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

good for you. some times when my kid remembers to bring them home for me, they are a bit squished... i just blow into the top and they poof right back up again.

Well, Karen, it looks like your containers are getting plenty of moisture! LOL

Thanks Karen for the pic! I'm not worried anymore:-)

The only time I worry about my containers is when they've already germinated and the seedlings are very young and tender.

"the boys" went out to dinner. Since I dont care for "wings" .... Buffalo Wild Wings is boys night out. So -- since i have the house to myself... i fired up the glue gun and melted holes in teh bottom of 30 containers.

I currently have 13 gallons
7 half gallons
10 qt sized.

The schools usually only use the little half pint cartons.
But restuarants and coffe shacks use the 1 gallon jugs. : )

I am using 2 liter soda containers. (Walmart finally has a diet root beer!) A neighbor is saving me containers, when she remembers. I don't drink milk. Any one feeling unusually tired or cold should have their doctor do a blood test to check their thyroid hormones, especially if putting weight for no apparent reason. I have hypothyroidism and feel terrible if my levels are off.

Hope everyone is keeping warm and safe. My cat is sitting on my feet, keeping them warm. Soup is on here as well, chicken soup.

GQ ... I have Hypothyroid too... and the only symptoms i have are cold hands and feet [DH is convinced I'm a corpse] and someone said, thin eyebrows. OH, this summer i started getting tightness in my throat... swollen thyroid gland. Getting all better now with that ... but no other symptoms... never have. OH well... yea - i too am over weight with a difficulty getting it off.

No, My jugs aren't getting any moisture, because I haven't started sowing yet :-) One of these days I'll get out my seed stash and see what looks worthy.

Karen

Small world. I was hyperthyroid till treated, now I'm hypo.Thin eybrows and slow metabolism. If I dont take my meds, I'm good for nothing.

Did another container tonite of perennials. Trying to use up all these old seeds. But ordered about 25 more today from Cherrygal.com. Couldnt resist:-)

Yes, kqcrna, thank you. I too was becoming uncertain and worried about all that seed going to waste. I feel better now after reviewing info and pictures.

It's only after you have actual seedlings that frost/freezing is of any concern. And then, only if they're seedlings which are tender to frost, like zinnias, marigolds, cosmos, tomatoes... Perennials don't care. Hardy annuals won't bat an eye. You come to know which annuals will take frost. I've never had a light frost which damaged nasturtiums, petunias, or snapdragons.

If you do have frost tender seedlings and a frost hits, you can cover the whole jug with a sheet, blanket, or tarp. Or you can stash them overnight in an UNHEATED protected spot, like a garage.

Karen

More great answers. I was going to ask about Snapdragons. : ) And I love nasturtiums. Thank you so my Karen. Keep the info coming.

Well, remember everything is relative. ( In your zone I can't imagine much problem with frost and freezing anyway). Snapdragons will freeze out at some point, don't know how cold. But a mild frost at around 30 to 32 degrees they'd probably be fine in a milk jug. -5 degrees might be a problem. If in doubt cover for the night.

Trust me, I get a lot more really cold weather than you do, but I've had snapdragons last 2 or 3 years, surviving winter just fine.

Karen

I have been looking at this forum for a few days now and never tried the WS and am going to try it this time. Plants are so expensive and since I am out of work now need to try and hold on to what I have until I find another job. I have started saving the milk jugs and the 2 litter coke bottles. I have one question about how many seeds do you put in the jug or bottle. I have tons of seeds that I collected last year and want to get them planted.

Sami

As many as you prefer. Large individual seeds which will be large seedlings, like zinnias, I might only use 6 or 8 to a milk jug. Tiny little dust like seeds I just sprinkle on top of the soil.

