Wintersowing 2009-2010 ... getting stared....

Linda... i dont cut mine into pieces... i just rip - gently pull them apart.

its funny, i always imagined "gymgirl" 20's to low 30's. I recall when i was a Gym rat... been a while, but those were the days.... got a BD fastly approaching too... ugg... still 40 something though.

Yep. I've been outta that gym for awhile now, and had to get my mind in gear again. It's a commitment. I'm not looking forward to the start-up pain I WILL experience, but I have to start back on a Lifetime program this Saturday morning.

And, hopefully, I'll be working out or involved in some physical activity at least 3-5x a week for the rest of my life, or until I keel over, whichever comes first.

I have 3 closets full of clothes I plan to wear by the end of this year....and, after I start wearing those, I'm gonna start swapping them out for investment clothing that will carry me into my golden years -- those classic, timeless pieces that are always in style!

Linda

Been lurking here for awhile. Thought I'd say hello.

Going to try my hand at WSowing for the first time this year.
I have some milk jugs, 2 liter pop jugs and some roaster pans with the clear lids.
I have also heard of cutting toilet paper and paper towel rolls into 3 or 4 pieces fill with soil and using those in the pans to keep seeds separated.

Gymgirl: Yes, I cut them with a knife, like a pan of brownies. Sure, I cut off lots of roots. They might pout for a day or two, but they get over it soon enough. If a few seedlings out of hundreds are lost, who cares? Survival of the fittest. Wintersown seedlings have healthy roots. No anesthesia used. (But funny you should mention it, I am an anesthetist by profession. Seriously. Aren't you glad you're not on my OR table?)

I've got those closets full of skinny little clothes, too. Tired of the struggles, I think I've finally given up that weight control conflict. I'm 57, stopped coloring my hair too this year. Decided I'll just be old, fat, and gray. But I'll be happier.

Welcome, jjsgramma, nice to have you aboard. Some people do use tp rolls and the like successfully. They didn't work at all when I tried them. I'm strictly a milk jug and 2 liter user. They've always given me the best results. If it ain't broke, I don't try to fix it.

Karen

Might as well admit it; I also do whatever it takes to get those seedlings out of the jugs/bottles. Usually this entails cutting the containers up first-- then sometimes I tease the seedlings apart (Okay, PULL); sometimes I cut them into squares--JUST like a pan of brownies; love that explanation, Karen.
No anaesthesia. I figure that the little guys are going to be so happy getting out into the big wide world of my garden that they'll forgive me.

LOL. You guys make this sound like a birthing. Getting them out and then cutting the cords. Might sound painful, but necesary.

I just did my first container of the season and set it out. It has 28 seed cups. Have four more to do. Going slow, but steady.

LoL @ Joyce doesn't cutting the roots stimulate grow?

hey diamond
I dont know. I thought cutting the roots made bonsai's...lol

I guess for seedlings it makes them stronger. Like someone said, ws plants are strong.

I'm going to start my wintersowing this weekend. Can you WS any kind of seed?

Lolly, yes, pretty much any seed will work.

I'm going to start mine this week, too. Just need to convince DH to do the jugs! LOL

Karen, I'm 57 too. I did the same thing you spoke about. Let the fitness thing go, stopped coloring my hair, got fat,old and happy .....for a while. LOL But, I miss feeling great and I got tired of seeing that old lady in the mirror looking back at me. I colored my hair again and as soon as it warms up again around here, I'm going to start walking. Spring is coming soon and if I dont get back in shape, all of these seeds that will be growing in the jugs by then, will just have to sit and die. Don't get comfortable yet girl. We need you to hang around and keep teaching us how to winter sow. :)

Debbie

Who was I impressing with dark hair? An old face with wrinkles tells age, and dark hair looks dumb I think. Didn't match.

Lollyjean: You can wintersow just about anything. But here in our area (I live in Cincinnati) it works better to wait until close to spring to plant the tenders. I don't sow zinnias, marigolds, cosmos, and the like, until very late March or April. They can sprout fast. If sown now they might germinate in an early warm spell in March only to croak when the freezing weather inevitably returns. These tender seedlings would need very good protection in case of a freeze . Perennials and hardy annuals don't mind the cold.

