What Have You Wintersown So Far??

Oh good, I'm so glad it helped, you're very welcome! That's the site where I got my beginning in gardening, and it sure has helped me a lot!

Delphiniums, larkspur, and snapdragons do very well with WS. I have zero luck with beans and peas, except sweet peas (go figure). I think coleus needs more warmth to germinate.

Ob,LOL..Thats the roof of our house,we live on a hill,walkout basement kinda thing. You can Thank the DH for the somewhat orderly fashion of the jugs. I Have access to an abundance of water jugs,Very easy to gather a bunch fast,Im lucky..

Ancorage Alaska WOW,Cool..Is this your fist time wintersowing ?? Its my 2nd year,Ive been starting underlights for a few years..Just discovered what WSing really was ..BOY was I missing the boat..Ive Gardened for EVER with blinders ON...LOL

WSing has blown my mind ..Im soo hooked...

Etlka,glad your larkspur are doing well.To answer your question,Yes my Larkspur are always moving around..LOL..I help them a little too.Certain areas that need more I will let them go to seed,over populated areas I try to gather the most seed pods I can. I have a Cottage -rock garden,I like messy over planted,No WEEDS tho..LOL..

I'm still reading this list from well back into January! But I agree with Tom. :D

I have started using the online DG Journal feature to record my sowing for this year. I couldn't find my little notebook which I had been using for my garden notes and I had to start sowing!!!

I've sown over 40 different kinds of perennials, annuals, vegetables, shrubs. I just started in the last week or two.

When wondering about whether it's too early to start, I always look for germination information on the packets, depending on the plant. WS in milk jugs is my favorite too. Sowing indoors is sorta dangerous I think if you don't have good lighting. Especially stuff like tomatoes. Blah.

Good to see you all here - I see some of my stuff I think from the Round Robin we just went thru - I am sowing some of yours too!

Edited to say:

The things I put out in jugs are mostly perennial. Since most seeds have their own specific heat and light requirements, I think the weather takes care of everything out there. If it ain't warm enough, it won't sprout.

BUT if something says to plant it in the ground when the soil is 80 degrees (?!) then I know I need to start it indoors if I want it to bloom before frost. :D

Some of the seed packets say "germinates in 7-10 days" or time "to maturity" or "to bloom"
and that also gives me an idea. No science here I'm afraid.

As for my milk jugs I do what Oberon does and cut them all the way around except for about 1" where the handle sits. I use an exacto knife/blade to cut around - it's not very exact, and you will all SHRIEK when I tell you that I don't put drainage holes in my milk jugs. :/

I've never had anything drown. It's easy to tell if the soil is dry - I can hold up the jug and look at the bottom as I water. When the entire bottom is saturated the color of the soil thru the opaque milk jugs tells me when it's time to stop watering.

I don't leave lids on the milk jugs either as I think this defeats the purpose of having it open to the air and a way for heat to escape. I usually seal the jug with clear plastic tape. Labeling is sometimes a challenge, so every year I devise a new "system." Last year I numbered jugs and kept a written list of the numbered jugs, their number, and the contents.

Depending on the weather/season and how big my seedlings are, and how much time and resources I have available - I take the top off the jug and transplant most things into 2" square plastic pots. I hate losing plants to "thinning" so I don't usually. Last year I planted "too many" zinnias (is there such a thing?) and gave many away. Same for a lot of my plants.

I've found also that I am more comfortable direct sowing certain reliable annuals that will come up where the seeds lay. Other stuff I am just too paranoid to leave to chance.

From reading this entire thread, I do believe I will direct sow the columbine seed I have received in trade. I had tried to WS poppies for years before learning in the propagation forum that direct sow was the way to go. I hope to try them again this year after years of disappointment.

"Joeswife" (Debra) has a neat thread about her winter basement garden. She sows things in plain water bottles on her windowsills. Everything grows like crazy. Ha ha.

Well thanks for reading this far. I enjoyed reading each and every one of the 280+ posts this morning. -phew-

Time for more coffee. Have a great day. :)

A.

This message was edited Mar 3, 2012 11:51 AM

Hugger, this is my second year. I went sort of wild with all different types of seed. I rather thought that there were some that wouldn't do well, but figured 'trial and error'. I have extra bean and pea seed so may sow some indoors under lights for a backup. Tomatoes too.

Congratulations Speedi, did you do the happy sprout dance? Let the greenwave roll on,@Amanda,columbine is one of those seeds that need light to germinate so dont cover with soil,I did successfully wintersow but it took holding onto the jugs for a year and they germinated the following spring.On poppies you can winter sow but you have to make sure you transplant as soon as they get their first 2 true leaves,they hate transplanting,you could also sow them in toilet paper rolls then place the rolls in a milkjug,milkjug holds 6:) then you could just plant the tp roll and all.I use this method for things that dont like to be transplanted that I dont want to take a chance with direct sowing..But with common poppies,zinnias and marigolds I direct sow also:)

I plant my poppies in large pots that I will be planting something in later on in the spring. I just put them on top of the soil and tamp the soil with my hand to let them drop into the crevices of the potting soil. The spring rains get them to germinate and sprout. I then leave them there and never have to transplant. After bloom I let some of the seeds drop into the pot and harvest the others. That way they are already in the soil for next year. The next spring they come up and I start the process all over again. Has worked well for me and I get double use out of the pots.

