Growing snapdragons and asters from seed

I've never grown these from seed before - I sowed both types in a shallow tray near the end of March and they germinated readily enough, however they are incredibly slow to grow and are now merely 5mm to 10mm in height. The asters are doing a little better than the snapdragons though. Or is this the normal growth rate for such types?

They were kept indoors until they germinated and now I put them outside during the day and bring them in at night.

The compost I used is Westland Multi-Purpose compost with added John Innes. It tends to dry out quickly so I need to water the seedlings once every day or two.

the three seed types are:

Aster Ostrich Feather Seeds

Antirrhinum Night and Day Seeds

Antirrhinum Twilight Mix Flower Seeds

All are from Mr Fothergill's

I do wonder if I should place them in pots, but of course they are going to be difficult to separate due to my patchy sowing (being such fine seeds).

Thanks for any advice.

 

Maybe pricking them out into cell type trays would help, but the slow growth is probably down to the temperature.
Makes planting out much easier when the time comes as well.

We have had some sunny days that have felt warm in the sun but the air has been cold when the sun goes in.

As long as they look OK I think they will pick up.

 

I sowed some snapdragons last year when we had an extremely bad Spring and they struggled the same way, but eventually I got a couple of plants to flower. Those plants have survived the winter and grown bigger.

 

Thanks for the advice, much appreciated.

BTW, I know that snapdragons will survive the winter, but will Asters also do the same?

 

Asters won't survive over winter.
I have a perennial aster (which is not really an aster but similar) it's called Stokes Aster (Stokesia laevis) and comes back each year.

 

I grow snapdragons from seed and they do take a while to grow. When they start to grow the true leaves and that there's roots growing I prick them out into cell trays, but keep them inside until the end of may, sometimes there's casualties after doing this but this year i haven't had any.
Here's mine, I've pinched them out twice now. I sowed them in February, they're called cherry twist, i think that they were from DT brown if not it was fothergills.

 

Thanks, most helpful.

I don't keep mine inside during the day because the only places I can put them are near windows, but then they'll no doubt become leggy.

 

Ok but it might be too cold for them to grow and your welcome.