I don't know the flowers except columbine, it can be WS normally. The peppers are usually recommended to WS later in the spring becoz they like warm to hot weather. So I am guessing maybe May for you to WS them.

I WS primrose, columbine, love in a mist, and catchfly last year and they did great. I probably should have waited to sow love in a mist until May, though. It struggled a bit with the cold. The primrose did especially well and got HUGE!

Leisa

Thanks for the responses!! I'm super excited to start :)

I also just found the WS group on facebook - wahoo!

~Andrea

Andrea..do you need any flower seeds? I had some very generous GW members share with me back in Dec. I know there are some that I won't be able to use and I'll be glad to share. It's payback time..Please see my email address on "My page"

Since I didn't hear from any newbie..I packaged my extras up and am mailing them to Trudi this morning. Maybe I'll have more later to share again.Sorry!

awe, thanks so much for the offer. While I'll never turn away any babies I do have a lot on my plate to start this season, so it's okay, but I really do appreciate the offer!

I found a whole stack of seed packets in my basement from the past 2 seasons, some I never even opened. I certainly hope I'm not in over my head (I only have about a dozen containers on hand to start, time to collect some more :) but with all the success I've read about with WSing I think I'm going to have some GREAT plants to work with this year!

Just a note...habaneros from seed take a really long time to get going in order to pick some ripe ones. If your season is not long enough, I would suggest when it comes time to transplant them out of the containers, I would put a couple in some pots so that if you need to in the fall, you can bring them inside. This worked well for me last year. We had fresh habaneros through December and into January.

Love in a mist I usually don't do until April. It is a little touchy to cold snaps.

Beans I tend to direct sow where I want them in spring. Once sprouted, they grow so fast that it is easier for me to do it that way.

Good luck with your wintersowing!

gardenluv - Thank you so much for the recommendations!

I've been lurking reading, and re-reading, the FAQs and topics on this page for two years, and decided to go for it this year after having a so-so direct sow result last year. I just decided to embrace the leap of faith and go with the advanced practice of hoping for the best, and making adjustments in future years as needed. I will be out of state for a week at the end of March, so it's a real leap of faith - but I have my containers on a huge shallow boot tray, about 1-2" in depth. I just moved it to a more shaded area of the deck so it wouldn't get as warm in prolonged sun and stay moist longer. The deck only has eastern exposure, but I moved it from a spot that got partial southern exposure too and had direct sun 6 hours, to a more protected location that gets only eastern exposure for 3-4 hours in early-late morning. I plan to fill the entire depth of of the tray with water before I leave and hope for favorable conditions while I'm away. I will expand the vents, or maybe remove covers also depending on the weather forecast.

I may be a little later starting, but most of my winter sow stuff is annual vegetables. I have an average last frost date of April 15 (latest recorded frost May 10). Lots of people transplant tomatoes on April 15 here, but many also recommend Mother's Day instead. We have a decent season length - through end of September typically. Average first frost is Oct. 15. I was still getting lettuce and sugar snap peas at Halloween this year, but everything else finished by the first week in October, or earlier.

I do have two questions. The first one honestly I can't find addressed anywhere on any forum, so I suppose everyone except me knows the answer already. With really small seeds and certain plants, how do I know how many plants I get from each seed. I always assumed one seed = one plant (1 tomato, 1 cucumber, 1 marigold) then it grows to it's full size (width) and fills out. However Oregano seeds are itty bitty and the package is 100 seeds. I sowed all 100 because I couldn't easily separate them. Do I plant a bunch of Oregano, or do I plant one tiny seedling when it germinates and wait for that to grow to it's 18" width? I suppose the ornamental grasses are like regular grass - one seed = one blade, so if I want a clump, I have to plant a clump of seedlings together to make a cluster of individual blades - is that the same thing for Blazing Star? Again, 50 seeds. If I plant out 50 seedlings will I have a nice clump or some yard overtaking monstrosity? How exactly do I know how many seeds to use for each plant - particularly herbs, and certain ornamentals. Do I want a cluster of Basil or just a plant? For some reason I have a mental block with regard to the spacing requirements/average sizes for these plants and I'm just not getting something.

Second question was for Gardenluv specifically about the habaneros. Those did not germinate for me last year. I plan to winter sow (early spring/late winter sow?) them next week, hoping to transplant about the Mother's Day time frame. If I try the container idea, can you advise what size container I would need? I'm guessing a 6" deep, 8" diameter hanging basket would be insufficient. Also, if I bring it in, how much light must it get to keep going. Year round fresh habaneros would thrill my husband, but my kitchen gets eastern (semi-strong) sun for less than 6 hrs per day. I could consider putting it in our office (unconventional) because I have a large (8' x 6') double window with western exposure that gets full (intense) sun from 10:30/11am - dusk. Since my habaneros never germinated, I don't know how big the plant gets. Is it about the same size as my Karma and Golden Hybrid sweet peppers or a Giant Hot Thai plant? The plants were similar in size, but the peppers were very different.

