Winter Sowing - 2010 .... a sowing we will go....

Neal -- that seems to be one seed I can't sow to save my life. BUT -- i will be trying again this year... my neighbor gave me a handful of seed pods.

I've heard others say they have no problem sowing them.

Hi everyone.

Karen don't hit me in the head LOL but I have a question. AGAIN

Ok, if I take my seeds and put them in the bottles and set them outside, are they going to germinate in the amount of days the pack says, or will they wait til mother nature says so?

I know you've answered it somewhere, but I can't find it.

they will wait for MOM nature...

Ahhh, thank you tcs. I was just looking thru my notes and found where I had copy/pasted the post you made for me, going thru my seed list and giving me pointers. You are too kind. Thanks so much. Now that I'm actually doing it, your notes really helped me.

Thanks so much
Debbie

You can pretty much disregard any information on the seed pack. That info and instructions deal with indoor seed starting. WSing is a whole 'nuther animal. All seeds have an optimal temp for germination. When you start to get spring temps, sprouting will begin. For me that's usually around March for things that sprout at lower temps. Debbie, for you it might be February.

Neal, I've had great results with WSing petunias. They start to sprout and grow at fairly low temps.

Karen

Karen, thanks for that info on Petunias. I will now try WS them also. : )

Debbie -- so glad i could help... it's just paying it forward... I was helped a lot by others in this forum yrs ago.
Everything is about learning and trial N error, we all learn from each other.

Terese

I can't seem to convince my DH that he needs to get started on the jugs for me. He keeps telling me I'm just as capable as he is when it comes to the jugs. Really, I've tried EVERYTHING! ;)

I'm new at this and already have several jugs started with great anticipation. But I do have a question -- for annuals, do you wait to sow until it warms up? I'm thinking about things like cosmos, zinnia, and veggies.

This has got to be eaisier than starting thousands in the house. I did this while living in Montana -- now in Texas and thinking the growing season is long enough to start stuff later -- outside! But the idea of WS is totally irrestible. I'm hooked!

for the mroe tender of annuals, you should probably wait until your last frost date, or close to that...

here is a quote from kqcrna [Karen] that was a good one, regarding seedlings and frost....

I don't worry about it. I plant them all at the same time.

I don't sow tenders until late March or April. We get frosts into May. We don't all live in Texas.

Karen

We've had killing frosts in mid-May a few yrs back.

I've been lucky - some how I didnt lose anything that year.

LOL , Karen you make me laugh. "we don't all live in Texas".

And about February, that's what I was thinking. But, with this unusual cold weather, I may even start a little later than that. And yes, it looks like I'll be about a month ahead of you on the perennials and then again on the annuals.

I have to thank everyone for all of the info and please keep it coming by asking questions. I have to say , that I have learned more on this thread , than any other thread I have been on ever.

And Terese, I started my spreadsheet yesterday and your words kept coming to my mind as I added yet more columns. LOL You said above,
"I'm just a very detailed oriented person. my 'whole' spreadsheet would probably make your hair curl by all the info I have in it..."

:)For those who don't like details, my spreadsheet would make their hair fall out. LOL

And Karen, your spreadsheet is in your head, cause you have been doing it for so long. I saw all of the listings you had on Anita's site. Many many sheets. :) And I'm glad I found them, cause they have some great info on them.

Kisses to you all for the help.
I am officially hooked.
Debbie

Woo-Hoo! New seeds in from the UK and The Netherlands. More winter sowing! YIPEE!
Got my seeds fix for another....oh.....5 Minutes....LOL.

Working on getting more pictures posted in my journels,

Peggy

Yes, Deb, you might be a few weeks ahead of me on both annuals and perennials. That's when we Yankees get zone envy. But when our gardens are peaking and beautiful in August and yours are fried, we smile in revenge. Since we can get frosts into May, I don't sow tender annuals until the last of March or April. Less worry about frozen sprouts. But you could safely sow your tenders earlier in La.

I never did do a spreadsheet last year. I'm not very good at Excel (or anything computer related for that matter) and I just didn't force myself to do it. It only included very basic info when I did do them. It was helpful the first few years though. If something failed to sprout when sown once in January, the next year I might try sowing later, that kind of thing. So the spreadsheet was useful.

Deb, do you grow any coleus from seed? Or just collect the vegetatively propagated ones? I tried some with the WSown method one year (Wizzard series I think) and they just took forever to look like anything up here. I've had better results inside under lights. I'm trying seeds of the Versa series, I have a few under lights right now. Just a few sprouts but I'm anxious to try them. I hope I don't kill them because I'm much better at WSing than under lights.

Karen

And, Debbie, you're not really hooked until you peek into a jug and see little green guys waving back.

Karen

Peggy--who are you ordering from in the UK if you don't mind me asking? Did you need a permit or is it part of your business? I'm half applied for the permit for the small seed lot thing with the government--just gotta get over to the office w/ ID and finish the process.

I'd ordered before from Chiltern (only stuff I can't find offered stateside) and didn't have any problems but ya never know with customs and all that.

dmac,
I went thur all that small seed lot permit hoopla last year only to discover I didn't need it to order from Plant World Seeds. The others I got from our DGer bartjestuin...she always has a great seed list.

I may at some point,need the permit for some other European seeds purchases so I've got it if I need it. I think it's good for 3 yrs before you have to renew.

