What kind of container do you use to ws? I found the milk jugs the easiest to work with, and they also had some of the best germination rates -- one of my tom varieties was 9 out of 9 in one.

Also wintersowed broccoli and cauliflower and they're some of the most beautiful plants. They thrived. I've tried both before and never got any head formation. Now, one broccoli is already going and the others probably aren't far behind. Some of these seeds went out Jan. 24, the others Feb. 28 and were transplanted sometime in late March. One of my problems with these before was being too hesitant to put them outside while it was still cool. WS took that out of the equation since they were outside from inception.

Onions also wintersow well. I've still got three containers I didn't transplant growing like crazy. The ones in the garden are going to get choked by weeds because they're only inches apart and I can't get in between to weed. I'm beginning to see the value of a raised bed for these.

Caryl

Lisa-
you could probably get away with the cole crops in Feb, but not the rest of the garden. I WS my veggies with the 'latest' WS items- the annuals, and usually even after April 1. The only thing that I'm considering NOT WSing next year is the carrots...I always end up waiting too long to plant out, and the roots are a mess. This year I tried ripping off the excess roots that had amassed in the bottom of the milk jug before I planted out, but I bet that fails miserably.

And don't sow too deep. Keep well watered.

They germinated in a couple days.

I even got a couple melons going that way!

:)

I sowed my tomatoes outside in milk jugs around Feb. 20. They germinated in late March to early April and are doing well in the garden now that it's warmed up. For a long time they stayed pretty small, and the seedlings I haven't transplanted are still on the small side -- they probably need more room for their roots.

Many people seem to wait till early spring to sow some of the more tender stuff (using the ws method of jugs so I guess that's why they refer to it as ws), but at least in my zone I've found that it doesn't much matter if you do it in late Feb. or early March -- they won't sprout till it's warm enough anyway. I did some petunias in Jan. and got a number of healthy plants even though I probably should have waited on those till March.

Caryl

I will summer sow my cabbage in late August. Just to have decent transplants for the beds when the last round of beans and squash are finally done.

In Chicago, May is still freaking cold, especially at night, so it's weather is still cold enough to WS. Some might call it early-Spring sowing, but very cold night temps with frost are quite possible. I used to live up in the mountains and into June we wore heavy coats in the evening.

If a plant will reseed in your garden then you can WS it. Winter Sowing is meant to be adapted to peoples climates, gardens and needs. So, what works for me, might not work for you, or anyone else, and conversely, what works for you might not work for me, etc etc. In my garden I have pole beans reseed each year. Abundantly too. But that might not be the case with other people. I have hardshell squash reseed each year in my compost heap and they WS fine for me, but I have low percentage germination with zukes. Hot peppers reseed but I have low germination with bells. So, to each their own.

T

I raise all my vegetables from seed either by sowing indoors in my porch or direct sowing outside. I've done it this way for many years but I am genuinely interested in discovering if outdoor WS has any advantages in my climate. So far I'm rather thinking it doesn't.

Are your zones different from ours? A zone 8 or 9 here would usually have warm soil much earlier than May or June. (If the 9/9 after your name is referring to zone, of course).

In w/s you're providing a climate in the container that's a little warmer than the outside temp. so plants will be ahead of the volunteers by a little bit But if a plant will volunteer under normal circumstances it is a viable candidate for wintersowing.

Speaking of which, Trudi, the marglobe, siberian, mortgage lifter and Florida Pink I grew from seed you sent me are all thriving. The Great White got its stem a bit damaged when I was hoeing around it about two weeks ago so I planted it deeper and mounded up the dirt and it seems to be recovering. I'm hoping to be able to send you seeds from those as well as some other varieties I'm growing so you can continue to spread the word :)

Trudi - regarding the hardiness of WS tomatoes. In my experience the volunteer tomatoes which have appeared in my garden are no more than few inches high before the winter starts. So, however hardy they might be they are not much use if they don't get to even flower before dying off.

I did actually try winter sowing some tomato seed a few years ago. None of it came up. I suspect that it just rotted away in our cool damp weather. I was just interested to find out if I was missing a trick here.

Flora, you're describing a climate which is extremely similar to our Pacific NorthWestern area. Choosing the right tomatoes for your region is important to achieve success--which is fruit ripened on the vine. I'm pasting in a link from Washington State University Extension which has some advice and a list of varieites that will work well in the cool summer climate.

Do you bring them inside if it gets too cold? I'm asking because get frosts into May sometimes.

I'm still a bit confused on just how much hardier a WS'd 'mater is.

I am trying yet again this year. The tomatoes I sowed in April are ready to plant out and I hope to get around to it today. The variety is Harbinger.

Sowing them in Feb. probably doesn't make any difference from putting them out in March -- the seeds won't germinate till the conditions in the jug are right. They're not susceptible to frost till they sprout.

Caryl

So I switched back to store bought tomato plants. Which seems to work out better for me for just a few plants. I have done indoor grown tomato seedlings and those did the best for me, because I could put out really large size tomato plants and had earlier and therefore bigger yields for my tomatoes. The only trouble with that is that it was a LOT of work. [g] So I'm not going back to doing that.

I've decided this year, I'm going to try winter sowing tomatoes again. However, I plan on using season extenders to try to help them out. I may even experiment with a store bought organic tomato plant from my favorite nursery and use season extending for that too and compare. I have used Wall of Waters in the past and it really made a difference in speeding up growth. I may think of trying something more than that if I have the time, like a small poly tunnel or some such. I would really like to increase my tomato yields.

As for other veggies to winter sow, I think I am going to spring sow pepper plants, cukes, zucchini, basil and beans and winter sow onions and the brassica family, dill and parsley. Peas tend to rot if you leave them wet too long, so I'm going to direct sow those in early March.

Would love to hear anyone else's strategies with growing veggies and herbs.