By the way, I'm in a disputed garden zone. Some say I am zone 6 St. Louis (but I'm not in the city, I'm in the western suburb of St. Charles) and others say I'm in zone 5B. I'll call it the border zone, some years it feels like zone 6, some zone 5b, and I've only been here 3 years so I have limited experience. I'm willing to take a gamble on some zone 6 min plants and prune carefully for the winter and provide extra mulch for protection. Sometimes they do well because they handle the heat/humidity of summer better.

I'm a really new gardener. This is only my third year veggie gardening, and I puttered with ornamentals at my previous home for maybe 2-3 years before that - so I'm going on very little experience, but a whole lot of enthusiasm. Why start small when you can just throw in a 450 square foot fruit/veggie bed and just fill it up. Last year it looked like something from Little Shop of Horrors because I felt too bad removing a seedling for proper spacing. That didn't work out great, not enough air circulation, hard to maintain/harvest - another reason I'm going with winter sowing. Since I will transplant, I expect to manage my spacing better, and it will be easier to give extra seedlings to friends/neighbors so I don't feel like I'm wasting them.

Thanks. This is an excellent forum. I've recently checked out the wintersown.org site and joined the facebook group too. I appreciate any suggestions.

smlechten - first off welcome and you will be so thrilled with wintersowing! I usually start my peppers during the end of April/beginning of May. I have found that the hotter the pepper, the more heat it needs to germinate so the habaneros are usually one of the last to do so. The plants are your average size pepper plant. I have also found that I only get about 40% germination for them. I would suggest if you want 3 plants, I would sow about 10 seeds. If you get way more, you can always give them away. Also, because habaneros are so hot, you don't need a whole lot. Last year I had two plants, and each plant I believe we got around 20-25 peppers from. We gave a lot away since many ripened at the same time.

I moved them inside before the first frost hit. I stuck them in our dining room that gets absolutely no direct sun what so ever and they survived. The only thing you have to watch for is keeping them watered on a regular basis. As far as what size pot to use, I used an 8" pot and a 10" pot. That was all I had left to use at the time. I would probably suggest no smaller than a 10" pot but you could go bigger. Since the pots were not too large, it made bringing them in easy. Some people may say that those pots are way to small which may be true but they worked fine for me. I too am in a strange zone. I am zone 5, but I get sprouts way earlier than 90% of other zone 5ers. Our summer heat is a very dry heat...desert like. If you want peppers earlier, you can always try to start some indoors (even though it is a huge hassle). I do both. Good luck with wintersowing!!

Oh, and as far as the other question goes, as far as I know, it is usually one seed=one plant. When I transplant my basil, I will do a small hunk in one place that will have a few seedlings growing. When I transplant my parsley, I just take the entire jug and plop it in a hole. Cilantro I seperate the seedlings just a little bit (4-5 inches apart) but keep them all together. Those are the only herbs I can remember off the top of my head.

Thanks gardenluv. I'm probably a good solid zone 6 summer, hot and humid is typical. I think based on your experience I will start my hot pepper seeds upon my return (last week of March), and hope that they are ready to plant by mid-May. I can locate them in the sunnier section of the deck to heat them up a little for germination, I'll be available to keep them wet and make sure they don't roast. I'd like to get 3 plants, 2 for the garden and 1 to try in a container. My husband can eat ridiculously hot foods, and using a whole habanero in one bowl of salad or on one taco would not be unusual. Do you happen to know if pepper seeds are fussy and have to be very fresh? I plan to use what I have, they were stored well enough, and if nothing happens by mid-April, I can always sow fresh new seeds and try again. I'm really not in a particular hurry, just looking for some success so I know what to do again the next year.

As much as having a long pepper season would be terrific, I'd be happy to just get any peppers. I tried to start seeds indoors once, and have decided not to do that any more. Between what the cat destroys, and what doesn't make it outdoors - it's just not worth it. I am not the type of gardener who is going to diligently harden off little seedlings. I decided to go with the winter sowing method because it just seems so easy and uncomplicated.

Thanks again. I have no idea if it's going well, if I'm doing it right or wrong, but I'm already having fun.

Sherri

Good luck Sherri!! Thanks for asking those additional questions, they were helpful to me too. And again gardenluv, thank you for your responses, they are very helpful!

