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

Linda,
I have this copied. Hope this helps. You've been such a help to me. :-)

http://www.using-hydrogen-peroxide.com/peroxide-garden.html

Great info, thank you 101.

You're welcome. I've been lurking and learning! :-)
~Susan

Gymgirl, its 1/2 cup of peroxide per gallon of water, or 2 tablespoons per quart.

Susan,
Thank you sooooooooooo much!

Here's the Wando Peas that were waving back at me today!

Here're the Mustard Greens!

Finally,
My tomato seeds! All of these are brand new seeds I just bought, so I'm really hoping they do well with the WSing project. I don't wanna have'ta go buy seedlings from anywhere.

In fact, I hope to sell my excess to a few Houston growers!

Oh, my goodness!

I just went to pour the H2O2 on the bell pepper seeds, and they've sprouted already! I read that bell pepper seeds took forEVER to germinate, especially without any bottom heat. I expected germination in about six weeks from now, not today!!!

I'm not ready to be a mother!!!

Hi, all! This is my second year of winter-sowing, but my first time posting on this forum.

Last year, my seeds came from local garden centers. This year I'd like to expand my horizons, and go the mail-order route. Any seed companies you recommend? With whom have you had pleasant business dealings with?

Kevin
www.agardenforthehouse.com

Hi Kevin--enjoyed looking at your blog!
I think that mail-order is definitely the way to go for more interesting and varied varieties of seeds that you won't find at local garden centers. If you go to the DG site listed below and check the Garden Watchdog Top 30 companies, there are several that deal specifically with seeds. Besides those that are listed, I've also had good luck with Thompson & Morgan and Park Seeds. But I'm sure there are many others that people can suggest to you.

http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/

Linda, well, aren't you just something else. Not bad for a novice, huh? Isn't it great? Affirmation that WSing isn't a major hoax on you- It works! Milk jugs rock, you can't beat 'em. Congratulations, Mom!

I have no idea what to do with veggies anywhere, let alone in zone 9. I just grow pretty stuff, nothing practical.

Karen

I was telling one of the gardeners I work with what I'm learning about WSing. I cannot wait to show him my new flowers. LoL
GymGirl, I'm excited for your new mustard greens and peas. I cannot wait until I can see some green through my containers.

How big do the sprouts have to be before you open the lids? I'm thinking of WS some Liriope. Anyone tried the monkey grass?

CapeCod - Great, and thanks. I'll stop back here after checking the Garden Watchdog. Kevin

Linda~You're an inspiration! You 'da woman! You go girl! I've got my soil and seeds and jugs, just not all in the same spot. Would you please make a road trip north and do mine?? I'm really working on the DH to do the jugs this weekend.

Yesterday was fairly nice so I got to play a bit in the greenhouse.
I sowed:
Angelica "Ebony"
Aquilegias:
"Burnished Rose"
"Sunburst Ruby"

Dierama"Snowbells"

Penstemon whippleanus "Chocolate Drop"

Plantago major rubifolia/Red leaf plantain

On the kitchen table on heat mat under grow lights
Hardy Geraniums:
"Confetti"
g.harvyi
"Johnson's Blue"
"Midnight Reiter"
"Pink Lace"

and Myosotis "Rolled Gold"(gold leaf forget-me-nots)

Check on my other seeds I sewed in Dec. and new seeds now sprouting are:

Alyssum,perennial"Gold Dust"

lychnis "Peggy"

prunella "Bella Deep Rose"

Violas:
Penny Peach
Penny Primrose.

Hope to get more WS done today but haven't gone thur my seed boxes to select which ones.

Peggy

diamond: I open tops of jugs when I have pretty good germination. The top helps hold humidity and encourages more sprouts to pop. Overheating won't likely be an issue for you in zone 5 for a while. Size of the sprouts is irrelevant. I open a jug when it has several sprouts, keep it closed mostly until then.

Stephanie: What does your husband have to do with the jugs?

Karen

Karen, he drills the holes and cuts the jugs for me. I do the rest. It's a team effort, but part of my team isn't playing very well. :( LOL

It's really very easy to do yourself with just a pair of scissors and a knife. I've always cut my own jugs, no fancy expensive power tools.

Karen

same here... it's amazing how the pair of scissors slides thru the milk jug... like butter.

Oh I've got another month before I start my WS, although with the above freezing temps we are enjoying I'm almost wishing I could start now, but I have to behave as I'm getting over hernia surgery (Asthma coughing does terrible things to your body...LOL)

So I'm trying to be good and just live through what everyone else has/is/will be doing...

Janet

I'm getting my water jugs ready using a pair of scissors and an ice pick.

