You can a lot of information from reading the FAQ located at the top of the page. Welcome!

BTW Even in areas that freeze solid for months you can wintersow!!

Vera

Hi iam, welcome to the forum.
I saw that you are in zone 7? It freezes solid in winter?

It freezes here too where I am and where a lot of folks are.
We can Winter Sow just about anything. So do people in Alaska and the upper part of Canada.

We start sowing around December, in fact, and go on until ....forever....lol.....
We try any seeds imaginable and have had tremendous success.

What we do is sowing seeds in good potting soil in mini greenhouses made of recyclables such as milk jugs, pop bottles, pastry containers, etc. after poking holes to allow for ventilation and drainage. We then leave the containers outside in the rain or snow all winter .

The seeds will germinate when the temperature is right. We don't have any problem with damping off or hardening seedlings since they are already outside to withstand any cold condition. It's really fun.

Read the FAQ then come back here if you have any questions or just simply enjoy the madness among us. :-D We love newcomers....and old timers.

If you need seeds, watch for offers later on. It's euqally fun getting seeds for almost free in the mail.

Welcome and read on. The FAQ are great and reading this site is so interesting and fun. I just finished my first WS season and it was great gardening in January. I know there are other zone 7's here so check their remarks. We all want you to be successful (addicted) as we are so hang in there...start collecting recyclables, seeds and soil and hang on for the ride ! You'll LOVE it. Barbie

Thanks. I looked for FAQs, but missed the link somehow.

It doesn't freeze solid here -- in fact the ground rarely freezes too hard to dig for more than a day or two.

It froze solid in Western PA and in Massachusetts. :-)

iam, here's the FAQ link.
Have fun reading and getting excited!
:-)

Hi, iam - I just moved from MA to SC, and have been wintersowing about 5 or 6 years (lost track). In MA, we could start on the winter solstice and sow continuously from that point onward. I had better luck sowing perennials & perennial herbs during Dec/Jan, hardy annuals in February, and almost anything from March to May. I understand that in the Carolinas I may have to start later, as relatively long warm spells will occur right through December. I've received a lot of help with the new climate from the Carolina Gardening Forum - I don't know where you are, but the local/regional forums are helpful for adapting WS to your specific climate. Good luck!

Right through February Drippy. This year our coldest weeks were in mid to late Feb and early March. Got down to 10 degrees. We were in the 70s in Dec/Jan. You have to wait on annuals til mid March.

I'd never heard of it until I found this forum and am still a newbie. I like the gallon milk jugs the best because they are easier to manage with the handles, but I use a couple other kinds of containers for certain purposes.

It helps chase off the winter doldrums and gives you something to look forward to, but I didn't get around to it this year. Instead, I am spring sowing; it's not going too badly, but I forgot to punch holes in the salad trays and ruined a bunch of stuff. I found out my drainage holes w/exacto blade weren't draining fast enough once open so got out my soldering kit and fixed that. Got mold and fixed that. So it goes. But some got ruined.

for iam3killerbs:
Totally off topic---
Iam3killerbs?? OMG that is so funny! SNL John Belushi and friends, right? Seriously brought back some great memories. Thanks for that. :-)

I detected from Iam's first post that he/she definitely has the sense of humor that we seem to have around here...so, with that qualification, I think Iam's ready :-)

Linda

Welcome, Be careful or you will have millions of babies & nightmares about where you are going to put them. I finally had to give some of mine away. Most of the seeds "others" shared with me were perennials. Now I wonder what I will do next year. I can't stop but the flower beds are full. This old body can't keep up with the entire yard full of flowers! I would like to have nothing but flowers in the yard but hubby only gets away from the TV to eat, work & mow so I would hate to take that away from him! Kathy

Welcome. I am a newbie and just want to say wintersowing is great! I sowed lots of things and the container froze right after but those are nice little plants in my garden right now...

have fun!
Karen

Welcome - you will find this a wonderful addiction and our forum has the best people with helpful information and lots of enthusiasm for newbies

Carrie

Ooooo- fresh blood...

Welcome, Iam!

This sound like the perfect solution to the rose seeds I bought on impulse and didn't really know what to do with.

And the celeriac seed that I need to start RIGHT NOW because the first sowing in the peat pots didn't come up.

I grow very little that isn't edible, but I'm fond of roses and my DD has asked for something prettier than tomato plants in front of her bedroom window, which is semi-shade anyway.

And DH likes to put petunias anywhere I don't stick a vegetable first, but garden centers all carry nothing but Wave types anymore and what he likes are the ruffled ones and the old-fashioned, bi-colored types with the stripes and rings. So he didn't even buy any this year. But we've never succeeded in starting them indoors.

Same for lavendar.

@Bluesunflower,

My name is a reference to my favorite Nascar drivers -- Kyle and Kurt Busch and Greg Biffle. I find it easiest to use the same name for all my message boards rather than try to remember who I am where. :-)

I'll put some celariac containers together today.

I thought your name meant you had killed 3 herbs ;-0

Welcome to the WS Forum.

T

Welcome, iam3!

You mentioned that DH likes petunias. They wintersow really well, and last much longer than the storebought plants. Summer Hill Seeds has an excellent selection of petunia seeds, you might want to check out their website. The hard part is not buying the ones that are blooming when you pass them at the store, while your seedlings are still small. The wintersown ones bloom a bit later, but are worth the wait.

I grow a lot of edibles too, and wintersow almost everything. Veggies that are perfect for wintersowing include lettuces, spinach, chard, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, peas, and even tomatoes. Herbs are also great for wintersowing, but save the basil until close to your last frost date.

Wintersowing will change the way you garden! It's so much easier than starting things indoors, and more successful than direct sowing for most things.

Bonnie

Thanks again.

I'll let you know how the celeriac goes.