I start all the seeds in one container. This allows you to start a lot of seeds in a smaller space. After the seedlings have sprouted and grown a few true leaves, it is easy to transplant them into individual containers. (I like to use small paper cups for this.)

ANY seed can be winter-sown. However, seeds of plants that are tropical in nature generally will not sprout as quickly as those that are not.

Morning Glory and Moonflower seeds are great for wintersowing. They will sprout fairly early in our climate, and the morning glory seeds usually will sprout more quickly than the moonflower seeds. I've never wintersown coleus seeds, preferring to start them inside on the heat mat (because I am not a very patient person).

I'm not as crazy about wintersowing pepper seeds and consider them a special case. Here's why: Pepper seeds sown and grown in cooler temperatures are often less productive than pepper seeds sown and grown in warmer teperatures. Research has shown that pepper plants exposed to temperatures in the low 40s (even for just a short period of time) tend to be stunted throughout the growing season and, therefore, less productive.

Peppers are so sensitive to cooler temperatures that I always set them out later than tomato plants even though both of them grow at about the same temperatures. I will transplant tomato seedlings into the ground at least 2, and often up to 4, weeks earlier than pepper transplants.

I'm not saying you "can't" wintersow peppers, just that it may not be the best option for that particular vegetable.

Dawn

I have wintersown a bunch of things this year. It's my first attempt. I'm a little worried about how I'm going to keep them from "cooking" when the weather warms during the day but the nights are still below freezing, because I'm away for most of the day. But we'll see what happens. I'm using milk jugs and 2-liter pop bottles. I haven't been planting ALL the seed in the container, but not as few as the package recommends, either. I guess it's fair to say I only use about half the package. I figure that way if I mess up and don't get anything out of the milk jug, I can still plant directly.

If you're planting Datura, I'd recommend you take a nail file or emery board and sand a little on each seed. Apparently it can take months for the seed to germinate, but I had great germination this year when I sanded first and then soaked the seed. If you're wintersowing you shouldn't need to soak the seed.

I'm with Dawn about the pepper seed. In fact I had a pepper plant come up last year in a container that I used to grow something else. The seed was in some of the dirt I "recycled" after I gave up on the seed coming up. Since what I planted in the container was a little more cold hardy, the nights did get pretty cool. The pepper plant came up, and I transplanted it out into the garden with the other plants. But it never made a thing, all year. I've had some pretty disappointing experiences with peppers due to planting too early but I'm still trying to get it right. I got some books at the library and one of them said that if you pick off the flowers on your pepper plants till the first of June, your plant will be healthier and will make up the difference in production. I'm not sure that will work in Oklahoma, but I might try it on just a few plants. I also bought some "mini" peppers at the grocery store. They were red, yellow & orange, and so cute. I've saved those seed and I'm going to plant them and see what happens. I do know that the smaller the pepper the plant makes, the more prolific it will be. --Ilene

So should I direct plant the peppers later, both jalepeno and bell? Or should I just wait a couple more weeks to winter sow?

I dont really have a place to start them indoors -- no heat mat or light . . .

Thanks to both of u for all your information.

I could start things indoors -- if a south facing window would be warm enough -- so now the question is, do I winter sow or start them indoors? And if I go indoors, do I still do it like the winter sowing greenhouse???

Melissia,

Peppers should be started inside now and then transplanted to the garden after the soil temps routinely exceed 60 degrees 2" below the surface of the soil.

If you direct seed pepper seed into the ground, it won't sprout until probably April, and that is assuming is doesn't rot before soil temps. are warm enough to make it sprout and grow. That means the plants probably won't bloom until late June to early July. The daytime temps at that time are so high that the flowers may drop without setting peppers, and your harvest will be reduced. That means you probably wouldn't harvest any peppers at all until fall. By contrast, if you start seeds inside now and set the plants out in mid- to late-April, you'll probably have blooms by mid to late-May and will be harvesting peppers in July.

The above is the reason that tomatoes, peppers and eggplants are best started as transplants. Transplants are large enough that they will flower at the "right" time while the weather is perfectly pleasant (and not absurdly hot) and set fruit. Of course, you can plant pepper, tomato or eggplant seed directly into the ground.....but just realize that doing so gives you a fall harvest and not a summer one.

Since you have room to start seeds both ways, why not try some things inside and some outside.

And, as far as how to sow them, it is your choice. I sow thickly in seed-starting flats or peat pellets, and transplant individual plants into small paper cups when they are a couple of inches tall. You can start a lot more seeds in less space that way. However, if you want to start only a couple of seeds in each cell of a seedflat, or in a pellet, or a cup or dirt, or whatever container you're using, that's OK too. You'll just have to experiment and see what works best for you.

Good luck,

Dawn

I read that morning glories dont transplant well, have you found that to be true? I was just fixing to start some in a milk jug . . .

They don't transplant well in general, as we discussed in the other thread on morning glories. Transplanting them while they are very small does work though.

And, if you want to grow the closely-related night-blooming moonflowers, they don't transplant very well either, but you can start them in peat pellets or Dixie (bathroom-sized) cups and set them directly into the garden. If you use the Dixie cups, just cut an "X" into the bottom to allow drainage of water from the cups. Once you set the cup into the ground, the roots will grow through that "X" and down into the garden soil.