You posted the same question elsewhere and I and others answered you.

We left off with you saying you were going to plant out in late July/early August for a Fall crop but I'm sure you meant sowing seeds for a Fall crop in that time frame in your zone 9 S Cal area, not putting out plants.

I don't agree that wintersown plants are hardier than inside plants and when Trudi refers to that she's talking about areas much colder than where your are, such as her NY location on Long Island and mine in upstate NY.

Each year after my tomato field was prepared for me and I put out the plants there would always be some volunteers that appeared and as one other person told you, they're basically wintersown.

And I didn't find them to much different from what I started inside. Actually I'd dig up 10 at random move them to a side garden and see if I couldID the varieties. LOL

When you say hardier plants, wha tis your understanding of what that means as to disease tolerance, and all of the other basic traits of a tomato plant?

Summary? I can't see wintersowing tomatoes in your zone 9 area and there are many of us who don't see wintersown seeds for tomatoes, in the much colder areas, as being superior to inside grown plants. it often depends on HOW you grow those inside plants as well,and how long you take to harden them off before planting out.

Hope that helps.

Carolyn

I'm not real sure what your question is so bear with me.

Can it be done? Sure. It is just another method of germinating plants although it does have a lower germination rate IME.

I have set out several milk jugs of wintersown tomato seeds the past several years. They are just for my own use and used as back-up plants for any greenhouse grown ones I might lose or for garden plants that don't make it for some reason..

Does it get them ready to set out earlier than the indoor ones? No, not size-wise. The indoor ones are always ready to transplant first when it comes to size. But those indoor plants still have to be hardened off before planting while the wintersown ones don't so they can go to the garden, even though smaller, a week to 10 days earlier if I wished.

Do they set fruit earlier? No, about the same. Do they produce better or longer? No, about the same. Are they more cold or heat tolerant? Cold, yes. Heat, no, that is genetic not sowing method determined.

The advantages WS IMO is it is easy to do as they are basically on their own so less work involved, don't take up space inside, and are pre-hardened off for transplanting.

So are they hardier? Yes but only in that they are more cold tolerant, don't require hardening off, and are less affected by transplant shock. Once they are planted out in the garden next to the hardened-off indoor grown plants there is no difference IME.

Dave

Understood Dave & Carolyn

Yes Dave, I realize they will not be earlier as they germinate later. What i was curious about was the overall productivity & Longevity of plants compared to indoor grown plants. Carolyn i hope i haven't offended you with cross posting here.

Thanks to the both of you for your detailed replies!

No, you haven't offended me at all

Anyone can post wherever and whenever they want to, that's a given, and for whatever reason(s) they want to post elsewhere as well.

Carolyn

What i was curious about was the overall productivity & Longevity of [WS] plants compared to indoor grown plants.

Then on that issue alone - no difference at all IME.

Dave

I agree with everything Dave and Carolyn have said.

I've done side-by-side comparisons of WS and indoor started plants. The WS ones are smaller than the indoor ones at planting out time, however they catch up quickly and have the same production time and amounts as the indoor ones. They seem to have the same resistance to heat and to disease pressure. I could only tell them apart because of the labels.

The advantage for me is I don't need to use my limited indoor space under lights for them and there is no hardening off.

It's a great idea for growing tomatoes in winter. I donâÂÂt have any experience for sowing tomatoes in winter/spring season. But I am excited to know all about a successful production of tomatoes in winter.

In my area we start our seeds around Christmas time. If the weather gets warm enough we take them outside and bring them back in as it cools down again. Right now I have my plants outside but am using old white plastic ice cream containers and milk cartons with the bottoms cut out as hot caps. We are getting 30's-70's temps and they need some protection until our spring weather kicks in to stay. I have never winter sown any seeds but even in Colorado I have had some sprout on their own. There is a waste management plant on the coast that sells their waste and they do get a few tomato plants that grow out of that waste and have produced great plants. But due to our short tomato fruit producing period due to how soon we get 95+ temps we usually start them as early as possible, using cages and plastic wrap as protection early on in our growing seasons.

I don't agree that wintersown plants are hardier than inside plants and when Trudi refers to that she's talking about areas much colder than where your are, such as her NY location on Long Island and mine in upstate NY.

Uh, no.

Carolyn, please don't make things up about Winter Sowing--you don't know anything about the method. WS is for plants in a temperate climate. You don't need snow and ice to WS, you just need the season called winter. I'll repeat it as you posted the same wrong info at that other place too. No snow and ice required. Just your own local season called Winter. Oh, btw, that's covered in the WS FAQs which you can refer people to for correct information.

Winter is different for folks across the country and for some it is much milder and gentler. In 8 and 9, the winter season is far shorter and often without freezes, but it is still winter. The daylight hours are still shorter and the night temps are remarkably cooler than daytime. It's winter, not like our freezy cold NY winters, but milder and warmer but still cool winters.

Trudi Davidoff

Trudi, It was juist a matter of time before you showed up here to post.

And yes, I do know about wintersowing, you shared that info with everyone.Have I done it directly myself? No, just based on the appearance of volunteer plants in the Spring.

Do you remember the old days here when I or someone would post why wintersowing wasn't an option for us, and gave reasons, and then you'd go back to your Wintersown place here and call up the troops and there would be a slew of folks defending you?

All one had to do was to go back to the Wintersown place here at GW to see the call for troops.

You have your own opinions and are cerainly entitled to those and I and others have our own opinions and are entitled to those as well. There should be mutual respect for those whose opinions disagree.

Carolyn