Not the same. Winter sowing implies sowing seed outside in the garden in the fall & then germination occures in the spring. As to the problems you encountered with your green house may help with the germination process BUT the plants should be removed from the "house" asap. The plants need a growing on temp above 60F. they REQUIRE good air circulation but not a draft. & good light. The soil should be damp not wet. misting the plants may encourage disease. the foliage needs to dry off.

You might want to read FAQ on winter sowing forum and also wintersown.org by Trudi.
Essentially, yes, by placing seeds in closed container outside we are creating kind of mini greenhouses, allowing seeds to germinate better.
You can put your seed trays inside of your greenhouse, providing you cover them up with some plastic dome. One has to check for moisture, specially when temps get warm. Or you could place your covered containers outside and do same thing, but moisture control will be different due to rain/ snow piling on top of the container.

primgal,
Please take a look at this thread. It may help:

Here is a link that might be useful: Winter Sowing

Thank you for your input. So you place seeds outside in the fall to come up in the spring? I will read the threads you suggested, my greenhouse has a plastic cover that goes over the entire frame. The flats also have a cover, which I used as well, however, from what I had understood, when you water, you're supposed to mist them. Is this wrong? Should I just have used something else to water them, and I just read that you don't use soft water on seeds, which we have. I understand about the foliage getting wet, but here in Minnesota, our season isn't that long, so you have to get things done quickly.
Again, I thank you for your help. I really enjoy this website, I have learned alot, and am continuing to learn.
Have a great day.

Take container, place the soiless mix, water it. Place your seeds, gently press, cover it and leave it either outside or you can do it in your greenhouse. Containers should have vents for air and drainage.
Once the weather gets warm, containers have tendency to dry up- whether in greenhouse or outdoor. Watering should be done from the bottom to not dislodge the seeds. Once seeds germinate, open the container top and let seedlings grow. Misting or not misting is not a problem. Seeds are not growing to germinate until time is right and you will be ready to plant them out then anyway.

Don't mist seedlings. It encourages fungus. I agree with George above.

I tried winter sowing in containers outdoors in early March and it worked well with cold weather annuals like poppies, but I found I'd rather watch the water and other requirements in the comfort of my jammies and indoor warmth than going outdoors daily to check for too much solar heat and water/ice buildup in frozen plastic seed containers, freezing my butt.

Try it with cold loving seeds (poppies, batchelor buttons, alyssum, larkspur, etc) and decide what works for you, between indoors, winter container sowing, and sowing on top of snow/cold soil in late winter. It's all in what makes you have fun and success.
Avoid tender annual seeds in northern climates with winter sowing as they croak with a freeze after germination.

Wintersowing is great for people who don't have the money or the room for a light set-up. Containers are free, and everyone who posts in these forums are so generous, you can get seeds for next to nothing.

One other thing about the winter sowing method - for us northerners, it really is not worth the effort. You are only gaining a few weeks at best, over direct sowing into the garden and if your growing season is only 3 months long, waiting until August for flowers is just not an option.

I sow my tomatoes so that I can plant them outside in WOWs at least a month before my last frost date. That way I can actually eat some tomatoes in July. With winter sowing, I would be lucky to have green tomatoes before the first fall frost.

There ARE advantages of winter sowing verses direct sowing though, Kay. Direct sown seeds can get blown away, washed away, eaten by birds or bugs. By sowing them in a container, you may not gain a lot as far as the bloom date, but you have more control over the germination process as a whole. Tomatoes and peppers are about the only things I may sow some of indoors. All of the cool season veggies and herbs will be WS, along with all of my perennials, and annuals. The annuals won't be sown until March or early April, and yes the blooms will be a little behind the nursery bought plants, but the plants will be stronger and many will bloom well past the first frost. For those of us that don't have room for sowing indoors, or have a green house, wintersowing allows us to still grow from seed.

Primgal, I hope that you won't give up on growing from seed. It's just a matter of finding a way that works for you. We are all learning as we go.

Happy sowing,
Bonnie