Oh we do that here :) It just hadn't come up yet. How about I mention that all my heirloom tomatoes are up and my broccoli about 4" now, the peppers are just starting (so much slower). For flowers - I'm thrilled! All my celosia, plume flower, snap dragons, maltese cross, and even my giant blue lobelia are up. Still waiting on the hollyhocks and galliardia.

-Marie

I planted some peppers 2 weeks ago and they are already an inch tall.

This was my first planting endeavor, so as of this morning, I planted tomatoes, and morning glories. ;) Hope they turn out well too!

My list of sproutings:
Tomatoes (Roma, Lg Red Cherry, Rutger's Select, Beefsteak) are about 3" tall! I have seperated some of them into 3" peat pots already!

Parsley is 3" tall

Sweet Basil about 3-4" tall

Snapdragons 1" tall

Morning glory 1" tall

Cheyenne Peppers 1" tall

Green Peppers 1" or so

Eggplant, black beauty 2" tall

Calla Lily bulbs 10"

Lobelia, trailing 1/4"

Felicia 1"

Chinese forget-me-not 1"

Alyssum 1.5"

Petunia 1/4"

Panzies 1"

Q-cumber (two vareties) 1"

Cleome 1/4"

Two other annual seeds I had a basket of last year and planted the seeds and they are coming up!

I also just soaked and started morning glories -two types- AND:
Canna bulbs
Gladiola Bulbs
Elephant Ears bulb
Cleome

I use three 4' flourescent shop lights in my basement on my shelves! I put them in the windows upstairs until they sprout then move them to the lights! I will post a picture is anyone wants one!

I am trying to start EVERYTHING with via winter sowing or by seed indoors! Rather than spending 100.00 + per year on flowers and veggies I can spend 20.00 and my time...and I supply my gardenand three other peoples! I love to watch things grow!!!!!!

Where is there a forum for our Zone 4 indoor seeds info....or messages?

Well, I am relatively new to this forum but I think it is like a state fair. You have to travel around to see it all. And there are clowns and snake oil salesmen too. And, best of all, many, many, friendly folks just like you and me ready and willing to lend a hand if needed. So, I guess if you don't let your fingers(mouse) do the walking, you won't find much.

We have had rain as you know for too many days. My first experience with winter sowing may be a bust. Half of the containers have sprouted and are now drenched/soaked. I'll see if nature can win or replant. Most of what I have planted is for container or verticle garden experiments or to give away, plus flowers for a boulevard garden area.

This is my second year of container gardening. I just finished a session over on the container gardening site about soil, water, wicks etc. My brain hurts. My wallet is empty and I have to come up with alternative ingredients to fill my containers. The plants are growing nicely under my first year of lights. (I'm getting good results with various size florescents and spiral florescents in a converted cupboard of sorts next to my basement workbench.) At least the family isn't complaining about all the containers I had spread out last year. I have garden annuals, pepper, tomato, eggplant, chilantro, catnip, sunflowers (12"tall already), squash and gourds ready to go out in a cold frame I'm finishing.
When it no longer is needed as a CF, it will be a container garden area. I lack room, small city lot.

If I can fill the cold frame and back porch, I can start a new batch of seeds. But, now it sounds like we may get below 32 at night next week. :-(

Well.....sounds like you have a great garden started! My winter sown things are all drenched too! But......I have faith that as things dry out there will be sprouts!Just my bachelor buttons have seemed to sprout so far!

Your sunflowers are 12" tall??? I just started mine! I put seeds in 3" peat puts and after the first day of noticing they had come through,some of the roots are going through the hole in the bottom! How deep of a container was I suppose to use? What are yours in? Have you started them indoors before??

I am planning on getting a early start putting things in the ground this year! I think (as weather permits) I am going to shoot for May first or so to get my tomatoes hardened off and in! Last year I did not "harden off" and they came out PERFECT! Do you always harden off? I figured I would drop mine in and if it is going to get cold again cover them with a sheet at night?? Bad idea?

I noticed today my hostas are poking through now!Also some perennials that were est. like 10 years ago are coming though! Too many to name!That's what I get for having 100 different plants! I just numbered my "started" list andI have 30 different plants started in my house tooo right now!