Laura

Really, the deal is that it's tedious and I'm impatient and don't want to do it myself. LOL Besides that it gives him something to do and keeps him outta my hair. (Can I say that here?? LOL)

Anita, your SASE came today. There's enough postage on there for at least a few packs of seeds, I'll check your lists and see what else I may have to stick in there. I just received scads of seeds from the Piggy Swap, some really generous packs too, so I'm sure there are plenty to share.

Step stop dorkin' around and go get those jugs together!
Heat those phillips screwdrivers on the stove burner and start poking holes. The time will fly!
I stopped obsessing over drawing a perfectly straight horizontal slit, and started eyeballing a line parallel to one on the jug.
Chop! Chop! (literally)

Gemini, that's awfully nice of you. I always put two stamps on the envies just to be on the safe side. Are there any seeds you're looking for? Thanks again for being so geneous with your seeds!

My DH would KILL me if I abused his screwdrivers like that! LOL Maybe tomorrow. I need to get my sweet peas planted for sure!

Oh, I'm covered up with seeds now that these from the swap have come in! To think I was actually tempted to order some the other day, LOL. I was just going through and organizing these seeds, and feeling rather overwhelmed. I've gotten them separated into baggies of one Genus, and most are alphabetized, now I need to separate out those for wintersowing- which I do into 2 baggies, 1 for early WSing and 1 for tender plants to WS later. Then one for direct sowing, and another for starting under lights. Since I'm so fond of a large variety, I just aim for 6-12 plants of each variety of seed, and most of these packs have way more than that in them.

Steph, are you wintersowing your sweetpeas?

Yes, because we have to grow them so early here before they get fried.

Yep, same problem with sweet peas here, just a little later. What are your temps like now? I'm wondering if you could go ahead and direct sow them.

meadow, I have the opposite problem, I have elbow surgery wed. and will lose the use of my right arm for 1 week (and I'm right handed), then not to lift anything heavier then a cup of coffee for 3 mos. May have to fudge on that last one; that takes me into April, and I have stuff to do outside (like a crisper full of bulbs-I'm not keeping them in there over the whole summer). If I could find a cheap dorm frige to keep in the garage I might though. Need to check Craig's list, maybe Target.

I just got my latest seed orders-lots of natives from Prairie Moon and Everwilde. Some I'm going to WS and stealth plant in the wild areas around the pond. The "landscapers" never bother touching it, so it's in desperate need. Some I'm just going to sprinkle the seeds in the snow around there sometime when it's supposed to snow. Prairie Moon says I have til February to do that here. Some are for my little rain gardens-I think I'll have to cut back on the drainage holes for them if I WS, they're supposed to be started in "mud".

Sweet peas are supposed to be ok to DS at the same time as garden peas. So I'm trying them here in z5 around the end of March, depending on what we get for Spring.

Well last week, it was colder than anything, but that's very odd. We've been down to the upper 30s-low 40s at night and mid-upper 40s/low 50s during the day.

Will it stay that way, d'ya think?

Good grief, who knows?!? This is Texas and just about anything could happen regarding the weather. We've had snow, deep freeze, and everything in between. We haven't had any ice yet, so that may be coming.

Linda- did you say your peppers germinated??? That's great!!! I can't believe it.

I had a major set-back earlier this week when my stupid beagle of a dog ran rough-shod all over my WS'ing collection...

I should have anticipated this disaster, but I got busy with work and things had been going great for several weeks so it was out-of-mind. I lost some of my swiss chard crops and my bell peppers were disrupted, meaning they were knocked over but did not "spill" so I don't know what to expect with those jugs. I will be WS'ing more peppers tomorrow, though (I've been prepping containers like a madman the last day or so...gearing up for "the big push" when I WS lotsa stuff. Luckily I have MLK day off from work.)

I was so mad...but it was my fault, lesson learned the hard way.

Mine are going in clear rubbermaid totes with holes in the bottom. So far I have one with a broken lid and one I got cheap at Ace. That way the squirrels and chipmunks won't be out there knocking them around.

grrrigeek

sorry to hear you will have to behavior yourself for a while, but honestly do make sure to follow the Dr's directions cause you sure don't want to have lasting problems due to wanting to get back to normal sooner.......

Janet

Okay, question please? I'm sure this has already been covered, but I don't seem to see it. What type of soil are you putting in your jugs? I have potting mix or Jiffy?
Thanks. I'm ready to begin! :-)
~Susan

Susan.... here is the "Brand of Soil" thread. http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/813723/

I use Miracle Grow, as i can get it in the large bag. I do think i used Jiffy once.

Terese