sorry to hear this. that's a lot of work. I do flowers, not vegies, but my guess is that it was too cold. Possible that the seeds rotted, but also possible that they will still come up as it warms. I winter-sowed annuals at end of March, and I have very small germination. In NJ we have only just had 2 days of sun and temps in the 60's. So am hoping they will still sprout.

If I were you, I would certainly wait a couple of more weeks. good luck.

btw, not to be disloyal :) but if you are on facebook, there is a more active group. A lot of people who plant vegies, and you could ask there. I don't think you were too late, I think you were too early. I know tomatoes and peppers need warm temps.

Thanks, I don't do facebook. I wrote the wrong date, I planted them on march 3rd. It has been in the 70's here most days for the last 3 weeks. I thought the point was to plant them when it was cold. I germinated some other varieties of tomatoes using the paper towel method and they came up in two days. Unfortunately I wasted my best ones on the wintersown project.

Ten days is not a whole lot of time, if it is still cold there. Here in CT we've only had two days above the 40's so far, like Ellen said. I don't think you were too late - I just sowed some stuff on the 5th and again yesterday on the 12th. No germination on my first batch yet. I would give it a bit more time. I hope things sprout for you! Good luck!

Oops, sorry, I posted at the same time as you did, Jess, so I didn't see the part about it being in the 70's. Was it rainy? Did the containers get too much moisture? I would still give it a bit more time. Keeping my fingers crossed for you!

April 3 was 10 days ago -- very unlikely you would see germination yet. It's way too early to say it didn't work. It's also unlikely that the seeds rotted in that time. My tomatoes went out in Feb. and are just now beginning to sprout. I only have two so far out of probably 10 containers, but I'm just waiting. Tomatoes are always mid- to late-April sprouters in my zone. As for peppers and eggplant, they are often hit or miss by this method. Hot peppers, like jalapenos, seem to take to it while bells are iffy. And Eggplant likes it very warm. I just put mine out Saturday. Germination for eggplant, inside under lights, is 10-21 days, so declaring failure after just 10 days outside is premature. I'd give it a few more weeks before I gave up.

sorry, I wrote the wrong date I planted them march 3rd.

If your nights are cool, its still too early to give up. The things you've mentioned sowing all need warmer temps, if you are having days in the 70's, your pots are still exposed to several hours a 24-hr day cooler than that.

One of the reasons I can't winter sow tomatoes well here is our cool 8b Spring, followed by less heat in summer than most will have. By the time tomatoes have germinated, grown and set fruit, days are getting shorter and I don't have enough heat to ripen. That shouldn't be true in your climate, you'll have some heat. Be patient a while longer.

There are several zones where the growing season is too short for ws tomatoes IIRC, but western KY isn't among them. Because they sprout so late, though, they'll probably be very small when you transplant, but you won't have to baby them or harden them off because they'll already be used to being outside. They also catch up to their hothouse-raised brethren within a few weeks. And don't wait too long to put them in the ground -- once they have two sets of leaves they'll be fine. Remember that DTM doesn't start till you transplant to their permanent spot.

And you know what's weird? I always think of tomatillos as some heat-lover that wouldn't necessarily thrive by ws, but this is my third year doing them and the third year that it's sprouted before most of my tomatoes.

I agree--you're really jumping the gun being impatient! I sow my heat lovers like tomatoes , peppers and eggplants indoors under lights and it can take at least that long for them to germinate--especially if packets are more than a couple years old. Just relax--that is supposed to be the point of WS--not stressing and being patient to let things happen on their own clock out doors albeit in the mini greenhouse!

Oh dear, I'm the same climate as morz8. I guess I won't hold out much hope for the tomatoes then. On the other hand I have crazy amounts of broccoli, so all is not lost.

I would wait like the others suggested. It has been a long cold spell and my containers are just starting to sprout. They are sprouting much later than my previous years of winter sowing. Just keep them watered and wait.

I've had tomatoes self sow in my zone 6 garden, so I wouldn't give up yet.

Definitely don't give up. I've had tomatoes take as long as 60+ days to sprout; when they have been sown in March, they have taken 30-40 days, on average. That one lone seedling that sprouted for you could just have been a rebel. The others are probably just biding their time.

Have any more sprouted yet?

I have had two more sprout in the same container as the first one., but none in the others. I dug out some of my pepper seeds and they were rotten.

i'm not doing too well either. I've had a couple of sprouts in containers that I sowed back on 3/23 and 3/24. 2 out of 10 is not a good ratio and not worth all the work. I'll leave them but usually all the sprouts come up in more or less the same time; a few days apart, but not a few weeks apart.

