Propagation: Starting Seeds 2013, Part 3, 1 by RickCorey_WA

RickCorey_WA wrote:
>> what is stratification?

Think of it as "start - i - fication". Starting fussy seeds that need a song-and-dance before they will sprout.

Some perennial plants evolved methods of seed "dormancy" so they don't all sprout and die as soon as they fall to earth in the Fall ... or during the first warm spell in late winter, or first sprinkle of rain. Or they don't sprout their first year, at all! Some stay dormant until next year so there is always a crop of seeds waiting for good conditions to sprout.

They need coaxing. Fussy perennials are probably not the easiest seeds to START learning about INDOOR seed sprouting, or direct sowing. Vigorous annuals are easier to start indoors or direct in soil.

"Stratification" can be a several weeks of steady cold and wet (like winter or spring) before they are willing to sprout. Or cycles of cool and warm while damp but not soggy. I guess some seeds must need freezing temperatures. Or some other combination.

Because I'm a nerd, I'm tempted to read Dr. Deno's books and try to simulate all the needed conditions with a fridge and back porch and paper towels and lots of fussing around. Instead, up to now, I've ignored the directions and gotten by with 20-40% germination the indoor lazy way (sow and wait and hope).

But SMART gardeners use winter-sowing for seeds that need startification.

It's like outdoor sowing in a cold frame or sheltered seed bed. They give the seeds good, well-draining soilless mix and a "micro-greenhouse" or "mini-cold-frame". Namely, a milk jug or soda bottle cut in half, or a translucent sweater box with clear lid and lots of small pots in it.

Sow the seeds in the jugs or box, replace the lid, set outside in winter or very early spring.

Maybe keep it in the shade so it does not cook on clear days.

Wait for nature to provide the warm/cool/cold cycles.

Let them get a few inches tall in the jug, then gradually remove the lid over a period of time so they harden off.

Split them apart into individual seedlings, or tear it into four chunks, or plan t the whole big chunk of seedlings in on e place and let the strongest survive.

I was taught to have plenty of drainage and ventilation holes, so that snow melt and rain would water it for me. If the drain holes freeze solid, get them up off the gorund. Keep them from blowing away! Keep dogs from chewing them up. Take pictures of dozens of m ilk jugs lined up in rows and columns, like an army of dwarves with funny hats.

But the best perennial gardener I know (Jonna Sudenious) does her winter-sowing in sealed tubs with no drainage holes or air vents. Since they don't dry out, they need more water! For her soiless mix, she uses pure, coarse vermiculite. Check her web site, she starts LOTS of operennials this way! (She's in the DG Garden watchdog Top Five). http://www.seedsite.eu/

The WS jugs provide good, ventilated soil and steady moisture.
Steady temperatures, but enough variation to meet the seeds' needs.
Protection from extremes of temperature or wet and dry.

Protection from insects, weeds, slugs, birds, pets, worms, wash-away, rot, mold and mildew.

Like nature, but more protected.

BTW, when people say "winter-sowed", they might also mean "spring-sowed". The jugs or tubs are just like small cold frames. They let you start annuals outside in spring EARLIER than you could start them directly in soil.

... AS LONG AS you start them AFTER the cycles of prolonged hard frost and prolonged misleading warm spells are past. Even with WS tubs, annuals need you to avoid weeks of warmth that make them sprout ... followed b y a week of hard frost that kills them dead. Or maybe you could lug them inside during the cold snaps??

Let's see ... yes, DG has a whole WS forum! They can say it better and answer questions from experience.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/coldsow/all/

One year I killed every seed EXCEPT the very "difficult" Penstemon varieties I tried to WS. Those Penstemon fooled me. I thought they were dead, too, and I just didn't throw the soil into a bed until June. Then I saw the TINY P. seedlings. They kept growing SLOWLY through the rest of fall and the next winter, then finally died when I let them dry out (still less than 1" tall).