Wintersowing 2009-2010

I plant out hardy perennials and hardy annuals whenever
a. The soil is thawed
b. They have a set or two of true leaves and I can handle them
c. The weather is such that I won't freeze to death in the process. (Worrying about me, not the seedlings. I hate cold!)

Half hardy and tenders- around my last frost date.

Karen

You hate the cold and you live WHERE? Cincy? oHIo?

I went to visit my boyfriend's family in East Lansing, Michigan one year for Christmas. All the snow and the trees! Reminded me of a postcard.

The first morning I woke up, the weatherman greeted me with a hearty, cheerful, "Goooooooood Morning! The high for today will be MINUS eight degrees!"

My mom had a fur coat that had been hanging in the closet in New Orleans waiting for an occasion. So, she told me to wear it on my trip. I'll never forget getting off the plane in Michigan and how cold it was outside, and how WARM I was inside that fur coat!

Sorry, Karen. But, I'm a January baby -- and I LOVE the cold. Only thing I love more than the cold is swimming in the ocean -- I think that makes me a cold-blooded water baby!

Linda

LoL too funny gymgirl!

You love the cold and you live where? Houston? As in Texas?

Have you ever lived in the north? Spent 2 hours driving a few miles on an icy interstate? Stuck in traffic at a standstill for hours? I'm not talking snow, I'm talking ICE.
Ever shoved a foot of the white stuff off of a driveway 2 cars wide? Then found it covered again by the time you finished? Opened the garage door at 6:30 a.m. to go to work and found a 3 foot drift of white stuff blocking you in? It gets old.

I grew up in Pittsburgh, and it was colder and snowier than here. Compared to the 'burgh, this is the balmy south. We don't usually get all that much snow, though there are exceptions. It sure does get cold.

Karen

Amen from the Indiana corner. I'll take cold (only if you make me) over snow and ice any day. Not to mention the ice storms! Last year we got hit with the ice storm the week before Christmas. Thousands of families had no power, no heat and no lights. The hotels were full and would not even take reservations check-out time. The city completely ran out of generators and salt! I prefer the 70 - 80 degree weather Hawaii has year around. LoL

I hate the cold too.... January baby too, but my blood is getting thinner....
Can not wait to move south....

anyhoo... I'll take the snow, you call can keep the cold and ice.

but Karen... being a life long mid-westerner .. been there done that with that list of questions....
My old house.. city lot ... no where to toss the snow... but drive was 110' long!! that was awful.

>>So at what point do you remove the seedlings from th WS vessel 2
Linda... pretty much what Karen said. Though I do not think I'm as quick as getting things plants as she is.

A few things go out in April, most in May, the stragglers June and later. I"m gone a lot in the summer, so they get planted when i'm home.

Would you agree that most of the flowers that can be winter sown are the native plants? IE coneflower, rudbeckia, butterfly weed, butterfly bush?

Terese: I'm pretty far south of you though, that makes a big difference on when you plant out.

Diamond: Those natives do well, to be sure. But lots of other things do well too. Anything that reseeds in your area should do well, too. You never know until you try. Or maybe I should say until you try several times.

Rudbeckias are always among my best.


Karen

Your flowers are beautiful! Are those the Irish Eyes Rudbeckia? Are the orange flowers butterfly weed or Lanata? If those are Butterweed we have made my day! I was unsure of the growth habit of Butterfly weed. It looks like they are mounding???

Yes to both. They are offspring of my wintersown green-eyed ruds from my harvested seeds. I had both Irish Eyes and Prarie Sun, so probably a cross of the two.

The butterfly weed, also WSown, is A. tuberosa. It stays short and mounding. That is a fourth year plant.

I also wanted to add that those pictures of my 2 liter bottles above that tcs linked are several years old; I don't cut them like that any more because I prefer this method

First, cut jug in half. Cut 2 or 3 big upside down "V's" on the bottom rim of the top half.

Karen

Shove top half on bottom and put outside

Sorry, I just can't retrieve the second picture now. But if you just shove top on bottom, you can pull up on the top to add vents in spring without cutting.

Karen

Excellent idea! What do you use to make the cuts and vent holes, utility knife? I tried a kitchen knife and I was lucky not to cut my hand off.

I see I have alot more to learn about plants. I have seen the term "tuberosa" but didn't investigate further to understand that it meant low and mounding!

diamond> "tuberosa" is just that sort of butterfly weed, there are others. If you google "butterfly weed" and/or "milkweed" you'll find other kinds, too. Milkweeds come in varying heights, colors, and hardiness. Some are annuals.

I make my first stab in a 2 liter with a utility knife. Then I finish with a pair of scissors. Always remember drain holes in bottom.

Karen

Ok Karen, one last question? Do you sow your seeds in seed starter mix or potting soil?

Potting soil. I like several- ProMix, Fafard, Sunshine Mix. Often I lighten it up with extra perlite.

Karen

Gymgirl, I lived off FM 1960 by the airport for 23 years and then moved BACK to Minnesota. The cold is amazing. We're currently residing in Missouri trying to get back to MN. I do like the longer growing period here, and it's almost time to WS. Woohooo!

