Hi and welcome to the winter sowing forum! I'm no authority on veggies but other folks on the forum will likely chime in with words of wisdom. I'm attaching a link to an earlier "newbie" inquiry about when to sow. It should answer some of your questions.

Rule of thumb is hardy perennials that need cold stratification should be first in December-January-February followed by half-hardy with tenders bringing up the tail end as temperatures are moderating.

I winter sowed dianthus, foxglove, hibiscus, delphinium and balloon flower in January & February. They all sprouted March-April and grew on. The hibiscus & foxglove both bloomed first year from seed as did lupine.

According to my notes I winter sowed my first tomato seeds on March 27. The first one sprouted April 25. I'm in zone 5b/6a so you'd probably want to wait until mid-April to sow where you are.

Don't forget to have fun and remember--the minute you see a sprout in a container, do the happy sprout dance, take a picture & post it for everyone here to admire! ;-p

WS lupine sprout April 5, 2010
{{gwi:352756}}

Here is a link that might be useful: Winter Sowing guide

I have to add that you might not want to use newspaper pots. These pots will be exposed to snow, rain, freeze and thaw. Newspaper pots wouldn't hold up :(

Thanks gardenweed. I'll take a look at that thread.

siichan - I was going to put the newspaper pots into the milk jugs. I thought I'd read threads on here about other people doing that, so that it was easier to transplant without disturbing the roots so much. Bad idea even if the newspaper pots are packed into things like the jugs?

Cab, I'll let the others chime in about the idea. However, I think the newspaper is going to get too broken down to hold the seedlings by the end of winter. I can be wrong though! I know some people use thick cardboard pieces to create sections in the jugs. I think using toilet paper tubes is a good idea though. What I did with plants that don't transplant well is I sowed them in styrofoam cups or any other similar small container. Like I say though, I'll let experienced wintersower fellows chime in...

I used toilet paper tubes for my sweet peas and edible peas, which were sown in early April and planted out by May. The tubes were already beginning to come apart when I planted out. Maybe your TP comes on a different type of cardboard, but I know mine would not last all winter. Plus the cardboard grew scary looking mushrooms after transplant (I planted the entire tube.) Germination was really spotty too. I also started limas indoors in more TP tubes. I peeled the tubes off at transplant time, and no more 'shrooms. April was still winter here, we got measurable snow in early May.

Edie

Hmmm...maybe I'll try things a few different ways and see what works and what doesn't. For the price of a few seeds I can hardly go wrong.

I once posted the question on ws'ing things that don't like to be transplanted & the general response was that go ahead & WS in jugs like normal but plant them out AS SOON as they get their second set of leaves! Because of WS'ing the roots are hardier & can handle the transplant--if done early on!!!

Hope this helps!
peace & love,
Jodie

I tried the TP tubes for some delphinium and poppies and will not bother with the tubes this year. They had spotty germination and the tubes did not hold up. The ones that I planted without the tubes were alot hardier and transplanted better. No messing with tubes this year for me!!

I'm not that experienced at WS'ing yet...this is only my second year, but last year I did sow my morning glory seeds in newspaper pots & paper towel tubes, in March. Even with a seed sowed that late, by the time they were ready to be planted out, the newspaper pots/tubes had become pretty soggy and had started to disintegrate quite a bit.

I actually found it easier to just plant out the hole "hunk-o-seedlings" from the milk jugs that I didn't use newspaper/tube pots in. You may want to just use the newspaper pots/tubes on your peas and cilantro, and just sow the others directly in the milk jugs. Or if you have enough seeds/jugs/potting soil, you could try some with newspaper pots/tubes and some without and see which method works better for you.

If you do decide to go with the newspaper pots/tubes, be sure when you plant out that the pot or tube doesn't stick up above the soil line, otherwise the paper will wick moisture away from the seedlings.

Last year I sowed my Monarda fistulosa seeds in March...that particular native seed doesn't need to be cold stratified, so you may want to wait & Spring Sow that one.

Hibiscus moscheutos seeds do need some cold strat...last year I sowed mine in December.

They both grew into nice healthy plants. Don't know about the other seeds on your list. Good luck & have fun WS'ing!

Well now I have no idea what I'll do about pots in the containers, but I feel like it's less of a necessity now.

And I placed my seed order today!!!!

Where did you order from?