Winter Sowing - 2010 - things rolling right a long

BookerC1,
THANKS for that great tip!!!

Linda

That is a great idea Booker. Thanks

Linda -- it looks like you are just having a ball winter sowing!!

Hey, Guys!
So many more people are getting the word about WSing that I started a new thread that includes the links only to all three of our discussion threads, starting from the beginning.

The thread is called "Winter Sowing Discussion 2010: Links from Beginning to End"

Point the newbies or anyone asking lots of questions there and they can read from the very beginning and catch up to this discusssion.

Hope it helps!

I do have a spare pool... we bought it for Buddy, but he is afraid of it **silly dog** I've thought about using it, but never have.

RE: I watered from the top. but I also put my jugs in cardboard boxes ( a hint I got on the WS forum last year) and that seemed to help my jugs from drying out. But, we had also had a lot of rain last spring too. I wasnt gentle with my watering either.....I figure Mother Nature isn't when she waters =)

the boxes kept the jugs from blowing away or critters disturbing them and also retained water. here's some that I had opened and was 'sunning' them around the first of April last year. you can see how the boxes held the moisture.

tcs1366 - o.k. you convinced me to try it next season. i have three questions though. o.k. say i start my seeds in february. i can put the containers in the front of my house tucked in and around some evergreens i have growing. they will get the morning light and will be sheltered under the eves (since they are under the eves they probably won't get a lot of rain and snow, does that matter??)

when do you think they will start to germinate and that is my second question. once the seeds germinate when do i lift the cover on my milk containers so that they are completely erxposed and three, oncethey get really growing do i put them in the back of my house wehre there is sun for most of the day.

thanks from a rookie

frank

I leave the lid off mine right from the get go... and put a few more vents along the top of the sides .. so when the weather warms up... I can open the vents... they don't need to be in a sheltered spot ... only secured so they don't blow over... I put mine against my deck rail and usually prop them against each other with something that has some weight.. some of last years filled containers usually do that job well

Hey, Frank
No need to baby 'em. Just outfit your jugs, plant em', put 'em in the sun, and let 'em go!

Here's a pic of my jugs. I have LOTS of holes in the top and the bottom, and I use two pieces of Duct tape, one on each side to hold them closed.

That's about it!

P.S. I used a hot phillips screwdriver to burn the holes. Put it on the stove burner and turned on the vents. Goes fast when you alternate between two screwdrivers. Don't breathe in when it's smokin'!

Linda

This message was edited Jan 27, 2010 4:55 PM

Frank, while cold or frozen, the soil in the containers seems to retain moisture quite well, but once warmer temps arrive, you'll need to check them to make sure they're moist. Mine start germinating in March here, but that depends on the seed sown- hardy, cool weather plants germinate early, like Poppies and Wallflowers, but many others wait till temps are steadily warm. In April I see loads germinating every day. Some are just naturally slow, I've had Columbine wait till June to germinate. I keep the lids attached till danger of frost has passed or the plants outgrow the container, whichever comes first (I typically don't have any that big till after danger of frost, but hardy plants I often plant out early while quite small and they do just fine). I wouldn't put them in a lot of sun once they're up and growing, mainly because they tend to dry out quickly. If the lids are still attached, that may allow too much heat to build up. I find morning sun works beautifully for them.

Oh, by lid, I meant the top half of the jug. You don't need the screw on caps at all.

thank you all for your useful suggestions. will winter sowing work for vegetable seeds like tomatoes, hot peppers, eggplants etc. i'm not into cool crops like spinach and lettuce etc.

thanks

p.s. i tend to drive people crazy with all my questions until i fully understand what i am doing. LOL

ppss - i may start a couple of tomato seeds next month just to give it a try.

I do that too...this is one of those "it's so simple that this can't be all there is to it" things. Drainage, soil, water, seed and a dome...yup, ridiculous:lol:

You can WS most veggies, so go ahead and try it!

thanks Neal for that great post.

went with DH to a consultation... ended up being gone 5.5 hrs!! but i got a gyro dinner out of it.

Frank... for milk jugs or any container with a screw cap... just toss it, you dont need it.
as Neal said... once it gets warm, you can removed the top half, so your seedlings dont fry in the hot sun [it gets warm in there] though most of us do not totally remove and throw away the top half until your 'last frost' date.

that's one great thing about cutting the milk jugs, you cut three sides and leave one for a hinge.
here is an image of nannies milk jugs.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=6396697

i do the same thing... but dont cut off the other half until i know i dont need it anymore.

i gave my soil a good soaking and let it drain for a day or so before I sowed any seeds so that i wouldnt have to water and disturb anything for a few days.

i sowed seeds on top of the soil. I did not cover them. (again, it was that's how Mother Nature sows her seeds thing)

another hint I read last year about 'lessons learned' ( i tried to scroll back to last year to find it because it was the most concise list of tips that ive seen so far, but, didnt find it. yet)
was that she made a label of the plant and inserted it in a cheap sandwich ziplock bag. because using markers on the outside faded, etc., etc., so I made a double sided one. rolled it up and inserted it against the wall of the jug between it and the dirt so that I could see it thru the jug and so that if it faded, i could still see the one on the inside. I only had one mess up.....the bag wasnt sealed tightly. but it worked. might have been over kill .

