What have you tried?

Oh good, another Zone 7a gardener, you're just down the road from me, dmac. Those two containers have Cleomes and Coreopsis. Am I in trouble or will those be OK?

Cleomes are pretty big plants so I'm thinking they'd accordingly have a bigger root system--so maybe a deeper container.
Which coreopsis? Some are shorter and smaller than other varieties...plus you gotta think about how long you may leave them in the sowing containers. I've seen photos and posts from the WS junkies showing their plants still in their sowing containers well into the summer and early fall:lol:

It's not only limited root space that's a problem with shallow containers. They also don't hold a whole lot of moisture with could be a problem, too.

Karen

True--I'm new at this for this season as well and even though I see alot of success stories using some of the shallower planting containers--I'm going to stick with the 2L and gal. jugs--more seedlings than I'll ever need but neighbors and friends benefit from my excesses:lol: Always listen to Karen---I've picked up that tidbit from hanging around these threads:)

I love the soldering iron for poking holes in pots, I figured this out long before I started WS, I did it for gesneriad cuttings that I was rooting.

For those of you with poppy experience, what do you do? I tried one container last year, they were lackluster. These are annual poppies, and they don't like the root system disturbed...what's the best way to do these?

plant them when they are quite small. i have never had a problem with them. If i do a small container of them, ,the whole clump goes in the ground... if it is a gallon jug, i split it into quarters.

Perfect! Thank you! When you say "small", how small? One set of true leaves? Two??

Coreopsis lanceolata and Coreopsis "Rising Sun" are the two I'm trying.

Celene... honestly, i dont think i ever noticed the leaves.

Poppies can still handle some cold weather... I think i did it once i had 'a chia-pet' of a container [lots of seedlings] and i was able to work with the soil. Early-Mid April for me.

I think Karen [zone6] stated she can plant poppies around end of March.

Yes, temp doesn't matter at all. Poppies like the cold. Just plant them when small, maybe a couple of true leaves. They'll be tiny at that point.

Karen

tcs, I am zone 5 also. If I direct sow poppies, when do you think would be the best time? Same as WS?

Jeanette

I can't recall if i ever direct sown them. if i did, i would probably do it end of March... if the soil was 'soft'... i'd loosen it up a but and sprinkle them. Hopefully the critters wont eat them. though they are teeny tiny.

But - i would think you could direct sow them any time.... and they would germinate when the conditions were right.

Thanks. I think they need stratification, so I suppose any time before the last frost. Thanks again.

Thanks! I'll let you know how the poppies do. That's a real pipe dream today, it's eight degrees.

We had that for almost 2 months and now it is in the mid 40s during the day. I love this winter!!! I will take the cold any time if we don't have snow.

I've read about folks in warmer zones direct sowing poppy seeds in December. Sorta makes me wish I lived in a warmer climate again. I'm in Zone 7A and had planned to wait til March or April. Out last frost won't be til early or mid May. Would that be about the right time? Or could I go ahead and WS them?

8" of the fluffy stuff's expected here tomorrow into Saturday. I can't wait for Spring.

I have a tip for anyone using a soldering iron, especially a "borrowed" one.

Wipe the tip well with steel wool before returning it to the toolbox. The plastic can burn on the iron and you can smell it burning the next time you use it. Be careful not to burn yourself on either the steel wool or the soldering iron. I put on my kitchen mitts, held the steel wool down in the steel sink with one hand and wiggled the soldering iron around with the other. I let the iron sit all day and turned it on again. It didn't smell any more.

There are several things that need soldering (including the cord to my outdoor lights that were hit with a shovel). I don't want to explain why the soldering iron smells like burning plastic.

The bf says that my tools cringe when I open the toolbox.

Jeanette, I don't know how much snow you get, but here near Detroit,MI we hardly get any, most of the winter is without snowcover .... we are just cold most of the time. And we always say 'if we have the cold, at least we could have the beautiful snow to go with it ... not toooo much though!' lol
And its worse for the plants to not have the snowcover. I'm actually in zone 6a, it rarely gets below -10 here, but most of our weather puts us in zone 5b.

LOL, 2few, you have to have the clouds for snow and normally you won't have clouds at -10 because the clouds hold the warmth in (warmth, lol) i.e. if the clouds are holding the warmth in, then it won't be -10.

Cheer up, if it warms up, you might get snow. Yes, the snow will insulate the plants, but it sure would be nice to get it before we get so cold the ground freezes. Oh well, who ever said we could pick our weather?

Jeanette

Thanks for the tips on petunias. This year I threw some seeds in the garden and a few came up. They took a while to get blooming. I will have to start them inside or baby them a bit more next year.

We ended up with 11" of snow, it's so light and fluffy the wind blew it around every which way and made pretty drifts. I used a paint pen on duct tape to write the name of the seeds and taped them to the front of each jug, can't see them but they're under there somewhere.

FOV.

I have never done Winter Sowing before and I notice you have left the lids on your bottles. I thought they were suppose to be off so they could be watered "naturally". How do they get water if you do that? And if you have the lid on why do you need drainage holes?