Karen

Welcome to Wintersowing, Sami! You're going to have a lot of fun. I know we all do!
The question of how thickly to sow seeds in containers depends on a few variables (including the expected germination rate.) You can really sow as many seeds as you want per jug. Some folks like the HOS (hunk o' seedlings) method, whereby they sow a lot of seeds in each jug and then just cut the resultant mass of seedlings into little squares and plant them out. IMHO the seeds that are best suited to being thickly sown are those that will like to grow closely together, such as trailing, matting, or groundcover seeds like allyssum, creeping phlox, and creeping thyme, for instance. Cosmos and poppies do well, too for me,as being thickly sown. So do wildflower mixes. Every year I WS thickly my Italian parsley seeds and plant all the "hunks" into a big pot for a lush growth that supports all the tabbouleh I want, all summer!!
Or you can plant fewer seeds in each jug. This works for seeds that might need more room for their roots, or that might be sensitive to transplanting, or that you want to remove individually. I do certain large seeds this way--sunflowers--and veggie seeds.
I'm certain that other folks on this forum will have better and more detailed advice for you on this subjects. My feeling has always been that recycled jugs and bottles and a little potting mix are cheap, so I sow lots of them with a lot of seeds and see what happens!

Got a bunch of my seeds today. This is what I'm trying this year . . .
Digitalis purpurea, Camelot White
Digitalis purpurea, Snow Thimble
Lobelia, Compliment Mix
Aquilegia alpina
Pulmonaria angustifolia
Astilbe, Amethyst
Penstemon, heterophyllus “True Blue”
Delphinium “Connecticut Yankee”
Achillea “Flowerburst Red”
Delphinium “Double Blue Lace”
Delphinium “Centurion Gentian Blue”
Delphinium “Centurion Sky Blue”
Delphinium “Royal Purple”
Helleborus Elizabeth town doubles
Helloborus auckland hybrid
Heliotropium Marine
Snapdragons, ribbon mix
Snapdragons, Madame Butterfly
Snapdragons, Rocket Mix
Zinnia, swizzle-cherry and ivory
Zinnia, uproar rose
Zinnia, Benary’s Giant - lime
Zinnia, Benary’s Giant -orange
Zinnia, Benary’s Giant -salmon rose
Zinnia, Benary’s Giant - Purple
Zinnia, Benary’a Giant - Scarlet
Zinnia, Envy
Sunflower, solara
Sunflower, sunrich orange summer
Sunflower, Sunrich lemon
Cosmos “Cosimo Picotee”
Cosmos “Double Bonbon Snow Puff”
Cosmos “Double Rose Bonbon”

Thanks CapeCodGardner I do have some Cosmos that I want to plant. My grandson planted some last year in what he calls his garden and hope that they do as well as they did last year. He is five and loves to help out in the gardens. His dad is a gardener and so is his mom so he is out with them and me when he comes here. Here is a pic of the cosmos he planted last year.

thanks Karen I do have some Zinnias and want to try some balloon flowers that I had last year. I have a big bag of wildflowers but I think I am going to put a area to just spead them in one spot and see how they do. I will have to look and see what I do have just cant remember at the moment. I have the neighbors saving mild jugs for me and my son and want to get started right away. My grandson is coming this weekend and if it is not too cold for him will get outside and get a little fresh air and plant a few jugs this weekend..

Sami

Sami -- I've had pretty good luck just sprinkling Wild Flower seeds in the past. I just cleared an area, spread the seeds and hoped for the best... they usually do pretty well.

tcs1366 that is what I did with the Cosmos last year. I cleared an area for my grandson and let him spread them down and as you can see in the pic there really did well.

Sami

Got home around 7:15pm and DW had covered the few plants I have outside, plus she brought all my WS jugs/ bottles and my store-bought plants inside. Oops. Well, her heart was in the right place and I was very happy with the gesture. I think the WS'd stuff had been indoors for a coupla hours and they already had condensate inside. I immediately took them outside and the temp was cool but lots of humidity. Calm before the storm I guess. Hopefully the (lettuce) seedlings won't be shocked since that's all that's sprouted so far.

I had "cheated" and bought swiss chard plants (about 8"), red giant mustard, and strawberry plants in order to get my fix for now, and they are still in their small nursery pots. So, I moved them to the garage. I thought the temp differential would be too much if left indoors since they've been outside this whole time.

Sami that's a great picture.

Trudi has always cautioned against bringing WSown seeds/seedlings into a heated house. My friend did it a couple of years ago and the seedlings died within a day. I left mine outside covered with a sheet and they were fine. A protected UNHEATED area like a garage is OK, much different from a heated house.

I suspect that the problem is damp-off or some other form of fungus. After all, WSown conditions aren't sterile like indoor seed starting. And remember, no amount of cold or snow is a problem for seeds, only potentially for some frost-tender seedlings. That's why it's advisable to wait to sow them until spring, less danger of frost then.

