Hmmm....... peat pellets will be hard to keep moist. I recommend large containers, preferably milk jugs. My container of choice is gallon size milk jugs. Half gallons and 2 liter pop bottles work well, too. Many veterans here use these, aiming for 3-4 inches of good potting mix. Moistened first, sown with seeds, and put outside, they don't need additional water until the weather warms in spring. The rain and snow water them. Then we add more ventilation holes to the top and eventually remove the top half of the jug completely when the weather is warm.

Containers need holes in the top of precipitation and airflow and in the bottom for drainage.

We do you live? Wet or dry climate? Hoping for the best, I'd make sure there are adequate holes top and bottom and place in the shade. For the rest, try milk jugs.

See Truidi's site, wintersown.org. Don't miss her free seed offer. Also see the wintersowing FAQs, which I'll link. Then come back and ask questions. This is the most friendly forum on GW and the experts will be glad to help.

Welcome to wintersowing. Your garden will never be the same!

Karen

Here is a link that might be useful: FAQs

I am guessing that you are sowing these indoors? Here we sow them outside, but I will tell you what has worked for me. After sowing them and making sure all of the pellets were very moist, I put the top on and stuck it in a very sunny window. They seemed to do okay until I had to take the top off, and then I had to water every day, otherwise they would have dried out. Check out the wintersowing FAQ. This is a way much easier way to sow seeds, but if you want more info on doing them indoors, you could check out the growing from seed forum.

I assumed you were talking about wintersowing outdoors. Gardenluv is right, what we do is much easier than growing indoors, and we have no damp-off.

I hope you'll decide you try it our way, too.

Karen

Hi:

You should take the plastic top off once you have germination from some seeds, because the conditions inside there will lead to damp-off. You can prevent or limit damp-off when starting seeds indoors if you have a fan blowing on your plants at least part of the day.

The unsprouted seeds' soil won't be nice and moist once the top is off. Depending on your system, you may be able to remove the sprouted pellets and leave the others under the cover. Or you could use plastic wrap on top of the unsprouted seeds.

The previous recommendations are good--you should check out the Growing from Seed forum, and you should try Wintersowing, too!

Good luck with your seeds, and give them as much sunlight as you can! You may need additional light, too.

Holy Cow!!!
You can start seeds outdoors in this cold weather and snow!! I am embarrassed to say that I did not know that. I am going to have to do some serious research on that aspect. Yes, I am starting them inside with the little kit from the store. I do not even know what to say, I am flabbergasted that you can start seeds outside right now.

Thanks everyone, I actually learned something today!!!

Don't feel embarrassed. I doubt if any/many of us knew that before we found the forum. I heard of winter sowing but thought it just meant sowing your seeds inside earlier than what was recommended on the packets. lol It is absolutely great to be able to sow seeds in milk jugs and then just sit them outside all winter in the rain and snow and let them do their thing. I'll be so excited when I go out someday and see sprouts! I saw that someone from Philly area got some sprouts already so I bet it won't be much longer for me since I'm in central PA. I'm guessing another week or two. Oh boy!

Winter sowing allows me to sow so many more seeds than I could my old way of sowing them indoors. I only have so much windowsill space and there's no way I could fit my 80+ milk jugs indoors. Right now they're sitting outside buried under the snow that we've been getting. I can hardly wait to be outside in April, May, and June planting things. I have so many plants that I'm sure it will take me several months to plant them all. Ha.

That's right, it was Trudi who introduced us to wintersowing via this forum, and we are all thankful to her.

Do see the FAQs which I linked above, it we tell you all you need to know. Also Trudi's site, wintersown.org. You'll get a lot of infor just by reading the threads, too.

My jugs, taken today, covered with an inch of ice.
{{gwi:355969}}

Karen

Well, welcome to wintersowing! This is soooooo much easier than sowing seeds indoors! And it is a great knowledgeable group of people, and it is extremely addicting. You may think, hmmmm I think I will do 20 containers, and by the time you are done you will have 80! Hee hee hee. Good luck, and if you have any questions, ask away!