The cold won't have hurt the aubretia, Izzy, and the Busy Lizzie will have been affected as much as the petunias. I think that the compost might have been too wet and they have just rotted off.

Yes, Bulbaholic.....I think you're right. How often would you recommend they should be watered? I've never grown from seed before or mini plugs so I think I might have been over-generous! I'm also growing lots of fuchsias...Beckie Lou..Delta's Sarah etc in there...they seem ok and thriving but I don;t want to kill them off too!

How long is a piece of sting, Izzy. You do not want the compost to dry out but neither do you want it to be 'wet'. It is a suck it and see situation. If I were go and unpot my potted plants now I would find that some were too dry and other too wet. With luck, a few might be just perfect!

Bulbaholics right its a hard question to answer I suppose i tend not to water when its cold & grey unless the plant looks really dry and when its sunny but cold at night like now I water early in the day and check them late afternoon as I shut them up for the night and only water then if its really nessesary --- try lifting the pots up-- the heaviest will probably not need water and the lightest are drier and may do, hope you are feeling better and that the above 'ramblings'help

LOL...Yes, I must admit I feel the compost, stick a dibber in to see if the compost is still damp and only water those that seem to have "crumbly "compost on top. Perhaps this is still a learning curve as I've never done it before...when teaching full-time, I bought trays at the garden centre! I sometimes wonder if it is financially viable to do it this way!LOL Hopefully, I WILL improve with time!

Thank you both for your usual, helpful comments...Izzy