What Have You Wintersown So Far??

Sharon

You have a nice list of seeds you have wintersown. I have started some of my digitalis by just sprinkling the seed on the ground when the flowers had gone to seed and I had some little plants starting last summer. I wanted to WS them as well - I figured if I started them several ways, I would hopefully end up with something.

Most of what I have started so far are biennials - I also have some of the some of the hardier annuals that I want to start - several different types of nicotiania.

Truth be told - if everything sprouts, I will be hard pressed to find places for everything, but isn't that part of the addiction?

Well, I finally figured out a way to drill holes easily in my milk jugs. Cutting to tops correctly is a bit of a challenge. Thus far just planted some columbine, bachelor buttons, and one poppy (a shirley I think). Course my cold frame is under 3' of snow and I have to dig about that much of a path to it. But now I am motivated as I actually have something to put in them.

No matter what, Carolyn, you know I'll have far more than I can plant as well. Maybe another incentive to come north to visit your daughter?

Oberon, I just use a utility knife to cut my milk jugs, and do triangular cuts in the bottom with it as well. It works pretty well. Then I use a metal skewer to make the holes for the twist tie. I can't say anything about Alaska, but here I just put the jugs outside on the ground and let the snow pile up on top of them. This year there's almost no snow, but last year was a record 8 feet. I don't envy your Alaska winter.

Sharon

There is always incentive to go out your way - hopefully we will be soon. My daughter was just here though - it was sooo good to see her!

I was going to do more wintersowing today, but I didn't do anything. I think I must be getting lazy in my old age. Perhaps next weekend.

Thanks perenniallyme. I have been using a sharp bowie knife to cut the jugs and a cordless drill to cut the holes in the bottom. but the problem lies in getting the top cut in such a way as to make it easy to tip the top back to put in dirt and seed. I have been cutting almost all the way around with the exception of the handle inch or so and then just put my finger in the hole in the top and tilt the top piece back and open.

You got 8' last year. Wow. It must have moved up here this year. We get occasional big winds that blew my containers several feet and really jumbled them up. Was fortunate to get a few seedlings from most all of the jugs anyway. I had them snugged up against the house by it didn't work. So I figured if I put them in the cold frame they would stay put. I can just leave the top open to allow snow inside to provide water to the jugs as it melts.

What kind of tip do you use in your drill for the holes?

Just a standard bit for, well, drilling holes not a screw driver tip. It is fairly small. Tried a slightly larger one and it is too blunt to dig into the plastic. Just sort of skitters off. The one I use is about a 3/16" bit.

I managed to water, drill holes for wiring the jugs closed, labeled (sort of) and added two more types of poppies I bought from a seed store.
The jugs are just sitting in the snow right now until I can get to my cold frame. Pray no wind comes up before then. Clear bright skies and 22F. Should make it over 30 today.

Thanks to everyone for all the useful info in this forum! I've learned a lot about wintersowing by perusing these pages. Here's what I've wintersowed this year:

Alchemilla mollis ‘Thriller’
Astilbe arendsii ‘Bella’
Bergenia cordifolia ‘Red Beauty’
Clematis integrifolia ‘Summer Indigo’
Digitalis grandiflora
Galium odoratum
Heuchera americana ‘Marvelous Marble’
Iberis sempervirens ‘Snowflake’
Polemonium caeruleum ‘Blue Pearl’
Ruta graveolans
Stachys byzantina

I guess nothing will bloom the first year...

Oh, I wouldn't bet on it, but I will leave the guessing of will and might bloom to the more advanced WS'rs here. I have gotten a lot of good ideas about what kinds of things to winter sow here also. This is only my second year trying it so I am staying fairly simple with things (for the most part) that I know do well here.

Carolyn, no one's more lazy than me! I just don't have as many responsibilities as you do, so can more easily get planting done.

Oberon, I think your milk jugs must be thicker than mine, as mine are very easy, and I also leave the handle attached.

Nice list, Rebecca. Most perennials don't bloom the first year, but some certainly do. Most perennial dianthus, delphinium grandiflorum (the dwarf ones), agastache, lychnis alpina, centaurea dealbata, and hardy geraniums have all bloomed for me the first year, but that could possibly be because I started them indoors in January, as they're all warm germinators. I can't say if they'd bloom 1st year if wintersowed.

Rudbeckia, delphinium, poppies and hollyhocks bloomed for me the first year. A couple of my foxglove bloomed but they were premies.

Hello All! I am newbie at seed sowing and have been contemplating winter sowing. From what I read it is a good way to start from seeds.

I was thinking of doing Foxglove, Arizona Sun (annual), Shirley Poppies this year. What would you recommend? Which one should I direct sow outside now as against keep them inside under grow lights etc.

I am in Zone 5b.