Karen

Ok maybe I confusing cutting the stems of plants. When I transplant flowers I try to tease/spread the roots apart. But if the plant has been rootbound the I make four cuts in the roots, then plant. I read that some place.

LOL Karen, you are so right about dark hair color on an older woman. I remember one of my family used to dye her hair and eyebrows black . YUK and she was OLD as dirt. She was scary with that get up. No, I mean a softer shade of my natural hair color, like a soft, light chestnutty brown. But I like gray too, so , to each her own. LOL

And thank you for the tip on the zinnias, marigolds, cosmos, I hope you stay warm.

Debbie

I'm a relative newbie to winter sowing, last year was my first year, with a few of the seeds most likely to respond well to WS. It worked so well, I'm going to do lots more this year. I did not believe it'd work, but it worked wonderfully. I had poppies, verbena bonairiensis, nicotiana, and larkspur. I've always done well with germination and light stands indoors, I was almost offended that all of that fiddling around could be avoided. LOL Well, there are always seeds that need tons of bottom heat to germinate, and tropicals to overwinter, lol.

kqcrna, I'm in Columbus, a half zone colder...do you do really warm weather seeds like tomatoes and basil? I just can't imagine them catching up with seedlings I've grown indoors. Normally I start tomatoes, basil and peppers mid-February, so I have good-sized plants by May when I plant them out.

diamond...Oh yes. Cutting the stems or pruning makes for bushier plants. Normally if I have a large plant that needs transplanting cause its outgrown its container, I'll cut the roots back to keep it in the same pot. Once the roots start growing in circles in the bottom of a planter, it disrupts the growth habit of the plant.

Thats a good tip about the four cuts. I'll have to give that a try.

karen, when I retired, I relaxed into not doing much for my appearance. I'm 52 and thought, I need to just be me. But now I find I have less energy and a spreading middle. I am happy, but think some kind of healthy routine might be necesary and is in order. Its just difficult to get motivated sometimes.

This message was edited Jan 5, 2010 9:19 AM

Celine: I have done tomatoes, sown in March or so. They were only about 3 inches tall I think when planted out in mid-May, but they took off after planting. Last year I started them inside and was glad I did because the spring/summer was so cool, cloudy, and wet. They really did to well either way but maybe produce fruit a week or two earlier if started inside, depending on the DTM.

The thing with wintersowing anything is that you can't control conditions like sun, rain, or temperature. I think they'd do great most years, but in an off year like last summer... nothing you can do about it. You are dealing with the whims of Mother Nature.

Karen

Thank you, Karen. Last year was very weird weather, truly. It's not as if I could set out the ones I had grown on my light stand till mid-late May, and I don't think they really take off till the soil warms anyhow. I'm going to experiment this year with tomatoes, peppers and basil, and do one pot of WS, one indoors to compare. Last year I had a minor freakout when snow actually covered my containers, but a local WS'er talked me down, and my Drama Queen poppies started just fine.

Most of the reseeding type annuals that I tried did great, I'm never starting them indoors again, LOL. I'm really grateful for the info on WS these plants, I have much more interesting annuals, because before, space limitations kept me from growing as many, and I relied on the flats I could buy commercially, which are boring. Now, I can save money AND have more interesting plants, no down side to that at all!

Good idea to do a few each way and compare.

Basil grows too well. I used to just sprinkle it in a garden bed when I planted out toms and I still harvested basil before tomatoes. Now I usually confine the basil to a pot to keep it from taking over the whole bed and blocking sun to toms.

Karen

This cold weather makes me so lazy, I swear. I just want to curl up under a blankie and read a book and sip hot tea. I spent about 15 minutes out shoveling a little snow off the driveway and my face was numb. National weather service has already posted a winter storm watch for Thursday, 2 days from now. It usually doesn't snow all that much here, and when it does we don't handle it well.

I have a big pot of soup cooking for dinner, using the Christmas ham bone. This is definitely soup weather.

Karen

I figured this weather would be just another cold day in January for peeps in Cincy. Just wait till this cold snap hits Houston, it will be a huge fiasco on the roads/ highways. Houstonian drivers aren't noted for patience or skill. Hopefully I can just take the day-off or something.

