I think they just assume that people prefer to direct sow, and so recommend that. Also, some hardy annuals might want a bit of cold treatment for germination. Personally, yeah, I prefer to sow in pots first to get a head start before the slugs/snails start nibbling. Will definitely be trying winter sowing this year.. :) Melanie

Pot sow every time for me. Firstly, I know how many established plants I will have to play with, secondly (as with marigolds) they can be protected beyond the slug-vulnerable stage and thirdly, I don't have to decide where I want to plant them out until I know how well over-wintered plants already in the beds are going to perform. I usually grow too many of everything, but the surplus is always good swapping / charity stall material. Chris

I almost always pot sow. For all the reasons Chris listed. I can grow anything in a pot and I can start it at the right time, which is late winter or early spring for annuals. Many seeds sown in the garden just won't germinate well or at all. The ones that would germinate may need to be in a spot filled by other plants and will have to fend for themselves in a fairly wild garden. Try it for hardy annuals, or for a very large area, if you don't want to mess with pots and transplanting. If a plant self-seeds in your garden then you can be fairly sure it will be OK to sow it direct.

I pot sow, mostly, to protect seedlings against snails. Because I'm not usually trying to germinate lots of the same seed all at once I prefer to sow a few seeds in a small pot rather than use a propagator. I direct sowed for poppies because I knew they'd do OK, and they did. I found that phacelia didn't transplant all that well when I pot sowed them in early autumn, but the young seedlings were nibbled when I sowed direct, so I haven't quite found the happy medium for those yet.

Good points about convenience, etc. Seeing as the majority of garden plants will not normally self-seed this seems to be an indication that they want more nurturing. I've sometimes wondered if there's some sort of requirement like the need for a large root run, such as you wouldn't find in trays or pots, that makes seed companies recommend direct sowing. Or do they just want to make it sound easy?

Garden Nerd - the question of root run is an important one, because you need to keep an eye on things to stop young plants getting potbound. For this reason I have given up the cell-type trays and plant straight into 2.5 or 3 inch pots. But these also have the advantage that it's easier to keep the moisture right, and you can go away for a day without worrying about shallower trays etc drying out.

Jiffy 7's - just brilliant every time

It depends on the time of year. For an early start, raising in containers is by far the most dependable and satisfactory method. But later, when the soil's warmed and things are growing apace, direct sowings are best. Especially when it comes to vegetables. I don't see the point of raising transplants after the end of April when they get off to such a quick start direct sown into a warm soil. With direct sowing, no fuss or expense, or time taken up, messing about with containers, compost, watering, pricking out and so on. And no check in growth.