My brother always grows his tomatoes and peppers from seed and he put his in around Valentine's Day. You might have to transplant to a bigger pot before they go outside, like maybe old yogurt containers or something if they outgrow the peat pellets.

I just started my tomatoes, cukes and peppers today, also in peat pellets.

Do you know anything about broccoli? Can it be started inside and transplanted. And if so, when?

I've never done broccoli (although I have considered it - maybe for an autumn crop this year), but I've heard that it is best started indoors and transplanted.

I usually use quart sized milk/drink bottles and use the winter sowing method.

No worries of damping off or losing them to frost as you are making a self sustainted environment for them to thrive. Plus the fruit/vegetable harvest numbers are incredible! Plus, no need to transplant multiple times if you only plant one seed per container.

Wintersowing is much easier. No need for lights and heat mats. Plant in a deep, transparent container, place outside and wait.

greengardener,

Concerning the winter sowing techniques, when are the plants ready for transplant into the garden vs. starting seeds indoors?

Thanks!

You'll be able to tell.

Since they are in what you can consider a mini greenhouse in which the vent is on the top, you can check in each day to monitor the progress.

The more consistently warmer it gets, the more you would need to enlarge the opening on the top. In addition, the more you need to make sure the soil is moist and not dried out.

But this is a VERY important point. Do not put the containers in full sun as it does get warmer. You will bake your sprouts! Dappled shade works best.

But it all really depends on the plant you have in the container. There are people who winter sow and do not plant out their plants until the following year since they have so many plants sprouting from this method.

The sooner you plant them out, the better. I planted out my perennials from their containers into a holding bed. Within a month, the sprouts grew more rapidly than I expected.

For example, I grew butterfly bush from seed using this method. Two containers, spread seed throughout on top of three inches of soil. Put more soil, about a 1/4" to 1/2" on top of the seeds. Placed outside in February. By April I had sprouts. Put them in the ground in June, on a cool shady day. By September I had 15 six foot tall butterfly bushes.

Basically, winter sowing toughens up the seedlings and promotes a vigorous and deep root system.

Check out the winter sowing forums here and ask questions. The people are friendly and will give you the advice you will need. Plus, it is addicting.

I'll stop ranting now. I hope this helps!

It does help. I'm a little worried about not getting the tomatoes planted as soon, but it is an interesting idea. I'll have to research it some more and then make a decision. I had seen some things on it, but I'm not sold that it is for me. I know that some people love it, but it is very different from what I am used to, and I really can't handle too much change at a time! I've expanded my garden so much recently, though, that I may have no choice.

Thanks again. very helpful. The enthusiasm every one has about Winter Sowing definitely adds to my curiousity.

I'm in south central PA (6) and don't start my tomatoes until mid-March. The main problem people have is starting them too soon. You have to let the soil in the garden warm up or they sit and sulk. We had frost last year May 30, so it pays to wait.

I live in Montgomery County, close to Philly. We always use Mother's Day as the last frost date.

That is the nice thing about winter sowing, no need to worry about frost. The plants are toughened up from being outside and growing from then the are sprouts. The nice thing about planting them out from their containers is you can save the tops of the milk jugs/soda bottles you used to winter sow and when ther is the threat of frost, you can cover those plants with the tops, basically little cloches! A lot of people, including myself do that. Just do not forget to take them off in the morning when the sun rises, as you will fry your plants!

This is fascinating. I just put out two containers for wintersowing, one with petunias, another for marigolds (i've had both volunteer before so I figured they were good candidates). Today I noticed that the wind blew my containers over. Are my seeds goners? I've uprighted them and placed them where they have some protection from the wind.

Greengardener, my butterfly bushes seed themselves. We started with three in the beds around the pool and have wound up pulling the volunteers like weeds.

caryltoo,

Your seeds should be fine. If the soil was still solid when you uprighted the containers, even better.

Good move on the wind protection. I put them on my back deck last year. When one row was done, I tied a piece of string against them from on end to the other. The never moved.

Marigolds and petunias are great candidates for beginning. Another group are the cone flowers or daisy type flowers.

The Dollar Tree usually has some nice annual flower seed packets for 10 cents each. Can't hurt to try some of them out as well. Wal-Mart has Burpee perennial seed packs for about $1.00 to $1.50 a pack. Rather than going to a nursery and paying three to four dollars for one packet, these are nice alternatives.

Good luck!

I've heard the last frost date as Mother's Day as well, but I believe that it may be changing. I've checked about 6 or 7 different sources and they all have the AVERAGE last frost date as being around the middle of April.

I understand the risks of planting out a little early, but I have some portable cold frames and milk jugs cloches available, if necessary.

I have successfully gotten some peppers up and I have them under lights right now. I will be sowing the tomatoes in the next week (after the next batch of peppers are done germinating (not a lot of room on the water heater for bottom heat!).

Thanks everybody for all the great responses.