Thanks
Vishal

I have seen all of these listed by other WS'ing people here. Poppies can be a bit dicy to transplant from containers but I did it successfully last year by just planting 'clumps'. I managed to salvage a rather poor WSing project after wind scattered my containers. This year, in addition to poppies, I am planting some new seeds for me here. Lisianthus, Love-in-a-Mist, nicotania, gazania, morning glory. I am doing snaps and cosmos as I did last year and they were great. Our zones are similar but I am finding that a zone 5b is not the same across the country.

yadavgard - I've grown Shirley poppies easily just be sowing the seeds right in the garden. They just pop right up as long as you get them in early. then they keep coming back from dropped seed. I know poppies in general don't like to have their roots disturbed. But wintersowing might work too - you could try it both ways and report back here!

Oberon, when did you start your Love-in-a-Mist, Nicotania and Gazania? Are those hardy annuals plants? I'm wondering if those three are like the Rudbeckia and Morning Glory?

Yada, I would wintrsow all the seeds you have listed. I have wsn the poppies but the plants were not the poppies I expected. They were much smaller. LoL

I have had great success with Dakota Reville Gallardia, Cockscomb, Sedum, Hostas, Rudbeckia, Coneflower, Dianthus, Hollyhocks, Delphinum, Butterfly Bush, Foxglove and Coral Bells. I believe these are all on my list of seeds to start again this year.

I want to find a faster way of making my holes in the bottom of the contrainers. has anyone ever tried a soldering iron to make holes on the containers?

Hello all.... was interested in your thread on WS'ing. I did it for the first time last year and had pretty good luck. I have not put anything out yet. I did it in March last year. I have 3 large black trashbags of 2 ltr pop bottles, plus the ones I used last year. lol I need to decide what I want to put out.

I use a drill on the bottom of my pop bottles to make the holes. I have done them in the valley part of the bottoms and also on the side at the bottom of the bottle. The bottoms are pretty strong but if you use the drill you can usually get through without much trouble.

Thanks Crit I have a drill but I don't believe I have the correct tip. I will have to go to Lowes enlist some help with finding the correct tips.

Hi all,
(I'm from north of the Dixon or I would have said Hi Y'all.)
Not to make fun of all of our brothers and sisters in the South, they are some of the most caring, loving people I have met.

When I was doing milk jugs with the grandkids, I took a cereal bowl and turned it upside down and had my 5 year old grandson
hold a sharpie flat on the bottom on the bowl and turn the milk jug to mark a line all around.
Then I cut a slit at one corner, enough to insert a scissor, and he finished cutting all around; leaving a side flap attached so we could bend the top back.
We then took a piece of 2 X 6" board, folded the tops back, set the bottom on the 2 X 6 and drilled the drain holes. I held the top folded back and helped hold the drill. That way when we drilled through the bottom it went a little into the 2 X 6.
If you are doing your own drilling, sitting the bottom on the 2 X 6 with the top folded back helped stabilize the whole thing.
I have read where some people actually use the drill if reverse to drill through the bottom.
Have fun.
Paul

I would think that using a soldering iron would mess up the tip with melted plastic. I use a drill but as LoneJack pointed out, it is helpful to have something to drill into. Otherwise the drill bit can skitter a little on the plastic. I will do as he suggested and get a block of wood for backup.

I have only just started sowing the seeds in the milk jugs. Maybe started a couple of days ago. I am really excited this year and hope that the results are better than last year. Even messing it up I had pretty decent return on WS investment. And the idea of not having to put all my seeds indoors under lights is a relief. I will save the 'garage greenhouse' for my dahlias and glads. Will also start lilies that I ordered inside since we have such a short growing season I need all the lead time I can get. At that, the WS poppies bloomed like crazy all last year til freezeup. The only reason I don't just broadcast is that I use preen to keep the weeds down and that would prevent the poppies from germinating also.

Paul, I had not considered using the block of wood to drill into. Great idea! I was wondering how you got a bite with the drill in the plastic containers. I had been using an exacto knife. I'm usually an accident waiting to happen, so I made a vow to try a safer way to make the drain holes. I have 3 or 4 garbage bags full of containers I need to fill. The drill should speed things along.

Oberon, how did you make your garage greenhouse? When did you start your dahlias inside?

How soon do you all start feeding your seedlings?

The block of wood makes sense - I too am an accident waiting to happen. I use an old steak knife that has been in with my gardening tools for quite some time now and just stab at the bottom of the milk carton or soda bottle. Sometimes the whole carton goes flying and I end up having to retrieve it from no man's land in the basement.

LoL@ Susan! Ditto here I end up collapsing the container or with a big slit where I wanted a small hole. LoL

I finally did what I have wanted to do for years -- one I retired. I bought a 4x8 sheet of plywood, put it on sawhorses, bought 8 shoplights 36" long. I bought about 25 feet of chain, light weight like a dog chain and attached it to the ceiling then cut it off about 5 ' down. That way I can raise and lower the lights as the plants grow. I start out about 3" from the trays or pots. That uses 4 lights. The other four are for big pots on the floor for my big dahlias and things that I will leave in the decorative 5gal or larger pots. Again, I can raise the light bars as the plants grow. I will start my begonias probably next week or so (which is when the nurseries up here do it). They take a long lead time. Dahlias are sprouting now, but will wait to pot them up til the end of March if I can hold them off that long. I have tubers dug from last year, so I don't know for sure which will sprout. Those I will just lay in moist soil to see who is viable and who is not. That way I don't waste dirt on a dead tuber. Then I have maybe 5 or so coming from outside as well as a few lilies. I think I lost track of what I have ordered. I printed off the orders but am too lazy to go look. They should start arriving any time in late March to April. In the fall I have two peonies coming.

