The Best Time To Start Winter Sowing In Your Garden

If you've never practiced winter sowing, you're in for a fun and unique experience that ignores some of the rules you've learned about seed starting. For example, seed packet instructions on when to plant and USDA hardiness zones are less important in winter sowing than in other methods. One of the biggest questions novice winter sowers have is when to start the process. Here's where to ignore hardiness zones and some seed-packet instructions. The winter-sowing season starts after the winter solstice in December and continues until February or March, according to your location. But the best indicator of when to start is nighttime temperature.

What exactly is winter sowing? It's a technique that mimics the way seeds germinate in nature. Let's say a plant drops seeds in late summer. Those seeds will sit there over the winter and germinate when they're ready. Winter gardeners plant seeds in sheltering containers like milk jugs, mostly ignore them for the winter, and allow them to break dormancy and sprout when ready as spring temperatures increase.

Winter sowing should begin when nighttime temperatures are consistently below 50 degrees Farenheit. That way, you'll prevent a freeze-thaw cycle that could kill your plants. You don't have to put out all your seeds at once; you can stagger them throughout the winter-sowing season, as long as that below-50 nighttime temperature remains consistent.

You can winter sow any plant that's not tropical. You may want to start with those annuals and native perennials that need seed stratification, a months-long, required chilling period before the seed can germinate. Vegetables can follow these early winter-sown plants, often in late winter or early spring. Some frost-sensitive plants, like peppers and tomatoes, should not be winter sown until late in the winter-sowing season — typically around March. Here's where you do want to heed the seed packet's instructions on frost tolerance. The "when" question is just the beginning of the process, so be sure to learn all the tips and tricks for winter seed sowing, and have fun with this practical and easy method.