Winter Sowing - 2010 - things rolling right a long

I haven't even started sowing yet. Just got the stupid cast off my stupid elbow and it's still sore. Plenty of winter left to work with though--supposed to be minus 3 tonight.

I have a bag of that MG organic choice garden soil still laying around. I haven't opened it yet to see what it's like but I can mix it with aged pine bark fines and poultry grit if it's too heavy. And the giant leaf bin of leftovers and dumped out pots from the fall should work nicely.

We did some cleaning out of our covered carport/storage area in the backyard yesterday. I found about 6 or 7 jugs from last year just waiting to be reused this year! Yeehaw!

Karen, why don't you like MG. I've wanted to ask for a long time. It does so well for everything I've planted. I'm just wondering.

How do you guys handle seeds that supposedly prefer dark to germinate? I'm thinking violas, dianthus, centaurea.

it very late but i have more info. will this work for milk weed. need some for you know what. be back to ask for help. jimcv45 . thank you. jim. make need info. jim

Well, I'm late getting started this year, but yesterday I sowed salvias (four kinds), gazania, gaillardia, cordydalis lutea, aconite and crocosmia Emberglow. Will be sowing more this weekend, as we're supposed to be snowed in, so it'll be a good time for me to get myself in gear. I'm using anything I can get my hands on: milk jugs, 2-liter pop bottles, large plastic cherry tomato boxes from Sam's Club, the large plastic baby spring mix containers from same place, even converted some plastic domes from CD cases into use. I do want to get some of the larger plastic drink cups to use for seeds that I don't want to sow a gazillion of. I have some caryopteris that I will be starting in the freezer, as Hort.mag says to start them. Going to get those babies going, too.

Oh, and yesterday while DH was taking out some spireas for a bed we're redoing, he found egg cases for Chinese mantids! Hoping we'll have some blessed events this spring when they hatch. Love the praying mantises. Woohoo!

Angie -- when i was doing my fall clean up, i found a bunch too... but it 's usually after i've done the clean up... So i just push, whatever branch/stick/whatever, back into the ground... they are sort of clustered together... not sure if htat is good or bad, since they will eat each other if there is not other food supply.

In the 8.5 yrs i've been here... I've seen the mature ones since about year 2, and last year was the first time i saw a juvenile. they are cute lil buggers.

Uh, pictures, please....

Okay, guys since were on the subject of planting medium, I have a question. Is potting soil and garden soil the same thing? I know that garden soil is just that, it's for outdoor use, and not even for container growing. I have a bag of Wal-Mart Expert brand potting soil that I was given last summer (I thought it was potting mix until I opened it recently and saw how heavy it was). I will use that if I need extra backfill when I put potted plants in the ground. I've since bought a large bag of MG potting mix which I will use for WS. This is my first year, and I want to do it right. So, I want to say thanks for joggy my memory to take a 2nd look at the label.

Nanniepb, are you saying that the potting soil is appropiate for indoor/outdoor potted plants?

Deborah

Linda... what would you like to see a photo of?
the "egg" or mantis? i dont have an image of the juvie though.
and an egg... i'd have to run out in ... Ummm, 5 degree temps to take a pic... you may have to wait til it warms up a bit.

TC,
I'll take what'cha got!

H E L L O

she was just sorta just "hangin' out" on my rose bush

they are really stunning creatures in their own way. fascinating to just sit and watch, as they sit and watch you back.

Those photos are awesome!!!! I have NEVER seen this creature in my yard. Is it something I should WANT in my yard? Will it eat St. Augustine grass?

no... they dont eat grass but they eat grassHOPPERS.

they are carnivorous. GREAT to have in your beds... flower beds. People buy the egg sacks and let them hatch and let them go in their gardens... super beneficial bug.

if you research them... they are quite fascinating .. the female is larger than the males... they will eat each other if there is no other food source... and at the end of their life cycle, they mate, usually killing the male... while they are mating... she will usually kill and partially eat him as they mate. from what i recall , the head has the most nutrients ... once i found just the body still clinging to my fence...head was gone.

then the female wanders off to lay her egg sack... then dies. here that is usually November time frame. Weather depending....

Thanks, Karen. We did see a juvenile this past summer and I wish I had grabbed the camera, but here is a photo of the egg case:

Awesome pictures tcs. They are great fun to have in the garden. Here is a picture of a female on a mum plant on the front porch.

Shoot! I was hoping to get some more land for veggies...

But, no matter. I had a whole lotta trouble with these humongous brown grasshoppers last season.

Awesome photos! Love the mums valleylynn! Mantis look like skinny people:-) So interesting!