Keep me updated about your sprouts! I watch mine daily and LOVE hearing about yours too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nobody else has indoor seeds coming up??

I have a good size area of my storage room in the very basement setup for indoor sowing (lights, fans, etc). Kinda got a little crazy this year - owe well, could be worse habits/hobbies!!!

Annual flowers - Petunias, Marigolds, Jewels of Opar, Pansies, Cleome, Ageratum, Balsam, Amaranth (3 types), Baby Blue Eyes, Datura, Moonflower, Hyacinth Bean Vine, Love-n-a-puff vine, Calendula, Morning Glory vine, Castor Bean, Celosia - jewel box, Flamingo Feather, Gomphrena, Gazania, Impatiens, Red Sage, 4 O'clocks, Strawflower, and others.....

Perennials - Rudbeckia (4 types), Malva mix, Dianthus (5 types), Fox Glove, Chocolate Flower, Alliums (3 types), Buddleia, Dwarf Cornflower, Cornflower, Red Valerian, Coreopsis (3 types), Lamium, Delphinium, Painted Daisy, and others........

Veggies - Tomatoes (12 types), Sweet Peppers (5 types) and Hot Peppers (two many types - afraid to know!), Egg plant. The rest will be started in garden.

My favorite is the Gas Plant - I planted 8 seeds and I have 5 or 6 sprouted. Long procecss to go through - sow seeds and leave at 60-65 degrees for two weeks, then refrigerate for 3-6 wks (I did 6 weeks), then back to 60-65 degrees. After about 3 or so weeks - sprouts!

Most perennials are outside - LOTs and LOTs of jugs.

Sandy

Sandy-

I live in the Twin Cities area (andcan meet you somewhere)....if you want some of my started plants in Mid May let me know! I see your list is endless but I have some different than you! AND I have too many for my space! I have soooooooooooooooo many perenials out in my garden now I have no idea what I was thinking but it is nice to have a small amount of many varieties!

How tall are your plants so far?

I am beginning to think my tomatoes are going to get too tall indoors! I have them in 3" peat pots that I transfer to when they have 2 sets of leaves! So I have about......50 in peats and still like 100 in the starter trays!

Give me an idea ofhow tall your plants are so I know if mine are too tall already or mine are behind you!!!!!

You must have a HUGE area set up for your plants! I have 3 4' flourescent lights and about 25-30 plants in different windows....I wanted to see which grew better!

I want a greenhouse SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO bad!
Bec

Bec,

I have a little one that I set up inside in a sunny corner window area - works GREAT and looks good too! I've seen them range from $30-$90 for the same silly thing, I got mine from Farm Tek online for the lower price there. Check it out - would work on a porch too I'd imagine, and is going to make just nice plant shelves for me inside in summer.
And to be fair - I just checked, I got mine on sale - but they are still a great deal! They hold a remarkable amount too!

Here is a link that might be useful: Mini-greenhouse

Just a few things started or soon to be:

Pansies
Osteospermum
Acer tegmentosum
Kentucky Coffee Tree
Magnolia tripetala
Magnolia acuminata
Unknown magnolia-from a Merill magnolia?
American Yellowwood

I have planted only 3 types of seeds in the house all of the rest are outside in milk jugs. The inside ones are all up.
Impatiens
Petunias
SanpDragons

I don't have many in the house this year, but have tried WS, which is still pending for me! It's making me nervouse since it's been so very cold. Inside, under lights, I have tomatoes, Orange and mixed cosmos (from saved seed), Apricot profusion zinnia, and cherry Profusions. I also have some annual phlox in a sunny window. I had not planned on any inside planting, as it can get to be a kind of drag if you plan on being gone more than a day or so!

Way to go Sandy!!
I am glad to see that I have some good company to seed starting "madness'!!
I have 4 Rudbeckias and some hibiscus all transplanted into pots- and have these ready to be transplanted
16 Heirloom Tomato varieties-
3 pepper varieties-
5 more rudes-
6 or 7 canna
5 or 6 dats
5-6 dahlias
Guess you know what I will be doing this weekend...

