James, without going to too much trouble, do you know what they are?

Oooh Nooo! People were wearing shorts and flip flops today.
Morz. Do tell what will happen?

That could depend on what it is that's sprouting. Cool weather crops in vegetables might be OK (cole crops) and I've had nigella, annual poppies somniferum germinate in winter and make it through some freezing weather without any trouble. Hellebores, some of the other perennials won't miss a beat germinating early either...while other things might not handle later freezing temps. There is a good chance there are still other seeds in those germinating pots that havent germinated yet too that will pop up later on.

I sure wasn't bare legs or toes today - high of 37 and a cold steady rain falling since mid morning.

Mine too! But only one Gaillardia. I moved all my pots to the shade, since I discovered it two days ago. The winter solictice was so cold I only planted 2 pots that day, now we are in the 60s forawhile. Crazy!

Even with fluctuating temps right now I don't expect any germination because I always wintersow the seeds that need long periods of cold first or the more difficult to sow seeds. I don't start sowing annuals or easy perennials until after February. I also keep my containers in a shady area so my germination can sometimes be later than most in the Spring. I don't think I have ever had early germination on anything in the few years I have been wintersowing.

I personally wintersow because of the space that would be required to germinate all those plants that I wintersow. It would take up an entire floor in my house if I used trays, pots and lights. Wintersowing is so much easier and requires no space on the inside. Another plus is I don't have to worry about damping off or hardening off or any of the other issues that develop (gnats, whiteflies etc) associated with an indoor setup.

When it comes to germination requirements, The Seed Site has some great information and so does the catologs and sites I order from. I use this information to determine when I wintersow.

Rhonda

cactusgarden: Most of us in cold climates do exactly that- we sow perennials and hardy annuals in winter, and frost-tender things closer to spring for that reason. I can't speak for everyone but many of us veterans do this. The method is the same for me- outside in milk jugs- only the timing differs.

This is a very strange weather year, making news headlines all over the country. In a normal year, germination in January is unheard of. In the past few years we've been buried in so much snow by now that I have trouble opening the back door against tall drifts of snow, just to get my jugs outside.

I do start a few select slow growing heat lovers inside under lights (like begonias, impatiens), but my small lighted shelves are mostly full of coleus that I propagate by cuttings. I have no space, and no desire, to start every marigold, zinnia, and tomato inside. Too much bother and expense, and my annuals started outside in jugs do great.
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So, I don't deny that there's a place in the world for indoor seed starting. If I lived in Alaska I might do a lot more of it. But in my climate, WSing works well, even for annuals. I find it easier, cheaper, more fun... no sterilizing soil or equipment, little expense, little indoor mess...

To each his own.

Karen

Karen, I'm drooling over your coleus! I got two handfuls of coleus cuttings from critterologist but they all got this white fungus infection. It was heartbreaking to throw all of them away.

I'm so sorry about your coleus. That would be heart breading.

Karen

Here are the main reasons I will be winterswoing:

1. Absolutely no room indoors

2. Sooooo may critters that will be happy to eat up every seed. In fact I can't do *any* direct sowing outside at all.

3. A yard that slopes. Most of it has at least a gentle slope and a big chunk of it has a pretty steep slope. There's no way the seeds will stay in place.

I will be wintersowing EVERYTHING. For annuals, I will be "winter"-sowing in the early spring.

Once again: no room indoors; too many critters outdoors; too much slope for the seeds to stay in place, and I want to control exactly where which plant grows where.

My grandparents were farmers, and my parents grow most of their vegetables in their backyard. They had never heard of wintersowing and thought the milk jugs were so clever. They're going to watch me this year and try it themselves next year.

I don't understand trying to pick an argument with people who have tried and succeeded in a method. Just because your definition of wintersowing is different from others (or the USDA definition), that doesn't mean others are wrong.

QED

Well dang, I've been doing winter sowing for 11 years now, per Trudi's instructions and it works well here and for the thousands of others that do not post too often here,(like myself) and trust me it really works.

Waving to all my old friends here, PV, Bakemom, Trudi, Karen, etc.

Alberta who hasn't started yet, but will be real soon, :)

Winter Sowing is so addictive people can't stay away from it, gotta love it.

FYI, you can't copyright a method, you can patent them, but you can't copyright them.

No hard feelings here, in this thread we went over various germination descriptions again and we're reminded that WS is recognized by the USDA as a germination method.

Kindly,

T