I have Gaillardia and Gazania sprouting when I looked yesterday while WSing more salvias! Sorry I didn't get a photo, but I'll try one afternoon this week. It's so exciting when they start sprouting and then when they actually bloom, you know this winter sowing works! I'm a believer.

Me too, Angie. And so much easier than starting them indoors. Biggest factor there is space issues.

Karen

I went out and peered into my jugs this afternoon. They're all still "before."

Mine too, Emily. But they were covered in snow until a few days ago, so no surprise here.

Karen

I think spring is here or nearly. It was 73 here today and sunny all day. My jugs barely got a week of cold weather before it turned mild. Will that have a negative impact on them?

MollyD

You're not trying to rub it in, are you Molly?

And what are your night time lows? And remember, we're all seeing an incredible warm up now, but there's likely more cold weather coming my weather. At least cooler weather than you're seeing now. When is your last frost date? I imagine you'll still get enough cooler temps, as long as you're not counting on cold stratifying something that needs it.

Karen

Wow, 73 F, Mollie!
It was 56 F here, today, and I ran outside to look at my WS containers, convinced that they would have germinated in one day. Karen is right; it's still very early spring and temps are bound to go back towards "normal" (what ever THAT is in New England ;-) Our temps here are going back to the mid-40s tomorrow, with night-time temps in the mid-30s! Just right for wintersowing, I remind myself.

Karen night temp is 48 tonight and 51 tomorrow. I just checked the next 10 days and we're staying mostly high 50's to 60's with occassional 70's (Thursday 70 forecast)

Last frost date is April 15. We've been running way below normal since January. This time of year normal is 50's day and high 30's night.

MollyD

They should be fine as long as there's nothing that needs a long cold stratification. And there's still plenty of time for annuals; I haven't even sown mine yet. Experience tells me it's just too early. They won't be sown for several more weeks. They usually sprout fast once the weather stays warm.

We actually hit 60° here yesterday! Our average for the date is 50° with an average low of 27°. But after just having the last patches of all that snow disappear from my yard the day before, that 60 was pretty astounding! I did check my jugs, no action in there yet. Not surprising since they were buried in snow until a few days ago.

Karen

I've been checking the jugs and no sign of life in any of them so maybe they just need more time.

MollyD

That would be my guess. This is a whole 'nuther animal from indoors indoors under lights with bottom heat. Generally Mother Nature knows better than we do what to do with the seeds. But my money says you'll get some really nice plants out of it with little effort on your part. (not to mention the entertainment factor).

Have you tried this yet? Some time when the sun is hitting those jugs, stick your finger down in the hole and feel the heat and humidity. The greenhouse effect will be apparent. I have measured the temp like that with my compost thermometer and found the temp to be 20° warmer in the jug. For that reason I generally keep the jugs on my NE facing patio so that they get only morning sun.

Karen

Haven't tried that Karen. Will need to since sun here is very hot even now.

MollyD

I'm a little worried about my wintersowed babies. The temperature this morning is 27 deg. Thank goodness, there is a little layer of snow on the jugs and I am hoping that it will serve as insulation. I had sprouts of broccoli, lettuce, spinach and cauliflower. I think they will be okay because they were very tiny. But, there were lots of sprouts of Shirley poppies and a few other flowers. I have my fingers crossed. I have frost blankets, but I didn't think it would get so cold. This has been a loooooong white winter for my area.

I think the poppies will be fine. I'm not a veggie grower so don't really know much about those. But I think both lettuce and spinach are cool season crops and I'd GUESS they'll be OK too.

Don't know anything about broccoli and cauliflower.

Karen

Donna, I'm curious to hear how your seedlings dealt with the cold. I'm thinking everything should be just fine, they all like cool temps.

I just checked and all of my sprouts look fine and some new ones have have popped up. We had below freezing temps and snow for two days and nights, but these little greenhouses are amazing. The sun is shining today and I went out and just stood in it for a while, even though it is only 42 degrees. I'm going to wintersow seven more jugs tomorrow and am going to plant my peppers inside. Later, when it gets warmer, I'm going to try wintersowing some peppers and tomatoes. I'll do backups inside just in case.

The picture shows the Shirley poppies. They look happy. As you can see, I got a little carried away and will have to plant clumps.

Good luck on the pepper and Tom WS Donna. I have not tried that option yet in below 45 degree nights. Pics of the experiment is in order. lol

Hi Karen. I'm so glad I found you. I have been ill for about 5 or 6 weeks now. I haven't started any of my seeds yet. I am ready to start tomorrow. Our temps today was high 79 degrees. For the rest of the week our highs will be in the 60's. Have I waited too long?

Debbie(drapelady)

Hi Debbie: Karen will probably have more extensive info on this, but I do remember that the "homespun rule" about WS is that you can keep setting out seeds that respond well to winter sowing if the nighttime temps are still cool enough that you need a jacket or sweater outside. Not necessarily a parka, but something that keeps you comfortable enough to stay outside. For me, that's anything below 55-60 F.
Sounds like you have time!

Thank you so much Emily. I'm excited to get started. Our extended forecast show us in the mid 40's for night temps for the next two weeks or so.

Debbie