Gymgirl, thanks for the forum links thread!

This year, I have been mixing my potting mix with manure, think this was overkill?

Naw.

I'm mixing my MG potting mix with my homemade compost and Black Kow composted manure. Some veggies/plants actually like organic additives.

Here is what I have Winter Sown so far:
Tomatoes:
Bicolor Cherry
Black Cherry
Black Sea Man
Brandywine (Suddeth)
Giant Belgium
Gold Nugget
Green Grape
Magyar Piros Boker
Marion
Matt's Wild Cherry
Mexico
Mortgage Lifter
Peron
Purple Russian
Royal Hillbilly
Super Snow White
Sundrop

Flowers:
Hosta Big Daddy
Hosta On Stage
Hosta Silver Lode
Hosta, plantaginea
Roscoea purpurea
Viola Heatsease 'Johnny Jump Up'
Dicentra scandens 'yellow bleeding heart'
Much more seed to go. : )

Thanks Gymgirl! I'm not doing my veggies yet, but its good to know I'm not over doing it!

Valleylynn, you have been a busy little rocker:-) Thats gonna be tomato heaven!

I cant wait to do mine. It was in the 60's all week and today its back to freezing. Make up your mind already!!!!!!

Jadajoy,
That's the absolute beauty of Winter Sowing! You don't necessarily need to wait on the weather, as long as the tender stuff is protected when the temps drop.

Karen says she waits until all danger of frost has passed before sowing non-frost hardy vegetation, but mentioned she's pushed the envelope a time or two and sowed anyway. She had time to sow again if stuff didn't make it...

Jada, it will be awhile before these germinate. It is cold and damp here. Have you done WS before? If so how did it do for you? This is my first time. I have already planned out where the different ones will be planted. If all my planning works I will be in tomato heaven. : )
Speaking of rocks, wonder if putting some of the big ones against the jugs when the seeds germinate will help them along by storing heat during the day? I wouldn't do it until they germinate.

Thats good advice Gymgirl. But I have seeds given to me by folks that I cant replace and I really wanted to wait till the optimal time to make sure I get some germination if any. I might try a few indoors too just to increase my chances. The wx here is too iffy right now for vegetables I think.

And if I did them now, I'd be too busy worrying about them to do anything else. I dont really want to babysit, I have too much on my plate:-)

I saw your pics and your setup is impressive! especially the 5 gal veggies. I wish I could do that...thinking about it for next year.....

Sorry Lynn, I cross posted. I think the rock heaters would work!

I started wsing in 2007 and it worked great! I have been busy these past winters, but this year I have many containers and many more to do. I'll post a pic for you when I take one. I use the HD containers and 9oz clear plastic cups in them.

I can get 24-32 cups in each one, which gives me a chance to get ALL my seeds done. So far I have about 5-6 containers, so thats about 120 different varietes, minimum, that are wsown.

Ok, my WSing plans for this weekend include HOSing some of those mustard seedlings into other containers so they can stretch out. I have so many, I can afford to lose a few.

I also have to plant some Snow peas out that have been in the little peat pots since I bought them about 4-5 weeks ago -- it's a miracle they're still alive, although damping off tried to set in. But I curbed that with some H2O2...

Also, my "air" potato experiment necessitates me prepping at least one of the washing machine tubs. I have seed potatoes that have sprouted and are growing potatoes while on a paper plate in a dark cabinet in my office!

Here's a pic. Fascinating to see how the potatoes actually grow from side stalks that are traveling underground!

It's Show and Tell Time!

WOW! Linda, I bet you could grow water in the desert:-) So amazing. Those will be good eating come summer!

o.k. two last questions. how often do i have to go out and waer my seeds once i put them outside andwhen should i pu tthem outside. ?
i live in zone 5b and my last frost dte is april 15th.

thanks

Jada, would love to see the picture, that sounds like a great idea. That would really be a space saver. : )
Linda, that is the first time I have seen potatoes growing out in the open. How cute is that. It will be end of May before I can plant potatoes here.
Herbie, I'm going to let someone else answer your question as I am new to WSing. : )

I'm gonna be a pest and ask my question again: do you do anything differently for seeds that supposedly germinate better in the dark? Dianthus, centaurea, viola etc. I've started Dianthus and Centaurea inside just making sure the seed is completely covered, but I'm afraid they'll rot if I do that WS.
Also, does anyone do more than one kind of seed in a container? I don't have a lot of room for perennials, so some I only need a couple. The smallest thing I have is 2-liter bottles, but I do have a lot of 500ml water bottles I can save. Anyone ever used something like that?
Jadajoy, any pics of the cups in containers? what do you cover the cups with? Those might work better for me.

grrrlgeek, I have violas that self sow over winter. Would think barely covering them with soil would do it for WSing outside. I have some out in a gallon milk jug that I sowed yesterday.

grrrlgeek, I put different types of the same plant in one container when I use the milk jugs. I might forget later which is which, but it saves space.Its dark here now but I'll take pics in the morning. Someone else will have to answer your other questions.

