Winter sowing - 2010 - what's sprouting?

cinnamon is supposed to prevent mold... I use it now and then too... smells nice when you water.. but not sure if it really does anything

for mold, i've been used Peroxide and water. in my other spray bottle i have [what i call my "tonic"] where i have Compost Tea, Liquid Seaweed, THRIVE, and Tea Tree Oil ... the Oil is supposed to kill any fungus and keep away those darned gnats.

But, since our last snow fall that melted -- I have not had an issue of 'over wet' containers.

peroxide does help .... good to know about the tea tree oil.. I use compost tea for all my inside seedlings

here is the thread i was getting ideas for my "tonic" from
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/956114/

How do you like the Thrive? I've not hear any "user" testimonials and was wondering.

It's great for transplant shock.

I bought it last year after researching it a bit...

I grew some Yvonne Salvias in the house and wanted to make sure they survived... when i transplanted them they wilted quite a bit... one good drink of THRIVE and they perked right up again... within the hour i think.

So now anytime i transplant.. i use Thrive... also, when i ship any 'rooted' plants for trade... I soak the roots before shipping then wrap them in paper towels soaked with the thrive water. i figure, can't hurt and maybe helps.

mine survived and some of them need transplanted Im real happy with my winter sowing
also have 7 rose of sharon i started in the house they are about 5 inches tall

My seedling in their jugs still look green and perky after two nights of mid-twenties & one of snow. Hooray for WS!

Moonflowers coming up that were only put out ten days ago! Also have Malva, Hollyhocks, Salvia, Cotton :)
three kinds of marigolds, one little cypress vine seedling...plus the chunk of farewell-to-spring, which I got from WS site and haven't a clue what they will look like. (Going to PF now!) They hve been sayng hello-to-spring here for two weeks now!

We have various containers outside and keeping track of progress in each. Will never try standard tray and dome again as the seedlings are already at the height limit after 4 days. Think I may have to do some early transplanting or devise a creative cover.

I'm in the same boat as you, clpgirl--my indoor trays are going to need transplanting before it's really warm enough to safely transplant. Trying winter-sowing for the first time this year I did ws containers and a few indoor trays in case one of the two turned into an epic failure. In my outside containers I have the following coming up:

alyssum
african daisy
2 kinds of sweet pea
cosmos 'psyche white'
flowering tobacco
salvia
bachelor's buttons
sunflower 'honey bear'
snapdragon 'frosted sunset'

That's neat, runnerboy. I have some of those same seeds to start but thought it was too early..... namely Allysum, Cosmos, and Bachelor's Buttons. Guess that means I can start jugs tomorrow unless I'm rained out, otherwise it'll be one day next week. Sunflowers are among my favorite annuals. I've never grown 'Honey Bear". Is it also a dwarf similar to "Teddy Bear"?

For all I know I might have put some things in a bit early--it's my first year doing wintersow. I think last night was the last of the very cold nights though, so we should be safe. 'Honey Bear' is similar to 'Teddy Bear' in that it has the fluffy face. It is not a dwarf though--supposedly it gets to be 5-6' tall.

There really is no "too early" in Winter Sowing. You just let the seeds sprout at their natural time. You're not forcing them to sprout ahead of the time they'd sprout out in the wild or if they were direct sown in the fall. When you plant inside using grow lights or domes, you're "forcing" the seeds to sprout early. WSing allows the seeds to sprout at the time Mother Nature would sprout them.

I noticed yesterday that I had one Bull Nose bell pepper and cilantro sprouting in my jugs! Whoop! I need to plant my sweet peas out today.

I just updated my WS thread here but you can also follow my updates on my blog if anyone wants to check it out.

http://1meadowyck.blogspot.com

Here is my jug eyeing for today....



Janet

What an undertaking, Janet, and not just the jugs. Wow!

Stephanie,

I want to make sure I understand you. Runnerboy listed plants/flowers that are annuals for my zone. When you said "There really is no "too early" in Winter Sowing. You just let the seeds sprout at their natural time". Does that apply to annuals being WSed in zone 5? I have some annuals I would like to start but it is my understanding that I still have to wait until danger of frost has passed????

I was under the impression that you would need to wait on annuals that truly are annuals. By that I mean there are some plans that are annuals and they don't come back but their seeds produce new plants, so to me they are a hardy annual so I would think it would be worth a try for starting those annuals in ws. Now annuals like vegetables and annual flowers that don't come back from new seeds that were dropped the previous season, then I wouldn't want to chance them. I would wait till after last frost date.

This is just my thinking and hopefully someone that knows will answer.

