After my setback on Week 6, I replanted more seeds and progress has been very good.  The indoor plant growing equipment including the six T8 Fluorescent light bulbs are working very well.  I have them setup on a timer (my Christmas light timer) where they provide my plants with 16 hours of light per day.  I have 4 of the Jiffy Professional Greenhouse flats under the lights right now (see picture).  Please remember to remove the plastic dome after the seeds have germinated (I only use the bottom portion of the greenhouse).  Also, I have found that spacing the peat pellets every other cell works well so the roots do not get intertwined (you may need to buy yourself a couple more Jiffy Professional Greenhouse flats).

The Hollyhock (pictured - top) is growing very quickly and the leaves are getting very large.  Additionally, the Coreopsis (pictured - middle) is beginning to get little flower buds!  I am hopeful that I will be able to show you some flowering Coreopsis next week.  The bottom picture provides you with a better view of my T8 Fluorescent light bulb setup with my 4 Jiffy Professional Greenhouse flats. 

On the negative side, I have been struggling with seed germination with the following plants:

•           Butterfly Weed
•           New England Aster
•           Reflexed Coneflower
•           Wild Sweet William Phlox

If anyone has suggestions on how to improve the chances of successful germination for these plants, please share your comments.

Please keep in mind that you want to try to keep the fluorescent light bulbs about 4 to 6 inches from the plants.  Additionally, check your plants at least once per day (twice is even better) to make sure that they have not dried out.  The peat pellets can dry out quickly.  I add about 1 quart of water with ½ strength fertilizer (Miracle Grow) about every 2 to 3 days to each Jiffy Professional Greenhouse flat.

Progress to date...

• Grow Seeds Indoors - Week 1 Results
• Grow Seeds Indoors - Weeks 2 Results
• Grow Seeds Indoors - Weeks 3 Results
• Grow Seeds Indoors - Week 6 Results
• Grow Seeds Indoors - Week 8 Results

Next Steps

Depending on how large my plants are getting, I may need to repot a couple of them before I am able to plant them in the ground in the butterfly garden.  Additionally, I plan to get started on preparing the butterfly garden in my backyard within the next week or two depending on the weather (i.e. removing sod, tilling in peat, adding edging, etc.).  I anticipate beginning the planting around the 1st or 2nd week of May.

Checkout My Butterfly Garden Plan - Part 8: Grow Seeds Indoors to follow my progress.

Have any tips or suggestions?  Please share comments.