Late December early January. It could be a Christmas thing or a New Years thing.

Here is a link that might be useful: solstice-winter-sowing

I think you can wintersow your tomato seeds anytime after the arrival of true winter weather. What you want to do is wait until we have consistently cold weather with freezing nights, so that probably would be after the winter solstice for sure.

I don't know what December is like in the rest of Oklahoma, but down here in southcentral Oklahoma, the daytime highs can still be fairly warm during most of December and so can some of the nights. By very late December to early January, though, the nights are generally consistently cold, and that is what you want.

The problem with wintersowing tomatoes and other warm-season annuals in our erratic Oklahoma climate is that a warm spell of a few days (not uncommon in parts of Oklahoma in January and February) can sometimes cause them to sprout prematurely while lots of freezing nights lie ahead. So, once the seeds are planted, be sure to check on the often and be prepared to move your containers of tomatoes into a garage, shed or other slightly warmer location if the seeds sprout while freezing nights are still common.

With wintersowing, you are providing your seeds with the soil, moisture and protection they need to break dormancy and sprout when the conditions are right. So, I don't think it really matters when you put those tomato seeds in the soil.....they'll just sit there and "wait" until the weather is warm enough for them to germinate. Some zone 7 gardeners (depending on where they are in zone 7) don't wintersow their tomato seeds until Feb. or very early March because of the erratic weather's "warm spells" in the midst of colder winter weather, and their tomatoes usually sprout as soon as the daytime highs are, more or less, in the 70s and the nights are in the upper 40s or 50s. Sometimes, though, the seeds sprout even earlier, so you do have to watch for those warm days followed by much colder spells with freezing nights.

Someone on this forum, and I think it was SoonerGrandma, wintersowed tomatoes last year. I usually raise mine indoors under lights, but I always have a few reseed naturally in the ground, and those volunteers usually come up in our garden in March or earliest April, depending on how warm the temps are.

Dawn

Thanks for the info. I guess I will try for January .

I usually do mine right around the winter solstice. Many other wintersowers do as well. It's really kinda of nice, because the holidays are over, for the most part, there's time to really start thinking about and planning spring gardens- whether flower or veggie. Watching them grow also seems to help with "winter blues", especially for gardeners who are yearning for spring :)

In my experience, Mother Nature and the seeds know what to do. Once they're up, though, if we have a freeze, they'll need to be protected, so I always make sure I can move my pots, buckets, trays, etc to a more protected spot or have plenty of things to insulate them with. Hay bales with either an old "screen" door with lots of glass helps, creating a mini greenhouse. Or several layers of thick, clear plastic -just make sure this doesn't touch tender shoots! I've also created insulation covers by taking thick, clear plastic and using wire- even from hangers- to create hoops- attach the thick plastic and anchor to the ground. This keeps the heat inside the area, keeps the plastic from touching tender shoots.

Another trick is to make sure you've got a well protected area, use an old, but still in good working condition - no holes, no exposed wires, reasonably sure there are no broken wires inside- electric blanket. I usually do this to move things to my unheated, dirt floored storage building, or to the still unheated, but concrete floored storage building. Using the electric blanket on a low setting works to keep the bottom of your pots from the cold floor in freezing conditions, and adds gentle heat for your seedlings. Waterbed heat pads work very well too and are usually better at handling moisture. I usually tent them with thick clear plastic as well to keep that warmth around the tender shoots.

Good luck, and I hope some of this was helpful! The winter sowing forum has lots of wonderful ideas as well! Many of the folks there have been doing this for a LOOOOONG time and know many tips and tricks :)

Kathy