And a ton of stuff started and growing indoors
Agastaches, coleus, salvias, salpiglossis, aristolachias, mina lobata, hibiscus, lillies, dianthus, mirabilis, osterspermums, asarinas, and more... oh gosh- I am running out of room already... With a bunch more on the way!
I too have many more outdoors in wintersown jugs- and many left to plant as well!
I think after this week- I will trust that the long freezes will be over and start stacking up the cold frames with some tougher annuals and veg as well... lettuce, spinach, zinnias, sweet peas, and such.
Yep- it's that time of year -

Julie

So far I have dichondra, peppers, eggplant,basil, and parsley up. I just started my tomatoes, they should begin popping up in a couple of days. I don't like to put mine out till soil and temps are warm. In the past I've had tomatoes get to leggy, starting too early. I have some perilla started and ready to pot up and have taken cuttings of about 18 coleus varieties to root. What I'm wondering is where do some of you put all your plants. I have 8 4 ft. lights and by the time I pot my things up it's tough to find room under the lights for them all. I'm hoping that in about a week I can start moving my parsley outside during the day. Happy spring!

I have a lighted, coated wire wall shelf my husband made for me with fluorescent lights above each shelf and the floor- and a 4 light fixture on chains above a table where the just germinated seedling go first. After that all gets filled- well- I hope there will be room in the cold frames- or that it will be nice enough out doors for the majority of them.
For the indoor seedlings- I do really try to find and plant by the "weeks to transplant" guidelines found on the web. That does help to keep things under control. I shouldn't have vines 6' long- or blooming dahlias, or other overgrown plants... I hope....

I am sooooo jealous Maidofshade! Your plants are georgous! You have a greenhouse...my little flourescent lights do not compare...not to mention I have plants in almost every window right now!!

None of my seeds seem to be too unhappy or lanky! But....I am a bit worried about not having a coldframe and being 7.5 months prego and carrying all my seedlings outdoors daily to harden them off!

None of my WS jugs are popping sprouts yet...my bachelor buttons wereup and then the last snow killed them.Huh! I will keep watching!

I dug out my elephant ear bulb to check on it (inside in a pot) and it does have roots coming off the bottom now..so maybe it will sprout out the top soon!!!

My green and habanero peppers are all only about 2" tall andjust getting their second leaves! Tomatoes ...well being I planted the generic CHERRY those are thick stems with4 sets of true leaves and about 4" tall. Rutgers are 2" tallwith 2 sets true leaves, and Beefsteak..the same. I was nutz and started cucumber (I did it last year too and it worked well!) they are 3" tall with 2 sets of true leaves. Eggplant is about the same. Basil and parsley are 6-8" tall and lively of course!

The seedlings I am leary about: Trailing Lobelia-they are just barely above the soil and look stressed. Morning Glory...they are like 6-8" tall and ready to start climbing....Felicia is about 2" tall and bushy -do I thin these?.....Cleome...about 3" tall and just two leaves on each stem!

Anyone grow these from seeds????? Any help would be great!

Hi rdubow,
Lobelia are slow, at least for me. I started some in Feb and they are just starting to trail and no blooms yet. Other years I split a few purchased plants and then sowed seeds right into my pots and soon they filled in nicely. They must really love heat as our greenhouse can be on the cool side in the winter. I have pinched back some things that were getting too tall. I am going to start my morning glorys this week and runner beans also. You are off to a good start. I am still learning and that's what make this fun. Like a huge experiment...I have seen cucumbers in the garden centers and people I know have bought them. You are not NUTS...Have fun with this. No one ever has enough room do they???
Cheryl

Thanks for the encouragement on the cuc's! I was daring and put some ofmy morning glory's in my window box today! I have plenty that areready to start up the vine!So....I put about 6 of them in the box! The boxes are on the southweat corner and get full sun from like noon-dusk! They seem to be handling the transplant well! no flopping or anything!I am going to cover them at dark every night with a sheet with some twigs staking it up a little! I JUST HAD to put something outside to watch!!!!!! The boxes are obviuosly with on the house so they are protected from wind etc. too!
I will report how they go!

NOTHING in my winter sown jugs yet...still just condensation on the tops!!!!!

Should we be watering the outside gardens yet for perennials to know it is time???

I'm new to the seed thing. What is the jugs about? How do you grow/plant using jugs? I'm just south of the twin cities.

Check out the forum wintersowing. You are a little late but could still spring sow annual and veggies I think.