Caesalpinia gilliesii - seedlings

I'm a propogation newbie! I was successful in getting 4 seeds to sprout and now need to know what to do with them. They are currently in individual cups, on my patio in full sun, and are only a few inches tall. What do I do next? I don't have a flourescent lighting system at my house, so I'm thinking I should put them each in individual ziploc bags and bring them to work (where they'll be under lights all the time). And then, hopefully, plant them next spring.

Can anyone advise? I understand they're very easy to grow. But this is my first attempt, and I'd like to do things right.

Carla

Do you have a bright window in your house? I'm not sure about taking them to work, the fluorescent lights probably aren't close enough to the plants to really help them, and sometimes there can be drafts from heating vents and things there that you might not have at home that could make it tougher for them. So a sunny window may be a better place for them. I also don't know that I would put them in ziploc bags--I cover up my seed trays with a dome (same effect as the ziploc would be) before the seeds sprout, but once they come up and start growing I take the dome off because otherwise it gets too humid in there and can lead to rot. So you might be better off just misting them regularly to counteract the dry air in the house. I'm definitely not an expert on this though so if someone comes along and contradicts me feel free to ignore this!

Well if it helps i'm wishing you luck because i'll be starting some in spring.
Mike

Take them outside and pot them up into bigger pots or plant them. They are hardy in TX.

8a is the bottom of their hardiness range though, so I don't know if I would trust leaving them outside over the winter if they're still really small

Give them a very deep mulch--they will be fine in TEXAS.

Actually, they are hardy here in 7b. Thats not the problem, its that they are so small to be going through a winter, I am not sure that their root system is developed enough. You could easily lose them if you get a really cold week of weather. The safest thing to do is to repot them in gallon containers and leave them in the sunniest spot you have in the house and in the spring, when your freezes are over with, plant them outside and give them some slow release fert and they should grow enough for the next winter to survive.

That was also one of the things I suggested--you can always go out and throw a floating row cover over them.

Yes they should be fine here, I have several that I grew from seed over the past few years. If they are still small when the temp dips to freezing AND you have them in pots you could drag them into the garage until the freezing temps are gone. I have done that when they are small.