When did your seeds get going compared to normal ways? Would you recommend it and would you do it again? I am considering it and was curious.

I didn't have to 'harden-off' any of my wintersown plants and I didn't need indoor grow lights,tables or space.
I have planted these into my garden in the past 10days:
cauliflower,broccoli,6 kinds of lettuce and 8 different flowers. The plants are small but very hardy. Morning temps are still 34 to 40F;some afternoons have hit 80F.
I think it was on 4/20 that I saw my first 'sprouts'...the folks in town heard me sing a few high notes
It's 'worth it' to me because it's FUN for me. And, the more plants I have, the merrier I am.

I tried wintersowing for the first time this year and I also had my usual light set up.

There's more control under the lights and I can get things growing months earlier. This is important to me for only a few heat loving plants, like peppers and tomatoes real early, and later the melons. The downside of the indoor system is buying the extra power when it costs quite enough just keeping my house warm that time of year.

There's less control for the wintersown and it's hard to wait for them but when they do pop up they're more hardy and seem more healthy than my stuff under lights and heat. The wintersown plants still get a good jump on the season, they are up and growing way before outside conditions would allow. It's also good for the soul to be sowing seed in the dead of winter, before the lights come out of storage. Seeing the sprouts in the spring is way fun too.

So yes, it's definately worth it for me. The investment is only the time seeding, I have much more into my indoor plants. I'll still start some things indoors, but it's nice to have another option even up here in the frozen north.

I don't think it is worth it unless you have adequate space for the plant to get large like a green house or solarium.

I've been looking into hydroponics and indoor lights to do seed starting and the cost isn't worth it. Of course, I live in Fl and I can start seeds indoors and put them in my mini greenhouse in Feb. I've had great success with my tomatoes, peppers and eggplants. I'm still putting a few plants up now. The key is starting the seed indoors because the sprouting temps can't be too hot, once they are up, I put them out. They don't get leggy and they don't need hardening because they grow up outside. Just my thoughts and experience.

I was discouraged about the size of my plants until I went to the greenhouses and a lot of the tomatoes weren't any taller than mine. My pepper plants are small, but considering the tabasco and habenero plants were started from seed I saved from last year.. It was worth it. Won't cost me a thing!

Oh2fly,
I just checked my garden records and my first sprouts in the outside containers were 4/11... california poppy and batchelor buttons.

Mine didn't do anything.

I have some awfully small cabbage starts that I started from a package I got at the Dollar Store for less the 20c. I think I will try putting them in the ground just to see what they do. My only concern if they do nothing is that I have wasted precious garden space. Hummm.. must find crative place to put the cabbage babies.

It was worth it for me. I have limited space inside that I save for tomatoes, peppers, and a few other things. I winter sowed tomatoes for the first time this year and they look pretty good. I'm going to plant one along with one started indoors and see how long it takes to catch up in size.
I winter sowed alyssum, amaranth, marigolds, zinnias, chamomile, chives, sage, marjoram, parsley, and a few others I can't think of right now!

I'm not sure what you mean by wintersown. Here, I can't sow anything until the snow melts and the ground thaws, which this year was about mid-April, when the first patch of peas went in. They are now about two inches high. At the same time I put in lettuce and spinach, which up but still on first leaves. First of Mayish I planted beets, carrots, pak choi, cauliflower, arugula and another pea patch. All are up, except the carrots, cauliflower and beets are just barely up. I find that whatever I sow does very well, whereas, transplants of winter crops such as the brassicas, etc. tend to wilt and either die off or take forever to get started. So if this is winter sowing, it works for me. Everything has endured two snows this week and no damage. The garlic and onions got bent down a bit, but they will recover.

I was happy to see two morning glories which had self-seeded and had come up through the thick mulch of their own waste. I saved seed, but was waiting to put it in. Cosmos have also seeded heavily this year, in spite of the fact that I gave an entire baggie of seed heads away. My annual bachelors buttons always seed on their own. I wonder if one could plant such things as lettuce, etc. after the first snow and before the ground freezes - would that be wintersown. I always get a few little lettuce coming up that way.

M

The tomatoes are still small, 4-5inches, and purpleish, but otherwise doing fine. Will add more compost this week. Seems like we had close to 100% germ. good gardening,DD.

just in case people are confused about wintersowing, here is the official website:

http://wintersown.org/

Thanks for the link. I am not a wintersower I guess. But I may try it next year after I read this site.

I've been wintersowing for 5 years and I am a big fan.
I love being able to get my hands dirt-y in the middle of winter.
I get many many plants, so many I am always giving them away.
It is very easy and cheap.
The plants are hardy and do not have to be hardened off.

ellen