By self-sown, you mean volunteer? You're asking for a choice. Volunteer plants simply don't give you a choice. You could clearly separate varieties in different beds, so what volunteers in them is just what was growing in them.

Maybe I don't understand the problem. Why can't you just start the varieties you want inside, plant them when ready and tag/mark them, anything else that volunteers besides the marked ones gets pulled and tossed. If your desired plants are well-marked the rest are junk.

Dave

Yes, by self-sown I meant volunteers. The reason I don't want to start them inside again is that the volunteers (and direct sown) plants have quickly surpassed the seedlings I've nurtured so laboriously inside. I just don't have the optimum conditions for starting inside. So daninthedirt (any relation to digdirt?) 's suggestion to sow the desired seeds in pots in situ makes sense. And then have the discipline to jettison the vigorous less desirables. Boy is that hard to do. I'm even plucking tomatoes from volunteers I left that popped up in the adjacent flower bed AND the walk!

Maybe your indoor nurturing is stunting them in some way. Never heard of indoor seedlings doing worse than volunteers outside. Now, if you suddenly plunk those indoor seedlings outside, with a large temperature change and illumination change, those nurtured indoor seedlings are going to be much less happy than outdoor volunteers that have grown up in those temperatures and that illumination. So you might want to think about how you manage your indoor seedlings. Do you "harden off"?

Kitasei, many of us find that some "volunteers" quickly catch up and maybe even surpass the transplants. Some people find that wintersowing gives them plants that do very well. They are a bit like volunteers. Wintersowing combines the control of sown seeds and the outdoor environment from day one toughness. Maybe that would work for you. It could even be done just as defrost suggests.

Winter sowing forum: http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/wtrsow

daninthedirt, indoor seedlings require lights and more to keep up with volunteers outside...I've learned that if you can't provide that (up here in the northeast), it's not worth the effort. Wintersowing, or the suggestion to wintersow in pots in situ, is the way to go..

Buy 2, four foot shop lights hang 1 inch above your seedlings as they grow and move the lights up as needed. This will supply you with all the light you need. Harden off the plants for 5-7 days and plant out. It isn't too hard.

Well, no question that indoor seedlings really require lights. If you have a very sunny window, you can try it, but the plants will certainly be leggy. My point was that indoor plants need to be hardened off to do well outside. Agreed that shop lights are cheap. You can get a T-12 dual 4-foot fixture, plus bulbs, for about $20. Wintersowing is tricky, and a lot of work, as the mini-greenhouses you use outside can become ovens if you aren't on top of things.

In zone 5 NH. This year I started my seedlings late but last year I started some 90+ days to maturity peppers early and they were nice, big healthy plants when it came time to put them outdoors. The Hot Pepper forum had some good advice about transplanting to Solo cups (holes drilled for drainage). I noticed this year that seedlings in plants with lots of root space in deeper pots did better than the same variety in shallower pots. My husband made a light stand for me out of scrap lumber. The salvaged office ceiling lights hang on chains so they can start off close to pots and then be adjusted upwards as plants get taller. I just have to take each chain off a nail and put a different link back on. I also water once a week with extra diluted fish fertilizer. I think it's half strength.