Thanks Peggy:) I'll have to check them out--darned internet making everything viewable and soooo tempting:lol:

Yes,I know. I didn't need these last seeds I ordered from him but I had to go back to research cultivation and he had new seed listed and well....the rest is history....LOL

>>Woo-Hoo! New seeds in from the UK and The Netherlands.

The ones gals that i know of in the Netherlands have an awesome selection of seeds.
I've only had the pleasure of trading with Johanna and Tuinker. both awesome selection.

Debbie -- I know there was a thread a while back where we [a bunch of us] added a link to our 'uploaded' spreadsheets. I think most were on Google Docs. I have not re-uploaded mine, since i'm awaiting seeds to 'check off'

But i think it was neat to see how others did theirs.

Terese

I'v traded w/ both Johanna and Tuinker

One of the had the Pams Choice foxgloves. Do you hav their web addy?

diamond... who's addy are you looking for?

Johanna or Tuinker had a website with plates for sale or trade. I went ot the site but didn't order those foxgloves at the time. If I order now, I may still have time to WS

Tuinkerabouter's http://www.freewebs.com/garden-gnomes-adventures/
Jonna Sudenius's http://www.seedsite.eu/

those are the only two i have.

**edited to add... I think Tuinker is on holiday. she stated she couldnt participate in our swap due to travels.

This message was edited Jan 12, 2010 8:02 AM

TC, Thanks very much!

diamond, I have a generous pack of 'Pam's Choice' another member sent me that I'd be happy to split with you. If you're interested, just drop me a SASE (the seeds are so tiny, I don't think they'll need a bubble envie)- I'm in the addy exchange.

dmac,
Wished I could find enough on Chiltren's website to place an order. They're the only ones w/ the Black Form Allium I've been looking for.

Morning everyone.

Thank you Terese, I'll try to find the thread and check them out. And thank you for the seed link.

Karen, fried indeed. It gets really hot here. I have been known to run around with umbrellas, trying to shade my plants. LOL And no, I've never tried growing coleus from seed. I thought about it, but, so many of my sweet DG'ers send cuttings and then , of course, their is the instant gratification of Rosie Dawns. Summer of 2008, I think I ended up with about 200 coleus, and then along came Gustav and they simply disappeared. Weirdest thing I ever saw. There wasn't a sign of them anywhere and they were all planted in the ground. Oh, and you are correct, I can't wait to see my first seedlings. Ya'll will hear me holler from your houses. LOL

Well, i only found two links to google... the search is back up, but it also slows down the whole site [according to Dave] .. and i have found it very slow to load today.

here is LissaD's http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pWHv52CDURY1xswX_eMhucw

lkstuart's http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AjX12qw9Y_bgcHRLazdGTkR4Xy1MTmJaTTQzMVV6RFE&hl=en


** here is my spreadsheet...
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Avcsp97ckJSUcEZ2ZmZPZUhQc1RxeEEzc29TQzNpYUE&hl=en

if you click the tab for 2010 Seed List .... if it has the 'yellow", i have those on hand, and all the others i'm still waiting for... should get them this week. I was just trying to 'inventory' my seeds, so i knew what i had and what's gone.

This message was edited Jan 12, 2010 10:07 AM

This message was edited Jan 12, 2010 10:11 AM

Thanks so much for the SS links. I have been studying them. LOL And yes , they much like mine, except I use Excel. Great job and very helpful. I am going to add another column to mine that follows up on the bloom or the end result. I will write things like, bloomed great , but an ugly plant, dont reorder. LOL Or Bloomed great, but gets too leggy here. Until I get really good at this, it will help me to just glance to see the ones I want to re order. I ordered the Hollyhocks from Summerhills. Did any of your Hollyhocks bloom from 2009? And I didn't add both the names on mine. I just put the name that was on the seed pack. So, I need to go back and add that. And I want to add the Daves link on the ones that are in plant files, so that when I go back and make my notes as they bloom, I can just click on there and add the photo and notes. I can't tell you how much I depend on plant files with all of my plantings. Thanks again for the links.

Debbie -- i think most of us used Excel, and just uploaded it.

I did not have much luck with HH's last year. i was quite disappointed that the Summerhill Black Current Whirl did not germinate. I still have more seeds though, so i will try again.

I only had 1 or 2 HollyHocks germinate... gave them both away.. silly me, but one was to my neighbor, and it bloomed, so she gave me more seeds.

I too reference from the Daves link to PF... so glad i added that field. And I have 2 comments fields, the second one i will use for things like , bloomed great , but an ugly plant, dont reorder. LOL Or Bloomed great, but gets too leggy here.

also -- WHO i got the seeds from... if i ever have questions, i know who to ask.

OH yes, thanks Teresa, I knew I forgot to add something. The column for who I got them from. Back to the sheet.

I can just see Karen mumbling now, 'I tried to make it easy for her, but she just wont listen'. LOL

Naw, she's pacing the floor...shaking her head...

ROFL

...and, wagging one finger...

If busy work makes you happy, go for it. That crap drives me nuts. One thing I always like to know is the botannical name. If I know that I can look up anything. Having only a common name like "coneflower" doesn't do it for me because so many people call different things coneflowers. And of my favorites that I sow repeatedly in subsequent years, I often like to buy new commercial seeds. OP seeds can lead to too many disappointing results. Ditto many traded seeds. Some are great, I know, but some I'd just rather buy.

Karen