Some things have germinated well: allysum and ageratum.

that's my thoughts too. If they are the same thing, mine are tomatoes, they should all sprout around the same time. Maybe this is just a bad year for it.

The solanaceous plants like really warm soil. Even indoors, peppers and eggplant are slow to germinate without bottom heat and that's in flats underlights! You know, you could for the heck of it, sow some new containers of same. People are still using the same method in April. See what happens.

I germinated some in paper towels and put them in pots outside. They are growing fine.

I'm glad you are having more luck now. Tomatoes and peppers are about the most unpredictable plants to wintersow. Especially peppers. Lots of people grow tomatoes with this method routinely, but I think peppers really like the consistently warm soil and lots of sun as soon as they show their little faces (or leaves). Hope your success continues. And I hope we have a sunny, warm summer so our tomatoes and peppers are healthy and productive.

Martha

Way too soon after sowing for sprouting in zone 6, be patient!

I'm about ready to give up on my tomatoes. They've been out for a couple of months and so far, nothing. I sowed a couple more tomatoes a week ago and they're already up, so I'm thinking this might be the first year that I have almost total failure of the eight containers of tomatoes I put out in Feb. It wasn't even abnormally wet, nowhere near as snowy as last year, just cold. And we're still kind of below normal -- going to 32 tonight. I really hope the lettuce and kale in the garden truly do like it chilly.

It has been really wet here. One of the reasons I wonder if they all rotted like the peppers. Cool and wet don't mix well with seeds.

this is why - on another thread - I had questioned why put tomatoes and peppers out in Feb. (in zone 6 and 7). It is certainly not going to be warm enough for anything to happen for a few months. And there is always the chance of seeds rotting. Even if the soil is not obviously wet, why leave them in soil, when you could keep them dry and cozy until sowing time? It seems to me likely, knowing how seeds operate, that once they are in soil, there is more chance a warm day might get the germination process started, and then a cold day, kill them. Seeds do not grow in a discrete fashion but it is a very slow process. And unlike the constant refrain of "the seeds know the right time", no, the seeds do not know it is only Feb. Seeds respond to temperature and moisture and light to know when is the "right time".

It really has to do with knowing your zone, which even if shared with others, can be *very* different from state to state. Living in Texas, I might sow tomatoes in February since my growing season when they can be set out comes so much earlier than someone further east or north. But, overall, it makes less sense to sow tender plants like tomatoes, peppers or eggplants when other *hardy* seeds are being WS. I think that is what people are being confused by and misunderstanding. The seed responds to the container CONDITIONS that are right for germination, (a week of abnormal hot days in winter or early spring) but the WEATHER can throw a curve ball. I would hazard that of the containers that have failed to show germination for me, I can usually find seeds that have rotted even though they were surface sown.

Its been so unusually cool and wet here that I won't even be able to get my summer vegetable in the ground until sometime in May. Generally you can plant them in late April.

I have been wintersowing for at least seven years and have always put my seeds out in Feb. and never had no tomatoes sprout. In fact, I usually get about 90 percent germination and always have a few plants I can't find room for. There was nothing unusual about this year, and in my area we actually had less snow/rain than last year when it was gray, cold and snowy until the end of March. And since tomatoes will volunteer in my area, they can and do sit in the cold and wet and still sprout.

Peppers and eggplant are more difficult and I don't put them out until March or later, and some I sprout inside.

It's called wintersowing for a reason. Here's a link to an article I did on this in 2010 when I worked for a local newspaper.

Here in west Ky it has been much wetter and cooler. The rain started in march and we have had more rainy days than dry. Plus we usually have somewhat stable temps in the 70s by april, with a few colder days. Not this year. I have 3 plants out my wintersow so far. maybe I will have more later.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed, too, but considering that I could be planting out by next weekend most years it's just weird that so many things are slow to sprout. On the other hand, the first shasta daisy to sprout back in March is huge while the rest of the shastas in the same container are just getting true leaves.

Hopefully I'll at least have better luck than last year. I didn't get a single ripe tomato. They all just sat green on the plants. The jalapeno peppers did great though.

I think in terms of germination, not only the temps but the length of daylight factors in. For whatever reason - containers that I sowed in march - same seeds, same soil, same process - are totally - nothing. yet the ones that I sowed in the last week-10 days are already pushing aside the soil in their rush to come out. :) It looks like a little earthquake in my zinnia container. Sown only about 7 days ago! go figure.

I tried your suggestion. Now we wait and see. They probably were planted too deep but I may have waited too late to do anything about it.