I have decided to go ahead and put out some ws'ing jugs. I'm not doing anything that needs stratification so should be OK. Asters, Coneflowers, Columbine, etc. Tom, that is interesting about the Columbine pot. I may have to do that if I have a jug that doesn't sprout this year. Who'd a thunk it? LOL I did have a Candelabra Bush that I planted 3 seeds and they never came up, so I re-purposed the soil. Low and behold!!!!! I had them come up in the pot where I put the soil! lol Just didn't give them long enough.

Off to read more threads then back to work!

Tom, I have been doing the Happy Sprout Dance throughout the house all day today! =) Not only do I now have my first Holly sprout, but as of this morning, I've got a small handful of just-more-than-microscopic Redfox Veronica sprouts!! Wheeee!!! I'm really excited about those, I was starting to worry that they wouldn't do anything. And, thank you for the tip about Columbine, I didn't realize they need light to germinate. I'll go out tomorrow morning and take a closer peek at the seeds I've got sown, and if they're buried, then I'll sprinkle a few more on top and press 'em in. =) I hope they do something at some point this year, but if not, then I'll hold onto the container until next year.

Yes Tom, that was good information on the Columbine, and also about using the cardboard out of TP for do-it-yourself peat pots without the peat. lol I just put some Columbine in my ws jugs. I will be sure and save the jugs if they do not come up and hope they do next spring. Do you just leave the cover on the jug all summer, or how do you keep them? Everyone talks about how easy it is to grow but I have not had any luck with them so far. Even buying already growing plants.

speedi, where did you find the Redfox Veronica seed? I bought some plants at the end of last year (you know how plants look at the end of the season!) on sale, but they didn't make it.

I got my seed at work the end of last summer... "deadheading with a purpose". ^_^

I'm hoping I have luck with the Columbines, I'll keep y'all posted.

Does anyone know how to start a new thread ??? Ive lost 2 posts now ??? or Im cross posting ?? I too need to learn how to continue a thread.

Go to the group trades, swaps and red robins. At the top of the page it says Post a Thread. Start a new thread then post that number at the bottom of the old thread to show people where to go. That is how I do it anyway.

Assume you can just cut and paste the url at the top of the screen to the last entry in the old thread?

Hubby just told me that we have the third highest year for snow fall up here. 123". He is taking the snow off the eaves as we speak. I thought that ten foot hill on top of my front flower bed was a bit higher than usual. Down the driveway it dips down a bit as he tries to miss my other bed with the snowblower as he clears the drive. Either way, there is easily 4-5' on that bed also. sigh. I guess I would rather have snow than a tornado. Hopefully all our DG folk down south are okay. Not so for many others. Oh, a church collapsed yesterday up here. Roof caved in but the walls are standing. fortunately it was a Saturday and no one was in the church. They had just listed it on Craig's list to rent.

Yes, that is correct Mary. Glad to see you post. I've been worried about you! Saw on the TV about the church collapse in Anchorage. The news, however, said that there were people inside. So much for the news. lol

No, there were some kids in the gym part of the church playing basketball but when the first heard the big 'whoosh' they ran out. No one got hurt. thanks for worrying for me. I appreciate the thoughts. I have been looking for people checking in from the tornado path. It covers such a large area.

Update: there were six people getting ready to go into the church part. The church part is the only part that collapsed. The gym was apparently untouched.

Crit,on saving jugs that didnt sprout,I move them to full shade and,I leave the tops on but I cut extra ventilation holes in the top for the heat to escape . I leave the tops on to try and keep other seeds from falling down in them and sprouting,you have to check them regularly to make sure they dont dry out.If they havn't sprouted by fall,put a piece of clear tape over the ventilation holes you made and by the following spring as long as the seeds were viable they will sprout,some seeds require a warm then cold then warm period,so be sure to hold onto the jugs that dont sprout this year for another season,I've also found the plants growing in the compost pile a year later after dumping the jugs:o)
I hope everyone made it through all the bad weather all right,and my heart goes out to all the families in southern Indiana and Kansas and elsewhere..

This message was edited Mar 4, 2012 4:20 PM

I read about seeds that need that third element heat cold heat or vice versa cold heat cold, then presumably heat. So maybe four elements. Would be nice to have a list of seeds needing that combination

Crit ,I am at a huge loss, I cant find any directions for continuing a Thread, I see no numbers to copy...Ive never copied and pasted on here...im soo Lame.. although i can Learn...LOL...and Im willing..but this thread is slow for me cant upload photos,lost posts..Tamara

I'll do it Tamara. Today! :D

Please join me on Page 2 of the "what have you wintersown so far??" thread.

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1245290/
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1245290/
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1245290/