Winter sowing - 2010 - what's sprouting?

Gemini, how nice of you!! Either way would be great. I love annuals but use them mainly for my containers on the deck since I like to make these different each year. And change the color schemes too I might add. Since I am retired and live in "snow" country, I get cabin fever along in February. So the seed catalogs and my seed shelving save my mentality. LOL.

However, I have a rather hilly perennial bed that is difficult for me to work in so when I find a nice perennial,and one that is colorful too, that can't be beat. I can plant it and count on it every year. Great!!

Which ever would be easiest for you works for me. Thank you!

Jeanette

I haven't been feeling well, so my seeds have been on their own. One thing I like about wintersowing, the seeds are out of the way and on their own. I hope that my Lauren Grape sprouts also. It should be nice weather the next few days, hopefully I will feel up to taking pix.

Last I checked, i had some sprouts in the earliest containers. Hollyhocks did especially well.

CapeCod: Your most welcome. That's what's great about this website you learn stuff all the time. And, a lot of the stuff you learn you can't find in a book.

that's a fact ... JACK!!

There's nothing like sharing 1st hand knowledge and soaking up advice for plants I've never tried. Thanks for the hardy annuals links, birder17. Anita wasn't in the boat by herself.

Jugs sowed today --
Alyssum
Bachelor Buttons
Cockscombs
Cosmos
Evening Primrose
Herbs
Money Plant
Sunflowers

Is it too late to W/S poppy seeds or would it be better now to just scatter seeds directly in the beds?

I was going to say that I would like to know that too about the poppy seeds. But noticed that you are zone 7 and I am 5 so maybe I should WS instead.

It was so warm today I still have the deck and balcony doors open. It's still 75F in here. Better get my jug eye out there tomorrow and see what's awake.

Holy Carp! I just looked at the forecast in my status bar and it's supposed to be EIGHTY-TWO tomorrow. It hardly ever got that hot last year, much less the first of April.

I would really be worried if we got that warm here this time of year. LOL, everything would bloom and sprout and then freeze.

we are supposed to be in the 70's for a few days... everything is going to freak out

Yes, then everything will start sprouting and blooming and it will freeze and kill the crops for the year. That is what it does here.

Ack. I was going to WS some stuff tomorrow, but I think I'll wait til it goes back down to the 50's. I better see if any jugs need water.

grrrrl,

we are only supposed to be 77
-- but they are always off a few degrees.

it's still gorgeous here... cant wait til tomorrow.

Actually, I checked a couple of other sites and Accuweather is the only one saying it will be that hot. Maybe I won't feel compelled to turn on the a/c.

No one answered the question about the poppies, so I will pass on what I read. Please keep in mind that I am new to gardening and haven't had much success with poppies. I read that poppies need cold to germinate. That is why they wintersow well. Some seed packages suggest storing the seeds in the freezer before sowing. Lots of people wrote that they broadcast the seeds in the snow or plant around Christmas time.

Poppies were the first seeds I wintersowed. They still haven't germinated as of last week, but I will keep checking.

You could always try a few seeds and save the rest.

It will be sunny and in the 70's here also. Bring it on!

I can't wait to open all of the windows again. We have had record amounts of rain this spring, I am tired of damp, cold drizzle.

what's nice about the wood stove insert we have... we can crank it up and open the windows on 50 days... nice to get some air in here.. won't be needing that tomorrow though!!!

for my poppies... they were sown on Feb 5, germinated on March 18. Out of 6 containers, 5 have germinated... leaving only "Semi-Doubles Mix" ... but I also see in my notes, they were old seeds. i commented that they were gray. so perhaps duds already.

Grrrrl -- Last night i did check the 'temps' for today... they were showing 77 it thnk, but now my "AcuWeather" in the task bar is showing 80 for today. But you are right.. you can check 5 different sites and get 5 different answers.

Teresa, your seeds germinated very fast! I just WS some poppies a couple of weeks ago. I wonder if I have sprouts already. From the time your seeds sprout, how long is it until you remove or vent the lids? These warm day should cause more sprouts to pop up. I'm looking forward to jug surfing once I make it home.

Yes, opening them up and how about a weak fertilizer solution? Or is it too early for that?

After hail 2 days ago and snowing today, it doesn't bother me that mine are not sprouting that fast. It would be nice to see some activity, but it is cold out.

I went out to plant my strawberries but it was so cold I decided neither the strawberries or I would like it out there and decided to wait.

I don't blame you at all! it just doesn't seem at all naturla to plant in cold weahter!!!

We are having some nice weather for the next few days. I want to see how many more sprouts I will have after some sunshine and warmer weather. I think it's strange that one of my jugs only has one sprout! LoL One lonely Malva!

Yes, we had nice weather for a short time too I have 2 jugs sprouted. Then we got hail and snow and cold.

What were your jugs that sprouted? We are in the same zone.

The first one was a couple of weeks ago, Large Quaking Grass, ornamental grass. And I just saw Ageratum up a couple of days ago.




Edited to add: Maybe Large Quaking Oats.

This message was edited Apr 1, 2010 2:19 PM

diamond, I have a few that did that. One sprout pops up way before any others. Must be an overachiever or something.

My grass did that. Maybe sending out a scout. LOL

J'nette, for some reason when I read that I thought of meerkats. With the one lookout standing up high above the others.

I'm wondering if my seeds were duds???

LOL, I had to ask DH what a meerkat was, and he explained it just like you said. I had never heard of them.

Anita, did you get them all from the same place? If not, I would say they are waiting for the weather.

I was beginning to think the same thing. Guess we need patience. That is why we have a short growing season. That is why I grow so many things inside. However, I have a lot of seeds inside that are not germinating.

Am thinking I need to look around for different seed vendors. I am going to take a look at which are germinating and where I got them from, and which aren't.

I am not sure what the problem is where I plant 6 seeds in a pony pack and 3 come up and 3 don't. All treated the same. Same vendor, same soil, lights, water, etc. Can you tell me that?

LoL interesting! I know seeds don't have a 100 percent germination rate but I usually plant the entire package of seeds. In that container I only have 1 sprout. LoL I'm going to take good care of that one plant (if that's all it is). I thought it was strange is all. I'll be heading home shortly to perform a jug check. I will come back later to let you all know if I see any new activity!

don't know if it was a good or bad thing.. but it was so warm out.. I took the lids off my containers... guess I will put them back on now

I guess you think I am stingy planting only 6 seeds in a 6 pack. Well, those seeds are expensive. If I am only getting half germination then they should only charge half the price. If I get 7 plants from a $4 package of seeds when there were only 15 seeds to begin with, I will change vendors until I find one that sells viable seeds.

My one sprout was a lone ranger for quite a while so don't throw the rest out.

We've had temps in the 80s the past couple of days, but that's getting ready to change. Storm moving in and bringing cooler temps for the next few days. The warm temps have helped my bell peppers sprout. Woohoo!! In the flower dept, the Brazos Penstemon (a native perennial) has sprouted. So excited with this one!!

nice!!!

Seeded a tray of perennial Candytuft (Iberis semperflorims) on the 19th March and they are sprouting today April 1. These are outdoors with a clear cover over the tray.
Hollyhocks and Lavatera are the other WS sprouts here.

April 1 and no foolin' -- yesterday my Plains Coreopsis and candy-striped hardy hibiscus popped for me. Got the hibiscus from a kind DG trader and I can't wait to see what it looks like!

Have lots sprouting, will list later......but right now I wanted to tell you all that I have 2 little Mortgage Lifter, and Peach Sutton Tomato sproutling! I know the weather will get bad again, and have my fingers crossed they will make it!! These were all WS'd Feb. 25.