If you live somewhere with freaky weather it is always best to sow a few seeds and then sow some two weeks to one month later to act as back up plants should the first batch not survive. Its all about timing. If they stay in their pots too long, some plants just never do as well in the garden as those that got outside and in the ground at the perfect time. You'll never be able to forecast that "perfect" time so just take the risks you're comfortable with. Hot weather lovers like morning glories and zinnias do not do any better starting them early. They just kinda sit still until things warm up so there isn't a huge advantage to starting them early. They will set seed which will over winter and sprout next year but the zinnia seedlings won't show up until summer is half over and the morning glories will show up where you don't want them and also a bit late. Two things will slow down seedlings - lack of sunlight (much stronger than indoor lighting) and lack of warmth. It is better the keep them starved for light while you wait for things to warm up outside. Cool temps bring with them all sorts of rot problems with seedlings. If you're starting large seeds of things like melons or cucumbers just stick two or three seeds in each space and then use scissors to chop off the heads of the weakest plants after they're a week or so old. No need to risk damaging roots by digging them up to thin them. The headless ones will sink back into the soil over time. The truth about roots - the roots you see when you dig up a plant are not the parts of the roots that do the actual work of drawing in water and nutrients from the soil. The real workers as far as roots go are microscopic. Only superman can see them with the naked eye (and he ain't much of a gardener!). You can gauge a plants health by looking at its roots but the damage that is done by handling baby plants is to the microscopic roots. Some plants just freak out when those roots are damaged.

This will be our first winter with a high tunnel but I expect only cold hardy plants will last all winter. Here are my comments on your list. Please keep in mind that I do NOT have experience with a sunroom. Tomato (heirloom?) Lettuce Spinach Bell peppers - I understand peppers are actually perennials Rosemary - popular tender perennial but a challenge to winter over indoors because of low humidity in homes Thyme - needs a winter dormancy Basil - should be a fun project Cilantro - I have trouble with cilantro. It always bolts in the spring. Right now, I have a nice little crop that has withstood a couple of 21 deg nights (I'm in NH) but it wasn't planted until late summer. I think it needs cooler temps. Other spices? - saw some ginger from a local farm at the food coop. You might also consider lemon grass if you cook with it. Oranges (dwarf) - I would check temperature requirements compared to other things you want to grow Banana (probably not! haha) - Ditto Carrot - Carrots are a biennial. I didn't plant any in my hight tunnel but probably should have. Celery - no experience at all with this. Chilis - same as peppers Broccoli - should work Garlic - I grow hardneck garlic. Plant in October for summer harvest. This may be another veg that needs a winter outdoors. You might look at garlic chives. Onion - I don't have very good luck with onions while neighbors say they are easy. Check light requirements for bulbing. Suspect these would be tricky if you don't have enough light. Asparagus - spring veggie. takes years to develop roots and needs to complete growing cycle as ferns to feed roots. Dont think it would be suitable as an indoor crop - would take up too much space. Peas - might work but can't take hot temps Edible flowers - calendulas are easy for me to grow. Strawberry - not sure I think basically you should group your list according to temperature and light requirements because right now I think it is too mixed. Keep in mind the low level of the sun in winter can cause it to get very warm near the glass but still wouldn't be enough daylight for some plants. I've read that my outdoor veggies in the high tunnel will go dormant when light levels are low in November - early March so I think you will have to have supplemental lighting. Wish you luck with your project.

Yes, peppers continue to produce for a couple months in Zone 5. You can usually start getting some green jalapenos or other unripe c. annuum in July, and can harvest peppers right up to first frost. Some varieties have heavy intermittent crops, some are more continuous. I would never deliberately stagger my pepper plantings since our season is so short. I plant all my transplants as soon as nighttime temps are reasonable. However, I always grow a few extra seedlings in case of hail, freak storms, or critters that like tender pepper seedlings, so sometimes I end up staggering my plantings anyway. But that is only for putting in replacement plants over a couple week window in late May and early June. It's pretty much not worth transplanting peppers in Zone 5 after June 15.

yea i could try that...but you dont think they need at least like 6 hours of sun to bud or set fruit? im not sure this is my first year so im very new to all this a bit of a pale green? is that good or bad? yea its really confusing to me....i try real hard not to over fertilize....i hit is with some seaweed magic every month or two...and ive hit it with bonemeal once or twice when i started to notice the calcium defeciency and thats about it as far as watering i water them all differently since theyre different plants in different sized pots....when they start wilting bad i water them...the hab...the serranos...and a couple that are in smaller pots wilt pretty quick in the heat so they get a little water maybe twice a day...in the morning and again in the evening when they start to wilt again....as for the rest they only get watered when the soil drys out...which is about every other day or every 3 days ive been trying real hard not to over water...but when they dry out and wilt really bad i have to you know so yea...i dunno