Janet

My Jubilee Gem Bachelor Buttons have germinated.

You can go ahead and sow them The only problem you might have is if you get a late freeze. If they germinate, you might need to protect them if it freezes. Remember. most seeds germinate when the soil temp reaches a certain temp. So if you have a warming trend followed by a cold snap, that's when you'll likely to have problems .

Diamond--what are you planning on planting? As for protecting them against frost, I put one of those plastic tarps over my containers last night and weighted them down with a few bricks. The temp dropped to 24 and when I checked on them this morning while it was still in the 20s, the condensation in the containers wasn't frozen and the seedlings looked fine.

I don't plant my annuals outside simply because my growing season is already so short that if I don't have fairly nice size plants to put out after danger of frost then it would take too long to have a nice display. Therefore I start my annuals inside from now on. I am up-potting my tomatoes now. Some of ,my petunias are on their second set of leaves, 'course others haven't germinated yet. Geraniums are on their 2nd set, etc. Verbenas are up.

Now there is a strange one. I have never grown verbenas before. From seed that is. So, in reading from Summer Hill's packet it says to put a black plastic over them. I did that. In one week I checked them and there were some up and they looked like one inch white hairs. In a panic I emailed SH. Within 2 hours Robin emailed me back with instructions. This was after 9 o'clock p.m. our time so had to be midnight her time. She is super good about that. She emailed me on a Sunday evening one time.

I am doubting that the perennials that I have WS will bloom this year. I just might start some of those in the house this week to hopefully get some color from them this year. And, I can always use more. : )

yea... Robin was always great with communication... i think that goes a long way with customer service.

>>I am doubting that the perennials that I have WS will bloom this year.

Which ones are you concerned about? there are some first year blooming perennials.

Rudbeckias etc. I am sure they would bloom if we had a longer season. Do your winter sowed perennials bloom? I see you are the same zone I am.

I checked today and all species of Dianthus are up, German Chamomile (like a chia pet), Soapwort, Pyrethrum, Monkey Flower, Amethyst Shooting Star, Snow in Summer, a few Bacopa, and Poached Egg. Also the Carpet of Snow Alyssum sprouted practically as soon as they touched the dirt, and most of the sprouts made it through the cold nights and a couple of inches of snow, there are some leaves now. I still have a lot to do though; I had planned on having everything out by today. Best laid plans...

OH heavens yes on the Ruds. they bloom their lil heads off until hard frost for me. well into Nov last year.

I have some little Totos that even look like they will come back this year. Plus I know they resowed.

We have alot of freezing temperature left here. tonight I think it's supposed to drop down again. I'm confused now on the annual planting. I don't have the kind of schedule that allows me to run home to cover and uncover. I guess I will have to wait until there's no danger of frost.

Question: If there's no danger of frost, would it be better to just direct sow? After the last frost, what's the benefit of sowing in jugs? Would there be any danger of seedlings overheating?

Anita, I love your reply to your mother. Quick thinking. I sometimes feel I have to apologize for my love of flowers. I think Moms can be the most hurtful because you are always their child.
My sweet peas have not sprouted much. I am starting to get concerned. It's been about two weeks. About half of my seeds have sprouted. My daughter W.S. heirloom tomatoes and we are not having good luck with them. Two kinds out of about 10 have sprouted. It's been about three weeks also.
I have larkspur, oriental poppies, alyssum, snapdragons, and candytuft that has sprouted very well. I am anxiously waiting for two leaves so I can plant them outside. I think all of these flowers like cool weather and are hardy annuals and perennials. I also have Crazy Daisy Shasta Daisies sprouted and others I can't think of. I have heliotrope sprouted and under grow lights. I start it in doors as it has not done well for me to W.S. it.

diamond: I find W.S. is like having the seeds/plants in a mini greenhouse. Everything just goes a lot faster. I think I would W.S. even after the frost date just because things go really fast.
I say plant all of the seeds you want and trust mother nature to take care of your seeds. She will when the time is right. I live in zone 6 and don't cover anything up. They're in a mini greenhouse and they are protected. By the time they get big enough to set outside, the weather will be warmer. That's my two cents.

Thanks Birder! I agree with you. My mother probably didn't mean any harm. I try to be a frugal gardener but I love growing flowers especially from seeds. I figure, what's the harm??? I'm not speading much money, I am at home, not bothering anyone and I'm not doing anything illegal. LoLI guess this is my way of trying to beautify my little corner of the world. LoL

That helps alot. I am going to throw them in jugs after the danger of frost. I usually don't plant alot of annuals. Since I have WSed so many seeds that may not bloom this yer, I thought I would mix in a few annuals for color. I would like to try dahlias tubers this year, petunias and gazanias.

