Propagation: WINTER 2016 WInter Sowing, 3 by Pistil

Pistil wrote:
Ok I will take a crack at answering this:
I have never grown Gaillardia from seed.
Looking at this info I learn that Gaillardia will sprout pretty much any time, anywhere! It does not require a period of being moist and cold, like some perennials. For this particular flower, you will probably have great success sprouting them on the porch, but if you do it too early, they may have trouble growing- either not enough light (Gaillardia like sun), or too cool and damp so they will die of "Damping Off". So, this is one I would sprout on the porch in early or mid spring, so they can then be planted out pretty early.

Classic "Wintersowing" by putting out seeds in a milk jug or similar, with cap off, out in the weather, is most useful for perennial or woody plant seeds that require a period (or two!) of being cold and moist, just like if they were seeds dropped in the fall and would then sprout in the spring. These seeds actually want to be out in the wintry weather. Our wintersowed seedlings then get a tiny bit of a growth advantage in the spring because of the greenhouse protection by the top of the jug, although one has to remember to take it off before they fry. During the cold winter it basically freezes solid, which the seeds are fine with, this would happen in nature. We also use wintersowing for easygoing annual plants that really don't care one way or another, just because it is easy and fun to be doing this in December.

Cold frames and greenhouses are most useful to get an early start in the spring for seeds that do NOT want to be cold, like many of our annuals, vegetables, and tropicals that act like annuals here-petunias and tomatoes are tropical perennials that we use as annuals. People start them in greenhouses, coldframes, and on the kitchen windowsill (actually tomato seeds are so vigorous that I think some folks have some success wintersowing them). So when it says on a seed packet that it should be sprouted at 70-80 degrees, I don't usually wintersow, but I might get a head start on summer by using my little cold frame. Starting seeds on the porch can be fabulous, I just have to not do it too early. If done too early they don't get enough light and are weakened and prey to disease, usually molds.

So really it is just an example of how many kind of plants there are. Some seeds want warm, some want cold, some want alternating between the tow (my Iris foetidissima needs TWO winters!) and some want warm-moist before cold-moist. Some need to be knicked or damaged, some are made to pass through the digestive system of certain animals and exposed to the stomach acid. Some require fire, some require exposure to smoke (can be tricked by using Liquid Smoke" from the grocery store, reportedly).

The Gaillardia are an example of seeds that should be easy, The info on DG is not always correct, because it is entered by us users, but it looks here like folks do anything, and get Gaillardia to sprout! One thing to look out for in PlantFiles, is when you look at the zip code reports, some people have entered things I think are errors, they said they grow a tropical plant in zone 3, I think they have it as a houseplant.

So have fun, don't worry about it too much, and let us know how it is growing. We all learn a lot from our own and others failures too.