Full sun in your temperatures is too hot for most seeds to germinate. Can you rig some type of shade over your seed starting area? If not I would keep them in my living area until germination, usually that will be around 70 degrees. For your new mix that will not hydrate, it is probably heavy on peat which becomes hydrophobic if allowed to dry completely, and will probably require submersion to wet. Newly seeded pots I cover with cling wrap to prevent too rapid drying of the surface. Al

Thanks. Appreciate your reply.

Yes, i have placed it inside my house. But I think I have made a huge blunder. I kept it soaking in water for almost4-5 hours and the surface did get wet. But I think the bottom of the soil is too soggy.

I am thinking of just starting over again for all the twelve pots. I dont want to waste 2-3 weeks in the process only to realize later that my time and energy got wasted.

What do you suggest? And also if you could give me how to do the entire thing.

As for the cling wrap, do you cover them such that they become air tight or is there some room for air? Do the seeds not need air to germinate?

I don't think you need to start over, but if that would be reassuring to you, and you have plenty of seeds, that's fine. Could you keep the containers you have and start new ones, also?

When I start from seed, I fill the pots with potting mix and soak with water from above until water runs freely out the bottom. If you are trying to conserve water, you can stack the pots so the water flows through them all. Or, you could moisten the soil in a bucket or plastic bag before filling the pots. Gently press the soil to avoid settling later. Then sprinkle the seeds on top and press them into the soil, or cover with a sprinkle of soil. Cover with plastic wrap, but poke a few holes in the plastic to allow for some air and moisture exchange. Place the containers where the temperature will be around 75F, and ideally in bright light. I agree with the previous poster that you should provide some shade if you are placing your containers outside in extreme temperatures. Once most of the seeds have sprouted, remove the plastic and allow them to grow. I usually plant my seedlings out in the ground, so I can't advise you on fertilizers or other details relevant to container growing. I hope that helps.

Martha

New seedlings are fed from the seed storage of food until green leaves have grown and photosynthesis starts producing food. About this time some feeder roots have grown and can be fed a very weak chemical fertilizer. Not more than 1/4th of the recommended strength. If inside the light needs to be strong enough to photosynthesize or the plant will be very weak and the stem produced will usually not support the leaves grown. If you are depending on light from a window the container will have to be tuned daily. Hope this helps. Al

You can try using white colored fabric lace to help filter out the sun. I haven't tried it, but have heard of many others doing this with great success. You just tarp it above your plants when the sun is too hot for some plants.