No progress wintersowing this week, been busy recovering from food poisoning, diagnosing and repairing a problem with my heater, unsuccessfully trying to contact the manager and maintenance staff to repair said problem, and calling realtors. Good news is that there are lot of nicer places with more garden space available. However, I best limit the number of wintersowing containers that have to be moved lest the bf question my sanity.

I definitely have to use up the rest of the potting soil that I sterilized. I have things sown in soda bottles which are stored in plastic trays. Most have dividers (recycled lidoderm patch covers) to fit at least two varieties in each bottle. The bf got the trays to make it easier to transport and store soda. He hasn't seen my alternate use for soda bottles yet. I am not going to mention the alternate use for the soldering iron either. My goal is a cottage style garden with lots of flowers in bloom. I will be happy with several plants of any given variety.

I would love to read any tips to get dianthus to germinate. I haven't wintersown any dianthus , yet. Attempts to start them inside last spring were unsuccessful.

It is 13'F here at the moment. High temperatures for the next couple of days will be in the 20s. I think it is too early to start tender plants like tomatoes here. (Depending on my relocation situation, I may be waiting until next year to start tomatoes). Nevertheless, I am very interested in following everyone's progress with tender annuals, especially veggies. I have limited space for grow lights and seed trays. (I have one wire shelf unit for both my plant supplies and any seedlings under lights. I have more shelves, but no room to set them up.)

ow, hope you're not having to use those patches yourself. Maybe a plastic plant tag stuck down on it's side would work.

I don't remember doing anything special for the dianthus. They were Dianthus plumarius 'Sonata', I started them in these little fiber plugs with holes in the middle. I put dirt over the hole since they supposedly like dark. My note says they germ at 70* so they either weren't on the heating mat or on the very edge where they didn't get much heat. I potted them up into cow pots. They didn't get very big, my fault for not getting them in the ground fast enough, but they were healthy and growing so we'll see if they come back.

I still consider myself a newbie at WSing even though I did it last year, with varying success. How soon do those of you in the colder zones (like mine) start tomatoes & other vegs?

Actually I am using the patches myself. I am recovering from a serious auto accident. The patches are preferable to the other medications that I would otherwise have to take. (And still have to take if I overdo it gardening. It doesn't take much for me to overdo it.) The bf did all of the hole digging, rock removing and trellis installation.

Does anyone have dimensions on the 5 gallon growbags that worked well for tomatoes? I am experimenting on making my own. I tried different fabrics/styles for smaller plants last summer. I am ready to try some bigger ones.

Thanks for the tips on dianthus. I tried 'Siberian blue' and 'rainbow loveliness' I got a couple of seeds of the Siberian blue to germinate . They remained tiny hairs and never got big enough to plant out. I tried the rainbow loveliness inside and direct sown. Not one seed germinated. Arggh. Maybe the bf is right about seeds. I am glad to hear that covering them well is adequate. I was concerned that I would miss any germinated seeds if they were covered with brown paper to block the light (some expert somewhere does that sometimes). I guess one could put the container under a box or in a dark spot or something. I have never seen any dianthus or carnation plants around here. On the proposed carnation/dianthus forum, one man buys carnation at Shop Rite (ironically at the same store where the bf saw the carjacking) and roots them. I guess that is another option. The dianthus forum also has links to a lot of online ebooks and other information. I have been reading some (and getting distracted by eBooks on other topics). I haven't found good information(yet) on starting dianthus seeds. I read thru one very interesting chapter on propagating/hybridizing it gave excellent information on pollination, etc. but when it got to planting the resulting seeds it said plant and watch for interesting characteristics. A barren pot of potting soil isn't very interesting (unless you are a fungus gnat).

Here are some of the online library links. Some are sites listing lots of things on lots of subjects. You can search for types of plants, "garden", "botany", "landscape", etc.

http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/browse?type=lcsubc&key=Gardens%20--%20Design
http://www.kellscraft.com/AmericanGardens/americangardencontent.html
http://www2.lib.msu.edu/branches/dmc/index.jsp

Lots of interesting things to read if you are snowed in or run out of seeds to wintersow.