Thank you Veggieluv, we luv you too! Yes, the 'Winter Sowing Method' is not winter sowing a field in October with a green manure to turn under in April, or a winter rye, etc, to be cut for crop or fodder the next Spring. When you google Winter Sowing, the first hundred hits are dominated by the method, the ancient agricultural practice is going further and further behind the main pages. A few years back I went down to Beltsville seeking guidance and they very kindly and patiently gave it to me, as well taught me how to manage and grow my website. And it is that scholarly guidance which is why the method dominates over the ancient farming practice when you search the internet for 'Winter Sowing'. If you recheck the FAQs you'll see that the first one there is "How to Winter Sow", I think that is what you are referring to as what you want to read again. The FAQs were needed because there was a LOT of explaining because as you say, it is counter-intuitve, and it is also counter-cultural; many people believe that you need those heat mats and light set-ups to begin any sort of seed, and among the more experienced there were arguements that Deno's set of numbers had to be followed exactly. So, God bless Beltsville as they were the first authority who didn't start their convo with "No. You're crazy." I did good, so did they. We have a work-in-progress Database, there are veggies and herbs listed. I repeat it is a work in progress and it was created by the forum, my hands were not involved in its creation, but do to the need to house it in a reliable url, it is now at WinterSown.Org. Last week I finished the "cleaning and dusting", reframed it into a nicer grid, and uploaded the DB. The DB is in plain-text, you don't need Excel or Word or any database reading program, you can just click on the links and there it is. Keep in mind that not seeing a plant there doesn't mean that it can't be WS, and seeing a "NO" there also doesn't mean that it can't be WS--this is because there hasn't yet been enough years of entry to reliably prove and disprove particular plants. The DB is a suggestion and guide, but it is not the know-all, end-all, do-all, be-all for what seeds you can sow with the method. I am very glad that VeggieLuv mentioned tomatoes and peppers, initially most people think that you can't WS them. Consider the plants that reseed in your garden--we've all heard the legendary tales about toms germinating in cracks in sidewalks and growing to be the healthiest plants anyone has ever seen. Toms do reseed in a temperate climate because they're from a temperate climate, peppers and eggplants and all solanums can reseed. It does make sense that it you live in zone five or colder, that you choose a short season tom and not a 110 dtm type because you may be bringing in green fruits to ripen on the counter. Short season gardens need short season varieties. Give it a try, if you're unsure of the method then hold back some seeds to sow by whatever means you want, then at the end of the season compare the vigor, health, flowers or crops of what you sow. Your eyes are your teachers. Here is a link that might be useful: Winter Sowing Database

Good suggestions. I don't cut my milk jug all the way around, leave a little hinge just under the handle. Then when I open them up, I peg them to the ground. If it gets cold again, it's easier to tape it shut again for late frosts and you probably don't have to tape it as thoroughly as initially. I save my containers and use them again, and the right kinds of tops are with the right jugs. What I'm wrestling with is that I decided I want to sow a lot of seeds in oversized cell packs. I have the trays that match but no holes in them. Anyway, I don't want to preset anything to hold plastic up and over them now, and the ground will be frozen when I set my jugs out in about Feb to poke anything down in. I've been looking around and the only thing I have to keep the plastic a couple inches off (or just an inch might be ok) the surface of the cell packs to keep from crushing the new growth would be some bricks, some old glass blocks. Can anybody think of what might work better that is easy/free/cheap? I think saran wrap would be too thin for those and have some clear plastic in a roll that is probably too heavy, maybe w/slits in it heavy would be ok. I can get something in between. The reason I want to sow in cell packs is for some of my seeds that resent transplanting to have a better chance and save me work later. I sometimes start in those trays you talked about w/covers (from McD's salads, KFC etc.) They work great. Sometimes I plant directly into the ground but some I like to transplant individually into cell packs so they can grow on, very tedious. Sowing directly into cell packs would save me that step. One trick I learned for spring sowing but should work equally well for winter sowing is to plant in the deli containers, then fill 16 oz plactic cups w/drainage holes punched in the bottom partway up with potting soil. Then use a spatula & dull knife and work a chunk of seedlings out of the tray and just set it on top of the soil, the roots will find it easy to work on down. Then I let grow on for awhile and plant with a bulb planter. That would work well for people whose gardens are crowded or whatever. I have to make things as easy on myself as possible or it won't all get done.

Hi, laagarden, welcome to wintersowing! I'm responding to your questions from here, as well as the other post you made, because everything is tied together. Bookjunky has an answer in here too. Almost all of us wintersowers do at least some annuals in addition to perennials. Given the right growing conditions (sun or shade, enough water), an annual will give flowers the first year. They do need time to get to blooming size. When we buy annuals, many of them are started on January 1st in a greenhouse. So, you can fill your yard with blooming annuals, but you won't have instant color on May 15th unless you buy a few blooming greenhouse annuals to enjoy while your wintersown babies catch up. There are some annuals that bloom nice and early though, they are Larkspur, annual poppies, and Bachelor Buttons (centaurea cyanus). All of these can be purple, blue-purple, or lavender. I think there are orange annual poppies, too. These 3 early annuals are HARDY annuals, meaning that frost doesn't bother them at all. But they'll die after one summer of flowering and making seed, so they're an annual. Larkspur will often sprout right now and slowly grow through the winter. You could sow all 3 of these right now if you wish. Some people wait until the middle of winter to sow poppies, and some wintersow them in containers and plant them out when they're tiny. Some people do sow seeds on the ground and then cover with a mini-greenhouse. It's more typical to use something larger than a jug, but you can do that too. At the bottom of the main WS page, there's a bar for searching. Search for a thread called "winter sowing in situ" which talks about this. Pitimpinai does poppies, I know for sure. Most annuals or tender perennials that we grow are native to tropical areas. They "think" a warm spell means it's spring. They'll sprout, then the warm spell will end and they'll die from the cold. Last year I direct-sowed some annual seeds when it got cold, then we had a late-November warm spell like kcqrna described, and I had 20 4 O'clock seedlings pop up and then die. In any group of seeds, there are ones who sprout at the first sign of good conditions, and some that sprout later. Some people just sow heavily, and rely on the late-sprouters to stay dormant during a warm spell. They will get some sprouts in warm spells that die, but will still get some sprouts in true spring. (however, I didn't have any 4 O'clocks come Spring) A big rule for wintersowing: throw the screw-cap away. You need ventilation. Now you have it! Zinnias are great for easy color, and you can do those in orange or purple or both. They are quite tender. How much sun do you have, what's your soil like, and what heights do you you want? We can recommend some annuals for you, and some perennials in addition to what karendee suggested.

Hi! My name is Karen and I've posted some questions on the geranium forum and got some good advice, but noone is terribly chatty over there so I was wondering if this is a good forum for me to join. Are you taking new members?? I'm in IL and we started over 700 (agh!)pelargoniums, or whatever they are called. We call them geraniums. Anyway, I was told to pinch and went to town and I hope I did it right because I have some sad plants. And it's about time to start hardening off...and I haven't a clue what I'm doing! We have two portable greenhouses outside with heaters in them and we put the impatiens and pansies, I think, in there. But the geraniums are inside under grow lights and in sunny windows (as sunny as it gets during the long awaited IL 'Spring' if that's what you call it!) Can anyone help me keep them alive?