First of all... wonderful pictures, everyone! Thank you for sharing them all! Beautiful trees, flowers, and other living things! I love it! Second... why do I plant my bulbs as shallowly as I do? Because there's no reason to bury the entire bulb when it's in the controlled environment of a container. The important plant to medium contact point is the basal plate, from whence the roots grow, and that part of the bulb is sufficiently buried. I like to keep the majority of my amaryllids planted shallowly for a few reasons... some amaryllids actually grow more as epiphytes in their natural habitat, I like to see what's happening to my bulbs, and having them above the surface level a bit allows for ease in keeping them groomed. Most bulbs settle in once planted, and either draw themselves down or lift themselves up a bit as their roots grow, to suit their growth habits. It's more of a habit for me to place them rather shallowly, mainly because of past experiences with saturated bagged soils and a propensity for Hippeastrums to rot in excess moisture. So, there are many reasons why I tend to plant amaryllids shallowly in pots. If I could grow them in the gardens, I'd place them deeper... well, most of them.

I think you're right and your lack of sun and cooler nights are probably delaying your sprouting. I've never tried wintersowing tomato seeds as early as January. I wonder if experiencing sub frost temps for a long time delays tomato germination even more(?) I don't think I've read what you are using as containers. Are they milk jugs or are they clear plastic? I am wondering if using clear plastic would make a difference this spring in warming up the tomato seeds since we seem to have less bright sunshine than usual. I have sprouted tomatoes inside and then taken them outside. If you do that, you must get them outside almost the minute you see that sprout break the surface. Otherwise, they quickly get leggy (within a couple days) and you start to lose the benefits of winter/spring sowing them. You also need to make sure they have some kind of protection (plastic baggie, milk jug, soda bottle, etc) when outside from getting too cold at night.

You should be able to do that. I've had sucess with transplanting some flowers and vegetables; tomatoes, peppers, violets. The only thing you have to worry about is hardening them off. You'll probably want to start the seeds right away since you're running out of time. Once the seedlings are about 4 inches tall and have at least 2 sets of leaves, you can start hardening them off. It usually takes two weeks or so to harden them off. Take them outdoors during the day in a shady area with some wind protection when the temperature is above 45-50 degrees. Each day you should increase the time they're outside and expose them to a bit more sunlight.

Nilaa, what you might be able to grow now will depend on what facilities you have indoors. I have a small (6'x'8') greenhouse and through the winter grow cherry tomatoes, herbs, salad greens and lemons, in addition to ornamentals. Last year I started peas in a container in the greenhouse and was picking them well before they'd have produced outside. When weather warmed up enough, I simply moved the container outside and continued harvesting until the heat took its toll on the plants and they gave up. You don't necessarily need a greenhouse, you might have a space with good sunlight, or want to set up grow lights (some people grow plants under lights in their basements). You might also want to check out the Wintersowing forum - there are lots of vegetable and ornamental seeds you can set outside now. I'll warn you, though ... it's too easy! I tried it last winter and wound up with more little seedlings than I knew what to do with, lol. Best of luck to you! Diane