Advice needed about growing flowers from seed

[IndigoElectron]

I've just finished planning my hanging baskets and have realised how clueless I am when it comes to flowers

I am using the 12 inch Easy Fill baskets, which have 6 holes round the sides (so 6 plants there), and I was going to put 4 plants round the edge and 1 in the middle.

I've watched some clips on You Tube on how to plant up a hanging basket, but all the clips use plug plants and don't explain how to grow from seed. This might be a silly question, but do I get 1 plant from 1 seed (a plant big enough to put in the hanging basket that is, like the plug plants), or do I just get a single flower from one seed and therefore would need to sow several seeds in a cluster to get a decent sized plant? Or does it depend on the type of flower?

I've sown some seeds which have just germinated, but some of the seedlings look so tiny and I can't imagine them getting big enough to put in the baskets! They are in 1 inch modules, each one contains between 6-10 seedlings (except the Indian Cress which has 1, and the Spring flowers where there is 1 of each type so 3 seedlings).

The seeds I've sown are:
Begonia (Summer bedding)
Lobelia (Kristallpalast)
Lobelia (Colour Cascade)
Garden nasturtium/Indian cress (High-climbing mix)
Spring flower mix (pansy, forget me not and English Daisy)

I am starting to think I should have bought plug plants but I have the seeds now so want to give them a go I have lots more to sow this weekend so want to make sure I get it right.

[Kristen]

You get one plant from one seed - although maybe not all seeds will germinate & grow.

Lobelia seed is like dust, the seedlings are minuscule (to start with), they are very fiddly to prick out, they take ages to grow into decent sized plants (I think you would have needed to sow them earlier than now), they need both heat and light to bring them on (I raise mine under artificial lights, although that isn't essential)

You, just possibly?!!, might like to buy plants of Lobellia

Begonia is pretty fiddly too.

Nasturtiums should be fine though, and Pansy / Forget-me-not (although i think they are Biennial? so if you sow this year they won't flower until next year??)

You might want to pick some easier ones for your first year ... or have a backup plan to buy some plug plants, before the garden centres sell out, or only have tail-end-Charlie left, if your seedlings don't get big enough in time.

[IndigoElectron]

Thanks Kristen. I'm not too worried if I don't get hanging baskets this year, I'm really just learning at the moment, although it would be nice. I've got lots of seeds to experiment with! Yes, the tiny seeds weren't easy, but they have germinated in the heated propagator and now they're on a windowsill. I can't believe how quickly the Indian Cress is growing! I followed the instructions on the packet and tried to time it so they would germinate around the same time, but didn't think about different growth rates. I wanted to have a few different plants in each basket but it looks like that will be hard to do. Maybe I'll take a trip to good old Lidl and see what they've got in. Thanks as always for the advice :-)