My very first sprout was lupine on March 14. My pot ghetto is in the shade on my breezeway so I tend to see sprouts a week or more after other folks. I kept a sprout chart the first two years and early April is when things really started to pop. The majority of my seeds sprouted at one point or another in April.

I'll let others speak to the planting out since I pot up most of my sprouts to grow on for several weeks. The beds weren't ready for them when they were smaller, not to mention I didn't want to risk slugs chomping them down. I don't mind potting them because I give away lots to family, friends and neighbors every year. I do pot them up as soon as they're big enough to handle.

Here's my pot ghetto in June
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The first to sprout for me were Lupines. Then followed Canterbury Bells and Foxgloves.

Germination times vary wildly for a wide variety of reasons. There is no set time-frame which will encompass all of the seeds you sow. The majority of them don't require cold stratification, and will germinate when the soil reaches their preferred temperature for their preferred amount of time. Others will depend upon available light and moisture more than soil temperature.

If you keep detailed records, and average them over several years, you'll be able to narrow it down to a few week-wide window, but when you're dealing with Mother Nature's conditions, you'll never get it finer than that.

Thanks all! So nervous now that I've started.....

I think you also mentioned Gardenweed that planting them out too early could be hazardous to the little seedlings in addition to slugs and rabbits ma Nature could flatten them down too with either too much sun or rain. I think potting them up is an excellent idea so they can be thinned out before their roots get tangeled up and they handle it better at that stage. The ground is usually very wet in April too. I think leaving them in pots is a great idea because you can always move them around where you decide and have more control of what sun and water they are getting as well as starting to fertilize.

I also have starter beds where I baby very small plants and where the soil is very fine and rich.

Glad to see you've got some seeds T-Bird, how many jugs did you pot up and what are some of your specimens?

It looks like you'll be seeing seedlings around April, since you and Gardenweed share similar zones. Surely if you keep them in a sunny location this might speed things up a little bit. When it gets close I'm going to give them the best environment I can, which means moving them from the back of the house to the front where there is more sun whilst keeping a watchful eye that the pots do not dry out as well, I figure something out.

For now I'm just letting Ma Nature do her thing.

Happy Sowing T-Bird and everyone else.

Gardenweed has excellent germination and in her first yr she sowed 500 jugs, how 'bout that? I'm kinda partial to her. She really knows her seeds(stuff) LOL
Micki777
Western PA

thanks Micki!

I did 4 pots - comfrey, 2 chives (1 reg 1 garlic) and italian parsley.

I set them out in the row between 2 raised beds. kind of sunny, not sure how much shade the 1' raised bed edges create, the path is 2' wide....they will stay there till they need transplanting, most likely....

Yesterday I devoted to my indoor collections....trying some lettuce/spinach on the enclosed back porch - just an experiment.....they weren't working under lights in the house....too warm mainly, especially for the spinach.

Also starting very early with my toms, peppers, and eggplants. Did first round transplants of 8 toms, and so far have just one pepper and one eggplant up in the starter tray - no transplanting yet. While I did start earlier than ever before - I'm surprised at how quickly everything is up. Have improved both methods and materials, so wished I had actually waited for January as before!

I was realizing what a committment it was to have these seedlings to take care of daily, watching for water, sprouting, transplanting, etc. etc. as compared to the carefree jugs in the yard!

Today - I am back to winter sowing.....I have maybe 6 jugs to work with, so need to choose which seeds are best suited for them.

I just received my seeds for greek oregano, so that's a possibility. I have an entire slew of flower seeds coming in the mail, along with a 60 plug starter tray I ordered....now I'm wondering which seeds would be good for winter sowing instead!!!

so 6 jugs, and loads of flowers, herbs and veggies to choose from! like a kid in the candy store!