Well to start with flower bed is done, have big blisters now from racking straw to cover the bed.


Planted my seedlings also, I cover them with a little bit of straw, but not enough to block out the sun. I put the extra potting soil and perlite I had my seedlings in, with the ones I planted.



Okay now for the questions....
For the seeds I have in the fridge in perlite, once I have reached the 4 weeks, could I just sow them in my bed? I am planning on getting several bags of peat moss, perlite, and potting soil, then rake the straw back, put a layer of all of that combine, put the seeds downs, and follow it with another layer of the mix, cover with straw. Will that work or do I need to do what I done before? In south Ga we still have a few more months of warm weather, and we rarely get a hard freeze here. I am new at this, and I am not set up with grow lights. I have thought about buying me a cheap greenhouse. Like this one.

And letting the seeds grow in it over the winter. Any and all advice is welcome.
Thanks in advance.

I'm a newbie just getting started in sowing/growing some seeds myself, and like the idea of using the mini greenhouse. That way the seedlings will be together (easier to care for and maintain) and better protected from predators (birds, squirrels, etc.) in their fragile state, at least for their 1st winter. I feel that if I plant them in the ground too soon and it's a dormant, it may disappear over the winter. You are slightly warmer than I am. I'm in 8a, mid state SC.

I am gonna order this green house in the next few weeks

I have used portable greenhouses like you show, but inside of the house without the cover on them. One year I tried moving one outside to harden off the plants thinking I could use the cover at night for protection from frost and found the cover acts like the sail on a sailboat so the whole thing cannot handle wind.... the whole thing will blow over. They get very top heavy and just aren't strong enough to take the "tail end of the hurricane" type winds that we can get here in North Carolina, zone 7. The cover will also "bake" your plants on sunny days as it gets very hot in there without ventilation or any kind of air circulation.

I have also experimented with direct planting in the ground in the fall and found that wasn't worth it, either. The small seedlings were continuously frost heaving, getting washed away in torrential rains, or getting stepped on by deer passing thru and stomping them all the way to China. Now I just wait until late February when the sun gets more intense and start seeds in the house on the portable greenhouse racks (without the cover)....mine has four shelves and hold 12 flats each....in front of my south facing windows. Plants are still small when I move them out to my deck to continue growing for 2 weeks or so before they are big enough to go into the ground. The less time you have to babysit plants against all sorts of greenhouse hazards the better IMHO. I love the portable greenhouses for inside use as they serve my purposes quite nicely and are easy to take down and store in their boxes. They are available at Lowe's and are often on clearance in the fall.

@Davi
Do you have a link for it, or a photo of the greenhouse you use inside?

I am looking at some shelves like these to use, without the cover, and with some lights for the winter. Thanks

The ones I use look like this:
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Garde...
They have casters on the bottom but they warn you not to load them up and then try to wheel them around and I agree because there is quite a lot of weight on them loaded and you might pull them apart. I put a cheap plastic tablecloth under them to catch drips and then lock down the wheels before loading it. There is enough natural light coming thru my windows to sprout the seeds. I would suggest measuring a standard nursery flat and seeing how many will fit on each shelf for whatever you buy. Each shelf holds three standard flats on mine. I've owned several of these for over 10 years so they are a sturdy product.

Here's a pic of one of my portable greenhouses fully loaded....I make use of every window sill on the south side of the house, too! But my husband drew the line at using the sunny side of the bed....the madness only lasts a month and then the flats are moved outside to a protected spot....so they don't have time to get leggy and I don't have to use supplemental light.

Judy - love your seed starting set-up! I do something similar but am no longer sowing as many as you. I only do about 18 cups now. I plant 4-6 seeds in each cup. Not all seeds germinate, but most do. I put 6 cups in a plastic shoe box and can fit 3 of those shoes boxes on my window shelf.

I have two cats that like to munch on the leaves, so I had to limit my shoe boxes (to put on a window shelf) that the cats can't get to.

I wish I could purchase the lot next door to me. (It's never been for sale.) if I had that lot, I'd have a major seedling garden going there!

It worries me about my cat eating the leaves, I have read that some daylilies are poisonous to cats, that's why I try to set them up in a room she does go in.

Daylilies are not poisonous but cats love the feel of tiny seedlings and will chop the tops off and sometimes pull the tiny sprouts out of the pots and eat the whole thing or just leave it to dry out...I seriously considered searching the litter box one year for one cross that I really, really wanted! The cat was fine!! But, yes....you must keep seedlings behind a closed door if you have a cat because they miss green things as much as we do in the winter. They also like playing ping pong against the wall with seedpods during the night.

@Davi
Thanks for clearing that up for me, that they are not harmful to cats. I keep reading south windows for seedlings, but I only have a west window, that my cat can't get to. I will hopefully be adding some lights also in there. Lol searching the litter box, I hope you got that cross you wanted later..