Hi Linda,
I don't do tomatoes, but I'm sure some others will answer you. In the meantime the link below is to Trudi's "Wintersown" site and includes instructions on WS'ing tomatoes, also I believe she gives away seeds.

Here is a link that might be useful: How to winter sow tomatoes

Linda,

I've been WS tomatoes for 7 years now. Much, much easier to WS them than to sow indoors for all the same reasons it's easier to WS any other seeds.

Check out the link below from 2009 on WS tomatoes. I posted how I do mine and have been doing them this way from the beginning.

I'm in zone 5 MA as well so it will be perfect for you.

Fran

Here is a link that might be useful: WS tomato seeds with some instructions

Thanks for your responses! This is my 4th winter sowing seeds but I've never sowed tomatoes, but now that I know they do well this year, I will winter sow them, or should I say spring sow them. I have been to Trudi's site many times and she has sent me seeds in the past. I usually sowed the tomatoes on my window sill in a peat pot and they did pretty well.

As soon as we get through the Nor'Easter we're expecting tomorrow (7-10 inches where I live in Western MA), I will sow my tomatoes.

Thanks again for you help, it's very much appreciated.

Linda

I've done some experimenting with ws tomatoes but have also coddled them a bit. This year I have ws 3 different tomatoes and put them out with the other containers. They will be treated the same as I am trying to cut back on time and work needed. I am also sowing some tomatoes inside. Hoping the ws tomatoes do as well as those sown inside so I can drop the inside sowing.

I'm seeing these should be done in individual containers. Can they be sown in milk jugs, then later separated?

Sowing tomato seeds in milk jugs is fine to do.

I don't like milk jugs at all and never use them. just to difficult for me to handle and deal with.

I personally prefer the individual cups for my own convenience, I"m sowing the seeds for at least 6 other people besides myself. So when the time comes to give them to their "owners" it's just hand over the cups and off they go.

I also find it far easier to just pop the seedling out when it is time to transplant and settle them into their new homes, then to have to spend time separating them and dealing with roots tangled with each other.

It's up to each individual to decide what works best for them when they WS any kind of seeds.

What works best for one person doesn't always work best for another.

Fran

I used 2L bottles and put three seeds in each. Will snip off the weaker ones and grow on the strongest one until it is time to transplant.

The ones I am starting inside are in cups.

Tomatoes aren't picky about what they're sown into, you can do a flat or individual containers. If they're outside you'll see an amazing root system which will hold up well to reomoval if sown into a group flat. I've got about two thirds of my toms already sown outside and have the rest to do tomorrow. We're still getting nightly freezes--here on the island April has crazy weather--it can be in the fifties or low sixties in the day and down to the low thirties upper twenties at night. The toms seem to do very well here.

T

I find it much easier to wintersow tomatoes in regular potting soil than try and raise them inside and then fiddle with the hardening off process. I have had better luck with giving each little seedling its own large plastic cup rather than have several in a milk jug. The ones in the jug always get too crowded and don't grow as fast for me as the ones in the plastic cups.

I also start cantaloupe outside in plastic cups, but I start them later, around mid-April. Depending on how many seedlings I have, I put all the cups together in a plastic shoebox (for up to 8 cups) or plastic sweater box (lots more than 8) to keep the cups from blowing over.

tell me more about cups . what kind and with lids or saran wrap or what .Also what about peppers

Gardenunusual, I used milk jugs for tomatoes on this my newbie year. Disadvantage: hard to get big seedlings out without disturbing the little seedlings & seeds that are still germinating. Advantage: milk jug provides sturdy high top & protection from the frequent violent thunderstorms in my area. I punched holes & tied down the tops instead of using tape, great for volatile weather.

{{gwi:369076}}

Everybody seems to like the cups so I'll try those next yr. On the link in ellenrr's post above Trudi shows what looks like 8 oz cups at the bottom of empty pots. Larger pots will protect from the fierce wind here. When seedlings are older maybe I will use a cloche held down with 4 bricks.

Ricjo, did you see the 2 links above? Apparently both 8 oz & 16 oz cups work. One or more holes punched in bottom. Probably people recycling coke cups have the plastic top. Next to the paper plates my grocery store has 18 oz plastic cups on sale, apx $2 for 50 cups, which could be stacked up off season & reused as long as possible.

My gym offers free coffee so I take home 8 oz styrofoam cups for seedlings, but I know that styrofoam cannot be recycled so I try to keep my styrofoam to a minimum. I will need the plastic baggie or plastic wrap with holes punched for ventilation, & rubber bands or twisted pipe cleaners to hold it on. Yummy looking tomatoes on those links!

For your pepper question there's great general info on the link below:
Has anyone WS hot peppers?
More of my ws'ing pics