This message was edited Mar 28, 2010 7:55 PM

Even through freezing and being covered in snow, my WS seedlings made it through like champs! Nothing died, though the Livingstone Daisy seedlings are looking a little puny. I'm thrilled.

I'm trying a few pepper and tomato varieties that I'm also starting inside as a comparison.

Anita... I will still be "jug" sowing.. there will be a few things where i will toss seeds, just because i have so darned many.

but like Birder said... it's the greenhouse thing... they stay warmer... if it rains hard, they wont wash away... that happened to me one yr. Poured so hard, and for days... that many seeds just washed away. I'm sure birds ate a lot of them too.

Diamond, One more thing, after telling you to W.S. after the frost date. Because they grow faster in the mini greenhouse, it will also warm up in the mini greenhouse faster. So, on warm days, take the tops off. You will need to water them a little more often because it's warmer in there. Also, make plenty of holes in your containers. You will water more often, but you want the water to drain out also. I hope this doesn't scare you off. As Ms. Reagan said, "Just do it!" :)
I am going to continue to sow seeds in containers until I get everything sown I want. I have about two more weeks until our last frost date. I have a bad cold or pneumonia right now, so I am not doing much sowing. I think I need to go to the Dr. I have had this for two weeks now. I am just going to do the W.S. when I feel good enough to do it. What will be will be. One can only try, and you don't have much to lose.

No it doesn't scare me off. I work a 24 hour schedule (plus a part-time job). Usually, once I leave to go to work, I'm not back home until the next morning. So if it freezes, unfortunately, I don't have anyone to cover or uncover. I would hate to torture the seedlings by exposing them to elements they can't survive in.

I don't mind the watering as long as I'm fostering a healthy environment they can survive in.

Hope you get to feeling better soon, birder17 and are able to finish your jugs.

grrrlgeek, My hat's off to you for growing a Chia Pet of German Chamomile...those seeds are almost as small as specks of dust. I've never heard of Poached Egg, only Nest Egg gourds. Am I behind the times again?

Just for grins, I'm going to experiment and use a few seeds of these to W/S: Tomatoes, Peppers, Marigolds, Sunflowers, Herbs, Gourds, Money Plant, Allysum, Cosmos, Bachelor's Buttons and whatever else in my seed bin that strikes my fancy. Anita, I forgot to mention the Snow in Summer seeds you sent have been up a couple of weeks. None of the plants are large enough to transplant yet but boy are they thick.

That leads me to another question. How does everyone go about separating plants when they're thick as thieves and are ready to transplant? Do you cut the jug apart and transplant plugs of plants and thin them out later?

Diamond, I'm probably going to sow my tender annuals over the next few weeks. For you it might just be easier to wait another week or two. You will only need to give them protection from freeze after they sprout, so you don't have to do it all the time. I watch the extended forecast for my city, and when the 10 or 15 day forecast shows nights staying above freezing, I figure it's fairly safe. If you watch your forecast, it will give you a good indication of when to start.

After they sprout, just pay attention to the weather. If you have tender sprouts and a freeze is protected, just throw a blanket over them for the night. If you time it right, you won't have to bother often.

Karen

I dump them on their heads in a flat, flip right side up, cut into squares with a knife, plant hunks. I don't thin. Works well.

Karen

FOTV - if the whole mass comes out in one piece great.. if not I cut the container apart and pull it out and just try to separate as best as I can... each one usually goes different... but if they are tough to get apart .. I will just plant a chunk and let them fight it out... figure the strongest will survive

One of my friends works at a greenhouse, and almost had a seizure when she saw me plant seedlings like that, with no thinning. LOL I know commercially it doesn't make sense for reasons of economics, but this is just me and a packet of seeds.

Diamond: here are my thoughts on W.S. "before" and "after" last frost date.
If you W.S. before the last frost date, you don't have to worry about taking lids off etc. YOu just plant and basically forget and let Mom Nature do her thing.
If you W.S. after the last frost date, you have to take lids off if it gets really warm out as the container will be even hotter than the air outside. I think you have to watch them a little closer, but the good part is they will sprout and grow faster due to warmer germinating conditions.
Maybe this was already clear and I am being repetitive. The bottom line is both ways work pretty well.

Fruit of the Vine: Thanks.

Anita, the only things I WS late are frost sensitive annuals (Zinnias, Sunflowers, Dahlias), but hardy annuals are fine wintersown any time (like Alyssum, Nigella, Poppies, 4 O'clocks, Verbena bonariensis, etc.). And that's just because I can be lazy about covering things, LOL.