Congratulations! Isn't it fun seeing your first sprouts? As far as investment, I think you'll find wintersowing to be a very inexpensive way to grow plants. I trade seeds online here on GW, which costs very little in postage. If you go to the Round Robin Forum, you can find a thread for Newbie's where you can receive seeds for free...I believe just the cost of postage. It is so much fun to branch out and grow all kinds of plants!

Congratulations on your sprout! That Lettuce is ready for some salad dressing!

Those look awesome! :o)

What kind of cups are those with the petunia sprouts? coffee or cold drink cups? Did you have them inside another container? I didn't have good luck growing in cups the first year I WS'd. and when the 55 inches of snow melted, it made such a muddy mess in our back yard that I wasn't able to get to them to check on them, and the potting mix had dried out, as had the sprouts. Lesson learned! So I used nothing but milk jugs this year. Had reasonable success. I'm ready to dump the last 3 that didn't sprout at all. This year everything got too wet from so much rainfall. I braved in between the rain last night and grabbed my remaining WS seedlings and put them inside the garage to keep them from drowning. LOL! We had an inch of rain last night and more expected this afternoon but the sun just came out. Wished it would make up its mind. Congrats on all your successful germination. What type of petunias and zinnias are those sprouts? I haven't even planted my zinnias yet and haven't bought my PW petunias either.

pippi21- Since this was my first year I tried a few different containers to see which I liked. The petunia sprouts are in small 5oz drink cups.I also have some in 8oz styrofoam cups. I filled them to the top, soaked them to let the dirt settle, more dirt and water. I wanted to make sure I had enough dirt in them. Then I put them in the clear underbed boxes.I even tried a solid flat filled with dirt for snapgragons. These sprouted but I didnt like the HOS method. I liked the 5oz cups the best for small annuals, it is so easy to fill the clear box with 1/2 inch of water in the morning before I go to work so they dont dry out and they just soak it up until I get home the water is gone and they are just moist. The roots seemed like alot more on the clear cups rather them the styrofoam ones. And it stretches the dirt further. I really like this method, they didnt dry out at all. Veggies I tried milk jugs, soda bottle, coffee container. To cover them I bought a clear plactic sheet from the paint dept, some wooden sticks and made a tent around all of it. As they started to sprout I cut holes in the tent then before long I just took it off.
My only wish is that they were a bit bigger, but that is due to our colder season this year I think.
I just bought the mixed color seed at wallmart for the petunia and the zinnias are a profusion mix also from walmart. Next year I am going to order some online. Sorry to hear about the rain your having, we have had really cold weather here I am so far behind on planting.

My first year, I tried coffee cups and cold drink cups and put them inside a clear storage box too, but I poked drainage holes in bottom of the clear storage box, plus holes in lid for air circulation and for rain to get in but they ended up drying up on me. That year we got 55 in. of snow in a weekend and once the snow finally melted, the yard was so muddy that I couldn't get out there to check on them. You mentioned filling the clear box with 1/2 in.of water in the morning before you went to work and the soil in the cups would soak up the water by the time you got home. Did you not have drainage holes in the clear storage box? I know Token used a lot of coffee cups with his seedlings but they were inside his hoop house that he had made and he was very successful with that set up.

It is nice to read what works for others so you can try it. Gardening is all about trial and error and a lot of luck!
Thanks for taking the time to explain your set up.

No I didnt have holes in the storage boxes. We also had a few days of snow/rain and I was so worried that they would be washed away but on those days I would put an extra tarp over it.

I cant beleive the mud you got. I would be devestated. It isnt as much the work as it is the emotions of it all. It is crazy!

Hoop house is pretty much what I did. I plan on making something more sturdy that can with stand the weather better. Every year I would buy about 20 flats of annuals and I just cant afford it. Springsowing will be sooo awesome for me!