Hey Bigoledude. Congrats on getting back into your home. There's no place like it! I use a cold frame for my plants that have some cold tolerance and need a head start. I start my seedling indoors and move them out as the room under my lights decreases. But in your circumstances you may very well be able to get them going right there in the cold frame. A thermometer that takes and retains readings for 24+ hours can tell you if it is warm enough for germination. (70-75 F) Or, since seeds do not need direct sunlight to germinate, you could keep them in the warm house until they germinate and pop them out there as soon as they do. In that case you need to provide some dappled shade for them for a few days until you are sure they can tolerate the sun. Plants started indoors need to be hardened. I just crack open my cold frame before I leave in the morning, more than a crack if I know it is going to get quite warm but I only remove it completely if I am sure it won't rain. A heavy rain can wash away all the delicate seedlings. There are gadgets you can buy, even fancy cold frame setups, but my view of a cold frame is that it is temporary. Those plants will only be in there for a month. Max. It really is not that much trouble to prop open the top every morning and close it at night. You have to go out there and water them pretty often as well, anyway. Small containers dry quickly in the sun so you will want to check them every day. Kay (a littleolechick)

I only have one heater in my cold frame and it is a 150 watt element with no fan. The reason I installed a small fan in the cold frame was to distribute the heat and get even temps throughout the cold frame. I st?arted the lettuce and spinach in the house and kept the temps 70f. Therefore, since they were only two weeks old or so, I figured I needed to keep them around 60-70f. What do you think

Thank you. That makes me feel better. I have been experimenting with germination rates in the greenhouse vs coldframe vs jugs. So far the greenhouse and jugs are great, but I am now optimistic about the coldframe. Thanks again for the response.

I have never tried winter sowing nepeta but it does root real easy if you dip the cuttings in rooting hormon. I have a bunch of Six Hills Giant (my favorite!)growing in a pot right now.