprouts.

Open to questions. 

Betty W. in South-central KY Zone 6

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