Dahlias should be lightly watered upon planting then not again until they have sent up a few sprouts. I am not so good on the watering thing with seedlings. They just survive on their own with occasional watering. I spray seeds to keep them moist until they have germinated then wing it. I have some osmosis trays, as well as just plain old flats, plus 2" bedding pots, on up to the big guys. I start hardening them off around the middle of May.

Okay, I hate to be a girl about things, but how the heck do you cut that dog chain? Normally Lowe's cuts it for me, but I was impatient last time, and bought the decorative white stuff, and my cutters won't budge. TIA for help for the tool ignorant :)

LOL. Well the dog chain isn't that thick that a good pair of bolt cutters won't snip it. Or if you have a sharp wedge, you could just slam it through the chaiin. More effort and then you have to bend the link a little to get it loose. I would probably wait at lowe's and let them cut it to size. My husband was too lazy to cut it and just sort of draped it. I didn't want to be picky so I let it go until this year when I will use the bolt cutters to cut it to lengths I need.

Here are a couple of pictures as a visual aide. I am not saying this is a pristine operation - just what works for me this year.

Closeup of where I cut the jug to allow the top to flip back and still give me a large enough opening to sow the seeds. by the way, I mix the tiny seeds like snaps with a find sand to get better spread. Read that somewhere and it works great.

Here is the fastening to keep it closed and the hole with the drill bit next to it. The bit looks larger than it is.

Here are a few containers out side waiting for me to dig out my cold frame where I can tuck them in out of the wind. Will throw a few shovel fulls of snow inside on top of them. My number one helper, Woodie.

I went to Lowes last night to pick up my new drill bits and a 2 x 4, then went home to drill some holes. I was able to move pretty fast with my containers.

Celene, the links of the chain are usually not soldered or welded. You should be able to unattach by opening a link with a couple of pairs of pliers.

(just waking up with 1st cup of coffee so I won't say more)

Oberon, congrats on the retirement! I'm looking forward to my own retirement. LoL I'm curious about your greenhouse in the garage. Do you have shelves that you enclose in visquene? I have considered this for my own unheated garage. I'm not sure how to protect plants from the draft of opening garage in frigid temps.

My WS'ing did better with the 2 ltr pop jugs than with the milk cartons, so I didn't even save milk cartons this year. Sometimes I drill my holes at the bottom around the outside of the jug. I hold them in my lap when I do it and when I get away from the hardened bottom they drill real easily. There is just a small amount at the bottom where the water doesn't get out, but with the amount of dirt I put in the jugs, it didn't matter.

I need to start looking through my seeds to decide what I want to WS. I also am going to start some more canna's by seed in the house. I did that last year and they did GREAT!

Crit did you use bottom heat for your Cannas started inside?

Crit, we don't buy anything in a 2 liter jug so while I would love to try it...
My garage is heated and runs between 50-55 most months. Since I start up my 'greenhouse' the first of March, the weather is pretty mild and the plants aren't hurt by a temporary blast of cool air. Today we are having a chinook and the temp is 40F. Not so good for winter sowing though as it might confuse the seeds. But then, what germinates at 40F?
Good comment on the chain -- I will have to go look to see how they are strung together. But you know the lights don't weight much so any light weight chain would work. I use chain rather than string or rope since it is so easy to just move the hooks up or down to raise or lower the lights.
If I am propogating, I use 4 ounce dixie cups with holes in the bottom and an inverted 12 oz clear plastic drinking glass for a 'dome'- going to try that for my lysiantha and keep them in the house where it is warmer to speed up germination. Wish I had several heated pads but they are darned expensive.

No Anita, I don't use bottom heat on the canna's. I just plant them in the peat pots and put them near a window that gets afternoon sun. They all sprouted fantasticly! I clipped the shell with toe nail clippers then soaked them, at least, overnight. I also tried gently hitting them with a hammer to crack the shell prior to soaking, only hit 1 too hard and it broke open. I was really quite surprised at the germination rate! Didn't matter which method I used to break the shell.

I'm also suprised at how well the Cannas germinate. I finally have some of the bronze cannas. I soaked the seeds but forgot to scratch the surface. I have had most of them to germinate. I have also started some amaranthus, calla, and lantana. I found a heat map from Menards for $20. I couldn't believe how cheap it was. Of course it does not have a temp control, so I took a gamble. It's worked well this far.

I have sent out a call to some friends and family to see who buys things in those clear plastic 2 liter jugs. I wasn't really thinking very 'globally' when I figured I wouldn't have any to try. :)