I am listed on the USDA Map as zone 6 but I always plant to zone 5 so I consider where I live a border zone as well (I'm in Eastern Pa about an hour north of Philly). It's not at all unsual for us to have deep cold snaps and we've had frost into the middle of May already. I always use a plant out date of May 15th since that's what my grandmother and great grandmother did (I live across the street from me nana and this is where she grew up so I know she knows the history of the area and when to plant :)
I have been known to do some planting a smidge earlier, but never before Mother's Day.

I haven't sowed anything yet. This weekend I want to get the hardy perennials started at least. Perhaps next weekend or the weekend after that I'll do some of the peppers outside and inside (I told my husband I'll try them both ways, he'll be upset if he doesn't get any peppers from WSing) and maybe we'll get some variation in ripening times so they don't all come in at once. Then in april I'll do the annuals I found in the basement :) I love surprises!

~Andrea

I have been using the same jalapeno seeds for four years now and I am still getting good germination with them. I think as long as they are stored okay, they should last a while.

The seeds I start inside end up sitting in the window sill. lol....to harden them off (because I too suck at it) I crack the window and rotate which one sits in front of the crack for a few hours. After a couple of days out they go. By that time they seem to be okay for the most part. Some sulk for a day or two but seem to bounce back. I have tried to harden them off the correct way but always end up forgetting that I put them outside...oops!

Wow! One entire habanero for one taco???? Seriously???? My husband loves his hot spicy food but he only uses one in a half gallon of salsa. I personally didn't know someone could be more tolerant than he is when it comes to hot food! I am amazed!

Welcome. I have oregano and one plant will grow plenty big over the course of a few years. In fact, I have to cut that and the sage back every year or they'd take over the small herb bed.

As for peppers, I started mine inside along with some tomatoes just because I'm not sure when the wintersown tomatoes will sprout and wanted to make sure I had some as early as possible.

Caryl

Caryl

I'm pretty sure my husband only has one tastebud and it's wearing asbestos. Seriously, he has a lower density of tastebuds, and really only enjoys strong flavors. He uses the Dave's Insanity Sauces and Melinda's XXXX Hot Reserve liberally in my opinion. If I could grow 'em, he'd use the Red Savina. He used serveral of the Giant Hot Thai peppers per serving (they seemed kind of small to me to be called "giant.")

Thanks again!
Sherri

My husband loved Dave's Insanity! I have never heard of the Red Savina. What is that, a type of pepper? I thought habaneros were as hot as they get.

The tomatoes that I start inside I usually have a few ripe ones to pick by the end of June which is great. The wintersown ones I will have through the first real hard frost. By doing some inside and out, it lengthens the time I get ripe tomatoes from June through the end of October. Good to know about the oregano. I have not been able to grow that one yet.

I thought the habanero was the hottest pepper too, but then I was corrected and told that the hottest known pepper in the world is the Red Savina. Of course, hot is relative and peppers are hotter depending on where they are grown, soil, cross polination, etc. So the ones we grow ourselves are likely not quite as hot as commercial growers - but can still pack a punch. The Red Thais were hot enough to add some kick. If something isn't rated at least 50,000 - over 150,000 Scoville units, Bill just doesn't taste it. My jalapenos and habaneros did not germinate last year, so I have no idea where they would've been heat-wise according to my non-taster heat addict.

Just a hint that I have found, if you let the jalapenos go until they are red before picking, they tend to be a little hotter. I am going to have to look up Red Savina. Do you happen to know where you can get seeds?

I wrote a reply last night, but I guess I previewed and never submitted. I do that too often, and I hate when that happens.

Thanks for the jalapeno tip. I didn't know that jalapenos could/would turn red. I guess it makes perfect sense, since green peppers are all just not fully ripened. It takes forever to ripen to those bright colors too! Now I really understand why the multi-colored peppers are so expensive, $1.50-$2.00 each in my local grocery store is typical.

I never tried to grow a Red Savina because I figured I didn't have the climate, warm enough for long enough, to do it. I was guessing it had a 120+ day maturity cycle, or something freaky long like that. I have successfully grown watermelons at 80 days to maturity, pumpkins too (but they are ok in cooler fall temps). Bill may have tried to grow the Red Savina when he lived in Louisanna. I can ask when he returns from Malaysia, but if he did, he probably bought a plant locally. I would guess the best place to get seeds or plants would be in the southwest, so you're in the right place. Good luck. Let me know if you try to grow it and how it works out.

Sherri

excellent tips on the peppers!! I also had no idea there were hotter peppers than habanero. My husband likes hot stuff but even he draws the line at the habaneros so good with with the red savina, luckily I don't think we'll have to grow them here.