I was just getting ready to plant some myself tomorrow but don't want to do this wrong.

Jeanette

By leaving the caps off, the snow would get in side and naturally 'water' the seeds... of course when everything melts/thaws.

Looks real pretty though. I dont mind the snow... it's the COLD i can do without.

I can do without the cold too, it gets more difficult on my bones and mood as each Winter passes.

Last week the tops were off when we got over 2" of rain, you can see some of the weep holes I also drilled around the shoulders. Like I mentioned, this is my first time trying and was concerned after so much rain and all this snow when it melts that my seeds would wash. If you tell me to run out there and remove the tops I will...lol I want good results come Spring and am trying to avoid buying perennials. Hope to have enough to plant and also share with friends and neighbors. Please somebody help if I'm doing this wrong!?

As long as you have the holes drilled they'll probably be OK. I'd remove them, though. I have never, ever used caps on the jugs and get good results. Remember, the less air flow, the less opportunity for excess moisture to evaporate too. Lots of air is good. As long as you have good drainage there's no problem. No rush to dig out of 11" of snow to remove them immediately, but I'd remove them after the snow melts and weather is better (for you, not the plants).

If it seems they're too wet, you can poke more drainage holes.

Karen

Thanks Karen, much appreciated.
Susan

So, what I am hearing you say, is that when I put mine out, to leave the lids off. Drainage is the main thing.

LOL, Susan, (I like that better) I don't want to do this wrong either. Growing plants either way is too much work not to have good results.

Jeanette

Yes, Jnette. You want something with a top to form a sort of roof. But no screw on cap on milk jugs or 2 liters. Others might do it differently but that's how the seasoned veterans, including Trudi, advised when I was starting the first time. I've always done it that way and it has worked well.

I throw away screw on caps immediately when I get a jug. It only serves to make the jug smell awful.

Karen

Dont throw away your caps Karen. After you get a lot of them, spray paint them with outdoor paint & use them for walkways, edging, tree base covers, etc. Works great. :) Oops, you use milk jugs, I don't know how their caps will work, but the screw caps on 2 liters do good.

recycle, recycle. Huh!! Whatever works. Think there is always a use for everything. Just have to use our imaginations.

Thanks for the info Karen.

Jeanette

Debbie, you're a worse packrat than I am...lol
It's way too much work, Jeanette, and Perennials around here aren't cheap.
I ventured out, Karen, and removed the caps I could reach without basically sinking up to my knees. The rest will be history as soon as I can reach them. I wore out my show shovel scooping mulch last year to the point the edges were rounded and had a crack in the back. Guess I need a new one...huh? Thanks again for your advice!

Karen, so tell me, I have a gallon jug, how high do I go with the seed potting mix for the roots to grow in, and then how high to cut the container above that? I understand how the rest of the jug is head space for the things to grow so that should not matter.

I don't have a lot of containers so don't want to ruin the ones I do have.

Thanks, Jeanette

Use 3" to 4" of potting mix. Cut right below the handle.

Karen

I saw info on potting soil and posted it to another forum. It was a group of soil mixes from Cornell (my alma mater) gathered on the backyard gardener website. For seed starting they used
1/2 peat
1/4 perlite
1/4 vermiculite

Another seed starting mix claiming to be a cornell mix, with measurements:
4 quarts of shredded peat moss or sphagnum,
2 teaspoons ground limestone,
4 tablespoons 5-10-10 fertilizer.

Now, vermiculite is hard to find because it may be carcinogenic. What do you think about 2/3 peat and 1/3 vermiculite. (I have those on hand)? If the exotic seed starting mixes are more expensive than peat/perlite, I am going to shake and bake my own!

Here are some links.
Cornell's home garden homepage http://www.gardening.cornell.edu/homegardening/index.html
Cornell's Gardening Resources http://www.gardening.cornell.edu/index.html
Seed starting mixes http://www.backyardgardener.com/soil/soil5.html
Cornell mixes http://www.backyardgardener.com/soil/soil10.html
General info and soil mix recipe http://www.justrealestate.org/re/gardening/startingseedsindoors.asp

BTW, if you forget to save the link and look up dirt recipe, you get all sorts of recipes for "edible dirt" with assorted processed foods and gummy worms. I may be the only person who never heard of such a thing. However, I don't use cake mixes/cool whip/processed foods and don't have kids. I guess it would be cute for a garden club get together, but I can't imagine eating it.

GardenQuilts, are you talking about for WinterSowing? If so, one of the experts here will need to speak up, but I don't think you'd want a seed starting mix for winter sowing. I've always heard it doesn't matter what you use, can use cheap soil, but I'm thinking a seed starting mix is awfully light to have outside... would dry out really fast?

NEW THREAD: What Have you tried? #2

Go here: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1073096/

DO NOT POST PAST THIS...

What is going on? I cross posted with Tcs on the other thread and her post looked like I was going to blow up if I did. Guess I will forget it.

Jeanette