Hey Karen, have you used the one gallon milk juggs for WS? If so did you cut them in the same way you did the 2 liter bottles? I just put out some milk jugs. Do you draw a straight line around the bottle? What's the purpose? I have one heck of a time trying to get my bottle sealed to put the tape on once it was cut. LoL The 2 liter was much easier but the gallon jugs has more room so more potential flower and greater chance of success. LoL

Diamond, I cut my milk jugs freehand, so they were not straight at all! I didn't tape them tightly shut, just a piece of duct tape as a hinge. I used just about every plastic item I could find that would hold a couple of inches of potting mix.

Diamond... here is the way i do my milk jugs... and i too just cut free hand... i poke it with a small knife on either side of the lower 'handle' slice all teh way around... it cuts very easily, then i stop just on the other side of the handle, leaving that as my "hinge".

I twisty tie mine closed, but a piece of duct tape works too.

I'll have to try the twisty ties this year. I think I will make holes on top also. I saved a bunch of my jugs from last year, don't know if they will be a time saver or not.

Thanks TC and Lynn. I'm sure I'm making this harder than it has to be. LoL I'm stressing over the seeds I planted as though they were my children.

Is it normal to become obsessed with winter sowing? LOL - I have 200 jugs ready to go - 144 ready for 16 friends who are coming over for a few Bring-Your-Own-Soil parties! My kitchen is full for my own use in two gardens. "Hi, my name is Cynthia and I'm addicted to milk jugs."

Our Starbucks will give you both coffee grounds and milk jugs - they are amazing. What do I do with the coffee grounds? Can I just sprinkle them on the gardens or do they need tilling and sit over winter?

The real Santa and Mrs. Claus
(sadly, the costumes fit, booo)

The coffee grounds are supposed to be good for your garden, especially Rhodos in zone 5.

I like winter, but not the ice. Around here, we sometimes get "wintery mix" of rain/sleet/snow when the temperatures hover around freezing. They are predicting ice on Christmas day. Snow is fun, ice is treacherous. Started a couple of containers, plan to do more.

Glad to read that you just cover your containers with blankets during surprise Spring freezes. I am a new gardener, first time winter sowing. I was so sick of carrying trays of seedlings in and out this Spring (a record wet, cold spring).

I hate hot, humid weather. I used to travel for work to Puerto Rico and Miami. Walking out of the airport felt like entering a sauna. Yuck. Don't get me started on bugs, snakes and lizards. The best part of winter is that it keeps insects in check and reptiles in hibernation!

Hanseycollie, that is a cute picture. You are very photogenic!
Diamond, I know how you feel. I stressed over them, and then I was nervous to take them out of their containers and plant them.

Does anyone use the "dunk" method when planting or transplanting? Lynn, how did your WS flowers transplant?

Diamond, you mean hunk? HOS, hunk of seedlings. Yes; you'll get some pots that look like chia pets and no way you can separate all those seedlings. Just plant them out in hunks. They do fine.

LoL @ Hemo No I meant the "dunk" method. This is supposed to help with transplant shock. I got this from a gardening class but I have never tried it and just wondered how and if it worked for anyone else. When planting or transplanting flowers, soak in a sloution of water and fertilizer while preparing the new planting site.

Diamond: This is the first I've heard of a "dunk" method. Feel free to post more info.

I have this stuff called SuperThrive, and i used that for transplant shock.

I have been looking for superthrive locally. Ironically, I saw it in Walmart last year, read the flyer, thought it seemed "too good to be true." They didn't stock it this year.

I've heard wallyworld carries it, but i have yet to find it.

I have this local... Brew and something... and they carry a lot of seed starting, hyponics stuff.... found it there.
wasn't cheap, but a lil bit goes a long way.

Hemo,

I copying and pasting the info from the class.

The ‘Dunk Method’

Best method because on some plants it brings them to life in about a half an hour. They just perk up.

Fill a bucket ½ way with water, then put in ½ a dose of the fertilizer you usually use. I.E. fish emulsion and organic root start if I want the roots to take off, normally uses fish emulsion.

Submerge entire potted plant. It will start to bubble. When the bubbles die down, then you take it out. Don’t pull it out of pot. Turn it sideways and kind of maneuver it out gently.

Use the ‘dunk method’ when transplanting as it saves the plant from shock. The plant will not go into transplant shock with this method.


This message was edited Dec 23, 2009 6:37 PM

I have found that many of the plants/seedlign are still small enough that there isn't any 'shock'.

I did use the SuperThrive on some Yvonne Salvias that I grew in a south window ... so those needed to be transplanted twice before getting them in the ground.

BUT -- during the spring, when it was warm but before I had started planting out... I had this gallon jug with SuperThrive, Compost Tea and water that i would water my seedlings with.

I hear that compost tea is the best thing since sliced bread! Hopefullt, I will get the chance to try it next year. How did you make your batch?

I have a compost "tumbler" and it has a base on it, where it rolls, the base collects the tea that drips off the compost as it cooks.... I think it holds about 2 gallons... but i collect it maybe twice per year. I always have a milk jug in the garage with tea in it for watering.

Do you have pictures of you flowers?

Sorry I missed your question Diamond, I haven't had time to be on the forum for several days. I use mostly gallon milk jugs and a few 2 liters. I cut my gallon ones around the equator and leave a hinge, as in the picture tcs posted. I tape shut with one or two short vertical strips of duct tape.

Karen