Well, this will be the test of all tests for this WS business. I guess I am just supposed to leave everything outside, huh? Even my precious babies (my lettuce sprouts.) The forecast call for lows in the 20's/ teens Wed or Thurs, so we'll see. That's *very* low for this area.

Maybe I'll put some blankets around all the jugs? Lol.

This message was edited Jan 5, 2010 3:13 PM

What time will that soup be ready?

John,
I feel yah! I've got those 16 cabbages in eBuckets at 50% maturity! Don't wanna lose them. I'm considering hosing them down tomorrow evening, and double layering with sheets, then the plastic tarp. I still have a GAZILLION uncut milk jugs I can fill with hot water to shove underneath the tent.

And, if push comes to shove, and the cold lasts longer than the two nights, I WILL be plugging up a small electric heater and shoving it underneath, sandwiched between two 40-gallon garbage cans that sit twice as high as the eBuckets!

Save the food!

John, so true! Everywhere will be sold out of hot chocolate, bread, and milk as if there's some kind of storm of the century coming!

DH is outside building a cold frame, or something like that, so he can hang a light bulb to keep the lettuce alive. I told him it was okay if we harvested it all and started all over agin in a month or so. Oh well! Keeps him occupied (but he should be looking for a job) and out of my hair! LOL

Haven't even started my WS containers yet.

Steph,
Get with it girl. We've got to compare those tomato notes!!!!

You do realize I'm in a different zone, don't you?? I still have a good month to go. I just looked at my seeds and I don't know if I'm going to have room to plant all the veggies I have seeds for! LOL

I'm making soup too. made BBQ pork this morning... gotta love the crock pot.

I too havent started WS'ing yet.... I've been thinking about it. that's gotta count for something.

But i dont have the 'crunch time' as the southerners have.... I've got plenty of time.

The soup will be ready at around 6. Mmmmmmmm..... I love my split pea soup.

I haven't started WSing either, Terese. Lots of time left for us. But I did cut up a few jugs the other day, so I am thinking about it.

Karen

Exactly, Gymgirl. Maybe I can pitch my tent in the backyard, then stash all my jugs/ bottles inside the tent..on top of my sleeping bag.

Good one Stephanie, storm of the century indeed. Can't wait for the 24/7 news coverage from my favorite local tv news crew. Expect reporters to station themselves in various locations throughout Houston, airing live, while saying things like, "These are the first snowflakes of the new decade..."

This is going to require a leap of faith, but I must believe in the system (WSing, that is)!

A 2-day cold snap just doesn't compare to the threat of a hurricane. I have a co-worker who will show up to work in her long johns (cuddle duds), undershirt, long sleeve work shirt and outdoor boots. By mid-morning she'll be complaining she's hot. I'm like, "Really? Could it be that you work INSIDE and don't need all those layers for walking to/from your vehicle to your home/workplace?"

Steph, we're only ONE number apart! What're your avg. daytime temps up the road?

I'm making veggie chili, it's definitely soup weather!

I use shipping boxes to hold my containers, I work at a veterinary hospital and they all have biohazard symbols, must make people wonder what I'm growing, lol.

Gymgirl, me too. I have been buying a few cheap things but my excuse is I'm just gardening in them anyway :-0
Oh, to be able to get back in my good clothes...sigh.

Now you guys have me worried about my one container I put out. It only has perennials thou. Think it'll be ok? I was getting ready to do another tonight but think I'll wait. The river here is growing ice, a first for this area.

I love split pea soup:-)

Folks, this is wintersowing, not the tropics

My jugs always look like this

Karen,
Thank you for throwing that snowball ^^_^^ of reality!

I have been trying really hard not to beg for milk jugs. I did find the 1 gallon water jugs for a $1. Not a bad deal to get my WS fix. Worse case scenario, I drink more water. LoL Where are you all getting your containers. The first 5 or 6 jugs were pretty easy. Now I'm getting strange looks. LoL

STARBUCKS!

Starbucks

Do you have a local Coffee Shop? they go thru a lot of milk.
I recall someone saying they were going to check with a local Preschool, as they go thru a lot too.

I just called Starbucks. They crunched the jugs for tonight but they are going to save some for me in the morning. She even offered to rinse them out.