Jerry sorry about the delayed response hee hee been way to busy to remember where I post, lol. Some things that need a warm cool warm season like helebores I started those in september but I wonder if I was to late for those. Most of my containers I have started on december 21st to february. I have several things I need to get going but sometimes life just gets in the way, hopefully I will have time this weekend to get in the dirt. As for information the winter sowing forum has a ton of info under the faq's and then Trudi has a website also it is called wintersown.org. There are a ton of people willing to help with any question you may have in regards to winter sowing for the first time, though pretty much you have the concept down. I use water bottles but most use milk jugs. I use whatever I have, whether it be cottage cheese containers or grated cheese containers to water bottles or juice bottles. I think I have in the picture one of those rotisserie chicken containers that is in use also even an ice cream bucket. I use my containers as I would a starting seed tray, just make sure there is plenty of drainage and of course ventilation. For the water bottles we just toss the lid for the cottage cheese or rotisserie chicken containers we just cut some holes in the top. I have even used a lasagna pan inside a comforter bag. I have drainage holes in the bottom and I cut ventilation holes in the top. This is the most recent picture I have of the lasagna pan, I think it was taken a few weeks back. As for the pictures I know there is a link somewhere how to add pictures. Though a simple way to tell you is upload your pictures to a third party photo client. I have been using photobucket some use flikr. They will provide you with an html code and just simply copy and paste the code into the message box. inside the brackets > insert height="500" width="600" for the size of pictures here in this message. I sure hope that helps. People on the wintersowing forum are extremely eager to help and extremely friendly, they love questions don't be afraid of them. They will welcome you with open arms!! Oh and there are several from canada that winter sow!!

Jean, others have kept their WS containers in enclosed areas but you need to be more careful to see that they get watered as needed and enough light to germinate and grow. For tender annuals if the unheated patio doesn't get below freezing they should be OK. If it freezes there then the seedlings might need a blanket or other cover. If it is a light freeze and they are still in their covered containers they might survive without any other covering. Many people will not take the chance and will add extra cover to their tender annual containers or put them in a garage. We still get frosts here until the last part of May and most of my tender annuals have sprouted and are still in their containers during light frosty nights. I might remove the tops during the warmer part of the day but replace them during the colder evening/nights. I don't moved them into my garage or add extra covering to any of my covered containers. If you have extra seeds you could experiment and see what works for you.

Hi megmaine, WS is so much fun and you will love it!! This is the Canadian forum and it is fairly quiet. I see that you are in the States so I will direct you to the other WS forum that is far more active. (not that we aren't happy to have you here) and you are sure welcome to hang around, but your questions will get a much quicker response over there. To answer your question though, I put my containers under a small Japanese lilac tree that is outside my sunroom door. it provides dappled shade until mid afternoon when it becomes full shade from the shade of the house. Once the seeds sprout, you will remove the top of your containers so the heat shouldn't build up in the container anyway. I tend to keep my containers out of full sun because as I am at work I don't feel I can keep them monitored as far as moisture goes. As they grow, and if I am going to be home all day and can make sure they don't dry out, I may move some of the ones that have larger sprouts, out into the sun. once they have their second set of leaves, you can plant them out in the garden. Hope that gives you an idea of where to put your containers. click on the link below to go to the other WS forum. gg Here is a link that might be useful: WS

Treat it like any other tropical, light regular feeding. Do keep bumping it up in pot size and make sure it has plenty of water in warm weather (but not staying wet). Likes bright light but full sun will burn the leaves. Takes about 5 years to reach blooming and fruiting size. By then you'll want them in at least 30 gallon bins or pots. Blooms are white and fragrant like Jasmine. ;) Mine go outside from spring to autumn on my back deck. They /can/ reach as much as 8 to 12 feet tall but I keep mine trimmed easily at around 5 to 6 foot tall which is typical to keep the beans easy to reach. They tend to flower around June i the hot rainy season, then produce fruit which ripens in late winter through spring. Each coffee 'cherry' holds 2 to 3 beans. Here's a shot of mine growing on my back deck, near right side. I should start some new seedlings for our hoped for greenhouse later. You can get about 1 to 1.5 lbs of beans per mature tree depending on which variety you have. Hmm, I seem to have hijacked the thread. Pardon.