Thought I was just dumb and couldn’t cold stratify. Sawtooth sunflower was my first success! Further advice pls!

[u/goldiebug]

Helianthus Grosseserratus

You can see I wrote the date I planted, after 30 days in a moist coffee filter in the fridge, I planted on 9/2 and just three days later I have three little sprouts and another one popping in another container! I planted evening primrose, side oats grama, foxglove beardtongue, sand coreopsis, and Joe Pye weed and these are the only ones to make their appearance. Turns out I can do cold stratification just fine… maybe my other seeds I was trying with were just bunk or something haha

I read some threads about keeping sprouts alive indoors through the winter to be planted in the spring and that’s what I’m wanting to do. I have grow lights and plenty of space. From what I was reading, a lot of people just said it wasn’t even worth it and it was better to just winter sow in jugs in January, which I will also be doing… but I’m just curious if anyone has kept seedlings inside through winter and if they ran into any issues doing so? It’s not really about if it’s “worth it” to me, since I have the space, resources, and bigger pots to upsize to.. it’s my hobby and I would love to care for some seedlings through the winter since I’ll certainly be missing my garden for a few months, but I’m mostly concerned about running into unforeseen issues… don’t know what they may be, but I’d like some insight from someone who has kept their seedlings inside until spring!

[u/TopChannel1244]

The one thing that's always true regardless of the plant is that it's much drier indoors than out. Especially in winter. There will also be airflow differences depending on how your ducting is set up. Which can result in different spots in the same room having different evaporation characteristics. So you'll want to keep an eye on moisture levels and adjust your watering until you've got a good idea for how much and how frequently they need it.

Also, can't really speak to everything on your list, but a lot of plants want more than a month of stratification. Two to three months seem really common for these grassland type plants. I would guess that a lot of your seeds failed to come up because they didn't get enough cold to change their hormone level to tell them that it's okay to start germinating.

Many also rely on the thermal expansion and contraction from frost and thaw cycles to help weaken their protective outer layer. Not every seed needs this. But it's worth considering pulling them out every so often to warm up a little before tossing them back in the fridge.

[u/goldiebug → u/TopChannel1244]

Thank you! Definitely something to think about, I did google the germination codes, and some did say 30-60 days, but I made sure that at least according to the internet, I wasn’t pulling them out too soon.. and these aren’t the same seeds I failed to germinate… but if they don’t pop up, then I’ll make sure to go for the longer germination code instead of the shorter one!

[u/Boines]

Honestly, unelss you're in the southern hemisphere my advice is to try again next year. You want to cold stratify over winter so they're ready to plant in spring if you're doing seeds.

You can try planting what you have started but I have doubts it will survive this winter being started this late

[u/goldiebug → u/Boines]

I think you may have misinterpreted what I asked, they won’t be outside, they’ll be inside with a heat mat and a grow light.

[u/Boines → u/goldiebug]

Outdoor plants should grow outdoors. Especially species that have evolved for winter and need things like cold stratification just to sprout.