WS newbie here with some questions

I just learned what winter sowing was this week---how's that for newbie! I had heard of the term before, but I thought it meant when people started their seeds indoors in the winter. So, now that I know what it really is, I am intrigued... I am in zone 5 (Ohio) and our avg. last frost is anywhere from mid-April to mid-May (in 2003 it was mid-June!). I will be starting tomatoes, cukes, eggplant, pole beans, and peppers indoors under lights (my first year for that as well). But I thought I would try ws with flowers and Bibb lettuce. Are there some that are NOT suitable for ws? I'm guessing ones that take a long time to bloom (?). Also, I really hate pricking out...I can just put peat pots in a tray with a clear lid, right? TIA, Tamara

I'm new at this, too, but this site will answer most of your questions until you get more replies
http://www.wintersown.org/

On the right side, there's some links to lists of what's good for what zones.
Good luck!

I've actually already been there....I'm just such a nervous Nelly! ;-) Kinda goes against the whole "plant in faith" thing. lol *deep cleansing breath* Okay, I will just keep telling myself that nothing horrific with happen if I WS some seeds and nothing happens. Tamara

Hope this helps!

Zone 5 plants: http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/wtrsow/2002072837032351.html
Various types of containers: http://www.wintersown.org/wseo1/Making_Flats.html
Water bottle tepees: http://www.wintersown.org/wseo1/Water_Bottle_Tepees.html
Container gardening: http://www.wintersown.org/wseo1/Container_Gardening.html
Vented covers: http://www.wintersown.org/wseo1/Vented_Covers.html
Veggies: http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/wtrsow/2002053844010986.html
Tomatoes that have been wintersown: http://www.wintersown.org/wseo1/Tomatoes.html

If you're a 'nervous Nellie', just keep a few extra seeds to sow at a later date.

Thanks so much! I am going to take "X" number of seeds from each packet and do half WS and half indoor and then take notes as to when everything germinates, % of germ, bloom dates, etc. At the end of the season, I'll share my results. I don't have Excel. Any other ideas for setting up such a table? Tamara

Tamara, do you have Microsoft Word? You can do a table in Word by clicking Insert, Table. You have to decide in advance how many columns you want and it won't be as nice as Excel. Or you could just keep it on paper.

good luck!
gram

I decided to do it the old fashioned way and just write it down. I'm more likely to keep up with it that way. :-) Tamara

Can wave petunias be wintersowed?

I just checked that zone 5-7 list and didn't see wave petunias listed, though 2 other petunias were.

I love wave petunias and buying lots of plants really adds up - so i'm trying with seeds this year.

Yes, wintersown.org was distributing Wave Petunia seeds in their free seed giveaways.
I found them listed in the zone 6 list:
http://www.wintersown.org/wseo1/WS_Database_Z6.html



edit: where I found them was in zones 5,6, and 7's germination records for last year

This message was edited Jan 28, 2007 10:18 PM

Thanks for the reply.

OH - but when i check zone5 (i'm on the border of 5a/5b or z5/z6 -- depending on if chicago is a 5b or 6)

and on the zone5 page, it does not list a month to w'sown and for GERM it has a "Y".

since I'm new to all of this.. i have no idea what that means.

This message was edited Jan 29, 2007 12:58 PM

I think it just means there's no record of which month it was sown in, and 'Y' for yes, it germinated. Wave petunias are in the zone 4 list, too as 'Y'