Karen

Karen and tcs,
I need help figuring out if i should sow the Salvias and penstemons now. I am trying multiple varieties this year and am not sure if i should wait on these till Feb.

Also I am trying agastache and loads of alliums and agapanthus. I planted allium bulbs in the fall but also have seeds.Think i could start them now?

I think i'd wait in the Salvias a bit.

but then again, it depends if they are tenders or not.

Penstemons would be OK to do now.

I think last year i did my Salvias in March or early April... I'd have to check my records.

Looks like I did some Salvias in late Feb. they did OK. I can not recall when i did my Lady in Red... I think those were done much later.

I had a perennial Salvia that i did in Jan. [Purple Knockout]

Same old rule of thumb applies: If it's hardy in your zone, sow it now. If it's frost tender and killed by frost, wait till spring. Some folks do start tender stuff early, but then you have to worry about protecting seedlings if they sprout early. You just need to know whether the penstemons and salvias that you have are hardy in your zone.

Anything that doesn't tolerate frost, I don't sow until spring, around April in my zone.

Here's a pic of Penstemon Smallii that I wintersowed a few years ago. Hardy in my zone, they were sown in winter.

Karen

I WS salvias last year at the same time I sowed everything else. They just needed warmer temps to germinate, so they were one of the later ones to start showing anything in their jugs. Remember, we're replicating what Mother Nature does and she doesn't wait until the temps are right to sow seeds.

EXCEPT, and this is a big exception. Temp in the jugs gets much warmer than in a garden bed. If Stephanie's tender seeds, like zinnias, sprout early, probably no big deal. How likely is it that her temps will get below freezing after they sprout?

Tender seeds can sprout fast at the first sign of warmth. If we get a warm spell in February or March, not all that rare here, and it can be warm enough in the jug for the seeds to sprout. We still have 2 to 3 months of freezing temps to go then. That's why I wait until spring.

Karen

Thanks so much for the info!
tcs-since Salvias are like an herb,sage, it makes sense to wait for those.

That makes sense Karen. We do get warm weather here in March, although we are still not out of danger for frost till later.So I may have to cover them if sprouted already.

>>The problem is I got most of them in trade and dont have names or info on them.

This is one reason many of us stress [when trading] to at least have the scientific name. that is all the info you need to find out what the seed is.

>>Great advice in a nutshell!

Yes, Karen is very wise... i feel i'm still in the learning stage. I really learn A LOT from her.

Is sage the herb that is a big butterfly and hummingbird attractor?

Yes... sages ... Salvias attract Hummers, bees and butterflies.

have you seen the Swallowtail 'seed' site yet ??

lemme find the link...

http://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/index.shtml

This message was edited Jan 7, 2010 10:22 AM

Hi diamond.

This year I'm committed to growing bee attractors now that they are in danger.. We can't live without them.

Heavens no, I'm not wise. Just a seasoned veteran now. This will be my fifth year wintersowing. I have sown tender annuals in winter and lost them to frost. Experience is the best teacher.

Often I just take cues from the weather, which varies so much year-to-year. 2007 was the hottest, driest spring, summer, and fall that we have ever had. I was sweating to death planting out seedlings in May in temps in the 90s. Last year (2009) was so cool, cloudy, and wet, that some of my annuals sprouted later, barely doing anything until late summer when more normal weather returned. I had a heck of a time getting them into the ground because it was always raining. There are no guarantees in dealing with Mother Nature, you just have to learn to go with the flow. I try to avoid a few pitfalls by sowing annuals in spring; it keeps life simple.

In some cases I'll gamble if I have a lot of my own seeds to spare. Then if the thing freezes and croaks, no big deal. I just sow more.

Karen

Joyce, Ok I may have some seeds that attract bees as well. I will check out my stash and let you know.

TC, thanks for the web addy. It seems each time I visit a different website I learn something new that I can add to my yard that's pretty inexpensive.

Karen, you are so right! I do pay more attention to them once they've germinated and will bring in jugs if the weather is going to be cold. Believe me, living in Texas, you never know what kind of weather you're going to get at any given time of the year. Right now, it's 21º and today's high is only expected to get to 28º. Insane!