I didnt transplant anything to pots/cups unless i was sharing it with friends. mine went from the jugs to the ground.

here's my labels in 2 ltr bottles. (i like them because you could watch them grow)

I use a #2 pencil and old mini blinds as plant markers. The pencil doesn't fade or wear off over the year. (I found some markers out in the garden today that I could still read just as though I'd written them yesterday.) I put one inside the jug as well as mark on the outside of the jug.

You could try freecycle for plastic jugs. I picked up a bunch that way this weekend. I also got 12 jugs of winter sowing done. This is my first time ever doing it so I'm excited to see the results.

Also check local coffee shops for jugs.

I bought a large bag of Miracle Grow potting Mix over the weekend, got about 10 jugs ready about three weeks ago and is still looking to collect a few more, found some really old packets of seeds, along with seeds I have collected in my various trips the past 5 years, and a few recent seeds collected last season. Thinking about planting in the next few weeks. I guess that makes me one of the slow pokes. I had really planned on sowing some of the digitalis early to fool them into blooming later this year, but, I think I missed the window of opportunity.

Hats off to those of you who have rows and rows of jugs planted, labeled, and ready for action.

**corrected from soil to Mix

This message was edited Jan 28, 2010 10:07 AM

Soils,
Make sure you're using MG potting MIX in your jugs. It makes a diff in seed germination. Read from the top of this thread 4 the discussion about what 2 plant in.

Linda -- when i was at Sam's last - and picked up that huge bag of MG, there was a different bag next to it, about one third the price... so i stood there comparing the two. both where MG. the newer one, was $5something... but it said...

Miracle Gro Potting SOIL -- where the other one $12something did say Potting MIX.
the potting soil did say... Not to be used in containers. and something about amending soil.

you'd have to read it pretty closely - and i guess not be a novice ... even though i stood there a while trying to find the 'ingredients' [never did] but a gal came over and started talking to me ... she basically said... oh - this stuff will turn rock hard if you use it in containers.

I had just never seen MG Potting SOIL before....

I have seen MG Garden Soil, I bet its the same stuff, just a different name. But what a dumb name if it shouldn't be used for potting?

yea... that is what i thought too.

So, TC,
Basically, I was right? The newbie is learning??!

Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy ^^_^^

This message was edited Jan 28, 2010 10:17 AM

Sorry for all the confusion - I meant to type in miracle gro potting MIX. LoL

gemini sage

You might want to watch the garden soils in bags. Some of them have sewage tankage in them listed as manure. Some of these tankages have not been properly digested and can cause illnesses.... som also have heavy metals in them.

I went out and checked my bags of MG. There is a difference, unknowingly I bought both kinds, There is a difference in texture and the soil mix one doesn't have perlite or vermiculite in it, it is also much cheaper. Hope this isn't going to make a difference in WS seed starting. : ( It does say on the bag for in ground use, not for pots.
Well, I learned something new. I am going to see what the results are between seeds started in both.

Valley... Yup -- that is the same back i saw at Sam's.

I wondered why it was so much less in cost.
tcs have you used the soil one before? Has anyone here used it with success?
Maybe I should go get some perlite and add to it?

why dont you try a sample of it... put it in a pot of some sort, add water and see what it does after a few days... how's your weather? can you put it outside with out it freezing? [I couldn't... we are only 10F right now]

You just dont want it to turn hard.... if it compacts too much, the seeds can't "breathe"

I dont know enough about it to know if adding perlite would help.. maybe someone else would know.

Wow, I didn't mean to cause all this -- but, I guess I did a good thing, huh?

Gymgirl

not to worry if you can't come here with your questions to learn then you can't go anywhere. At least this gives folks the heads up to be checking their bags.

It is good to have discussion.

Janet

last year was the first time I ever noticed the SOIL but I used it for repotting plants like my ponytail plant, mother in law's tongues, etc. that I planned to keep in pots.

but I used and preferred the MG POTTING MIX for WSing.

Gymgirl, I thought that was a great question. Now we are aware there is a difference and it could be a problem for WS.
tcs, I will do that test right now.
We are pretty warm right now for Jan (unusually so), 30's night time,low 50's daytime. We will be getting some freezing weather before it's all over for Winter.

I don't especially like Miracle Grow and don't use it much, so can't comment on their soils. But generally garden soil is not recommended for containers.Google it. Read the label for ingredients. If it's soil, I wouldn't use it. It might work OK, but might not. Why set yourself up for failure?

You want potting mix.

Karen

well, MG brand period is not my first choice, but I live 50-60 miles from big stores or garden centers. or sams. if i dont plan ahead and want something now, or cant get to real shopping, lol, I have to settle for the store I dread the worst...starts with wal and ends with mart, lol. their selection s*cks

Sticks?

=0 UH HUH