Seedlings often sprout up in bunches. I guess it's the result of many different types of seed needing the same kind of conditions to sprout. It'll seem like you're waiting forever to see green and then suddenly there's a dozen different things sprouting at once.

My overall experience with winter sowing is that it is definitely not a 100% sure thing. There are always successes and failures. Sometimes I'll have success one year but have a failure the next year with the same type of seed. Maybe that's the result of bad seed one year, maybe a container got too wet and the seeds rotted, maybe the container got too dry, maybe the seeds sprouted early and a heavy frost wiped them out, maybe I forgot to open a container when it was warm and the seedlings got cooked in the sun, etc. Who knows.

Despite the failures I'll be a winter sower for life. It gives me something to do gardening wise when there isn't anything else and I know the seedlings that do get transplanted are hardy, vigorous, and raring to go.

Rodney

Same here. I never have 100% success with wintersowing, but I love doing it and really enjoy trying out new plants. Right now as the weather slowly warms up, I love to check the containers almost daily to see what's coming up. I use milk jugs and this year, I only WS around 50 containers. I too will be a lifelong WSer. Gives me something to do during our long winters and to me, it's so enjoyable to know that I had a hand in helping to grow something beautiful.

" I have lupine about 3" tall and I've cut away part of the bottle for space and to help them harden off." Don't understand? You shouldn't have to harden off anything when you winter sow.

duane--well, I'm glad I don't have to harden off. I guess maybe I should have said that I'm waiting to transplant them and they need space to grow. When do you take the leap and move your babies from the container to the ground?

I've transplanted too early and the seedlings died. I think I've made just about every mistake once, but I'm still learning and yes, I love to wintersow. I keep at it. It's so exciting move my scorecard from "loser" to "good job". Since I thought such a small number were germinating. My dad and I always ask questions so I posted here to see if I was on the right track.

Most people say to wait until the second or third true leaf appears. Myself, I usually do the HOS method and transplant earlier than mentioned above or like mentioned above. I do water them almost everyday for about a week or two. And also throw out slug bait out after transplanting.

I agree with the posters. I love WS'ing, even tho it is not 100%. Every year I swear I'm not going to do it - it is a lot of work, bla bla- then I think I'll do a couple, and then I'm hooked. And esp. when the first seed germinates, I am really excited. My results so far:

I have: arugula - sprouted after 4 days!
Zinnias.
Cardinal climber - germinated 100% and soon to be planted.
wildflowers sprouted early, soon to be planted.
finally a couple of heads peeking up in Gaillardia.

what I've given up on: (old seeds)- flax, scabiosa, allysum, butterfly weed, sage.

just put out 2 containers of strawflower - this time sowed correctly, NOT following package directions! Hope these do better.

Ellenr22 thanks. You're right...the excitement is a real high when they germinate. I also know that since many of us have some time in the winter and we're itching to play with dirt this gives us some therapy! Thanks. Heidi

This was my first year winter sowing and I had big expectations. Unfortunately I think I failed across the board. I am trying to understand why so at least I can learn something for my effort. I used plastic milk jugs and yogurt containers and cut slits rather than holes in the bottoms for drainage. I also cut slits rather than holes in the tops (of the yogurt containers. I left the caps off the jugs.) I am thinking that this kept the seed too moist and rotted them? I just took off the lids hoping that maybe the seeds are still viable. It was soooooo much work...

Kitasei, I'm so sorry. It's very disheartening to anticipate wintersowing so much and then get nothing. I would think slits in the bottom would let water out. What did you use for "dirt"? I used Potting Mix this year and it's been my best year in 8 years. Still sad to see how many don't germinate. I think 1/3 are dead in the jug! I can't throw them away yet. I'm still hoping against hope. I've used regular dirt and learned the hard way that was wrong. I've kept them too wet and the seeds rotted. I've left them and they got too dry one year. I think I've done it wrong just about every way you can...but I'm still learning. I like this group because you can ask questions, even embarrassing ones, and someone will say, "Oh no, you can't do that." Oh, I thought that was normal! "No, no, you need ____." The first couple years all I saw were magnificent examples of wintersowing and believed my green thumb was falling off. I also believe when I direct sow seeds in the ground I forget how many I plant and then it's not such a big disappointment when then don't all "hatch". Since all my seeds are in bottles I know how many didn't germinate. I also learned you have to have 3" of soil. Whoops, that was mistake #452. LOL I'm sure I'll always do it because it's the one reason I have to play with dirt in the winter and the anticipation is better than a kid at Christmas.

This year I also planted 3 kinds of Salvias and had this romantic notion of a salvia garden. Well, none germinated. On to other options. There are a couple bottles in particular I just KNOW should have germinated. I look, then I walk away. 2 days later I look again. Nothing.

I planted a row of hostas 3 years ago. I have a beautiful row about 6 feet long and then they all died except for one. It looks like a lone mushroom out there. There are days I think, "If I was Michelle Obama I'd just order trucks of plants, they'd arrive, we'd plant and they'd all do great." Yeah, but I'm not rich. I got started with this group because I DIDN'T have money for live plants, big seed orders, pounds of vermiculite and soil amendments. (I bothered a friend for 6 months until she gave me rabbit poop. Hey, if people sell in on ebay, I figured I would go after the free stuff. High grade fertilize!). When I see what my yard has become without spending mucho dinero (lots of money) I'm even prouder and I convince others they can start something, too.

Don't give up. Try another way next year. It will happen. Oh, and this year I read that some people wintersow their zinnias and annuals in March and April so I tried that. I've got 3 jugs of Zinnias coming up. I thought all seeds needed to be sowed in December/January. I learned something new and you could always try a jug now of some annual seeds that don't need stratification.

Heidi

thanks Heidi.. I did use potting mix (and at least 3 inches) but I am wondering if the mix was the problem. What is the tried and true potting mix for winter sowing?

Well, I asked the question this fall and I got some good answers. Here's the link: http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/3580629/winter-sowing-dirtwhat-king

The best advice I got was: Stay away from anything that says "potting soil", they will most likely be too heavy; choose those that specifically say "potting mix".

I never thought to look at it that closely. I thought it was the same thing. I've had people throw around the word vermiculite, too, but that meant I had to order, measure and mix things together. I can't even make cookies the same way twice. I wanted to stick with something in a bag that was consistent. I also realized there's a lot of myths with wintersowing and a lot of assumptions. So if I ever sound too bossy, I'm sorry. I start to sound like I'm an expert...when I mostly just have experiences that didn't work! I'm the Thomas Edison of wintersowing. He knew how NOT to make a lightbulb 2,000 ways before he got one to work. Heidi