Imabirdnut, All of us started out as newbies! Your Common MW will most likely come back next year. I have a volunteer milkweed that was here when we moved in--don't know the kind--that has been mowed down so many times I thought it was a goner. But I noticed the other day that it is coming back! Last year it didn't come up at all, and it is just now popping through this year. So, with the root systems on MW, you just never know. Winter sowing is great, but I need to control when the seeds will come up as I sell plants at the local Farmer's Market. As to type of sand, you can use the playground sand or purchase it in smaller bags for cactus, both available at Lowes. I have much better luck with sand than with perlite. You don't need but about a fourth to a half cup for each type of seed. I put the sand in a small baggy, add the seeds, and add about an eighth to a fourth teaspoon of water--just enough to moisten the sand so it will stick together when you squeeze it and separate a bit when you shake the bag. Write date and type of seed on the outside of the baggy. I store the small baggies with similar seeds requiring the same period of cold in big baggies. I may end up with several bags of small baggies labeled with the stratification time. You can stratify longer than required, but shortening time usually keeps seeds from germinating. I actually have some seeds that have been in cold storage for almost a year. Once you remove the baggies from the fridge, leave them at room temp and check daily for germination. It usually happens within a few days. Then just follow the rest of the procedure I outlined above for planting. Sandy

I think you have to have a peddlers license and a retail merchants certificate, which I plan on getting. I was just wondering if it would be worth it. Also, to explain a bit better, I don't have 200-330 left over, that is what i plant and give away to friends. So, I usually have at least 1000 plants left over, which I just let die (please dont hang me). I know I go over kill on planting, but I usually plant 30-40 different kinds of peppers and I want the best looking, strongest growing peppers for my own. Each type is usually planted in its own 72 cell flat. I am just wasting the plants that end up dying, so I figured I could let them live and sell them off for a profit. Evan at a $1 a piece I think they would sell, but I don't know, I have never done it.

BTDT ... and this year was a record. Glad to know I'm in good company :-) Since I, too, had some older seeds and thought there'd be a lower germination rate, I decided to start the seeds en masse, in rows in the trays, then prick out and transplant the seedlings to individual cells/pots. It looks like they all came up and I'm now going to have to find homes for them all - peppers, eggplant, and lots of heirloom tomatoes.

Sort of reminds me of Bucida buceras (so-called 'black olive tree'), or Bucida molinetia. These are common street trees in tropical climates.