What Have You Wintersown So Far?? (PAGE 2)

It was 70 and windy here today, and since I live in the middle of the woods, I didn't want to go out there and get hit by a flying branch or falling tree. I'm hoping tomorrow will be better.
Can you do winter sowing directly in the ground, say under a cold frame of some sort?

I'm not sure how that would work, KY, considering there would be no opening at the top for moisture to get in evenly to the seeds. True, it's not a sealed container in a cold frame, but I think a couple of things you need are good drainage and access for nature's moisture to get in evenly to the seeds. However, I have faith that you'd be able to figure something workable out! =)

KY,You asked a while back if anyone had problems with Racoons tipping over the milk jugs . Ive not had problems with the jugs ...And We have lots of racoons...

now the Garden on the other hand ....Last year we used bloodmeal in the planting holes ....WHAT A HUGE MISTAKE....OUR tomato`s were growing like gang busters ,best year ever ...Then DUG UP over night....AARRGGG, I cried...bloodmeal stinks when wet,coons loved it...ill never use it in the garden again when planting,Ill use it in the fall....

celene ,how big do you let them get under lights ?? Mine really took a dive when I moved them outside to harden off,It wasnt too cold,I didnt put them into the sun till I had them ,slowly exposed to it ,...They just got crummy ??? I will try agin tho.. I too hate planting PUNY plants ...LOL

I only wintersow Tomatos,I also was a bit worried about them when I started a few years back but I learned quickly that when you didnt see any topgrowth what you were getting was an awesome root system growing that you didnt see and the key is after they get their first set of true leaves is to transplant them once in a plastic cup burried almost to the bottom of their leaves.The wintersown tomato plant will be much more hardy and they can take a bit of frost,They are smaller when you set them out but within 3 wks they will catch a store bought or grown under the lites plant and the 4th week they will pass it up and produce and produce :o)

Great. thanks so much Tom. I have some plastic cups (12 oz). I assume as they grow bigger you remove them from the plastic cups and put them in either a large tub or into the ground. I would probably put them in black felt garden pots to gather heat for the roots in our cooler air. Allowing for an ambient temp on average 62F, do you think full sun would be best? And what sort of fertilizer? Lots of water? I have made so many mistakes in all of the above I would truly like toget it right once. or more??

Great ideas are to be had here, I see--thanks for the tips, everyone! Wow, no wonder the bloodmeal didn't work a couple years ago. It makes sense because racoons do eat small critters, so maybe they were digging for something they thought was living under the dirt. Sheesh....

Wow, lots of very helpful hints and tips here, thanks guys!! I did know about planting tomato plants as far up the stems as you can, but I'm with Mary in that I'm not sure what to do with the plastic cups. I've got numerous 4" growers pots, would that work just as well? I've also got 1-gallon sized ones, if the 4" ones are too small. Do we cut the bottoms out and sink those down into their 'permanent homes'?
Thank you Tom, for the reassurance that we need not fret too much about our winter sown tomato babies! =)

Tom, I'm giving your advice a try. We'll see how my WS Mortgage Lifters and "some kind of saved currant tomato that I know reseeds and will be a good candidate" tomato plants do, compared to those started indoors. :)

trying to get caught up....

I need to get some annuals done --

Will be starting tomatoes -- they do WS easily

I've done Amaranthus in the past -- again, easily.
but they also self sow readily... i generally have them popping up in various places.
i like them, so it doesn't bother me.

Has anyone started lisianthus from seed. I love the flowers but can't get them up here so I sent for seeds. My heavens they are tiny. They started germinating and then died. Teeny tiny plants. Would love to try again.

Oberon, Im trying to get Lisathus going under lights right now, waiting and hoping...says 10 days 68-78 degrees ,its been right at 10 days...fingers crossed..blue,red ,yellow ,pink. My petunias are germinating,Yay..
Seems to me all the seeds Ive planted this year are nothing more than Dust...LOL

I will only start a few Tomato`s ,I will buy the rest,They have the best heirlooms ever,healthy stocky plants.

Have you heard of trench planting tomato`s ?? Ive always known and have planted this way, with a gangly plant.

LOVE Motrgage Lifter....yummy....some guy developed this plant,I guess patent it or ? well anyway Paid off his Mortgage..hence the name...

Mortgage Lifter and those weird reseedy currant tomatoes are my favorite tomatoes ever. I was told to try Kellogg's Breakfast this year, so I am. I also like those Sungold cherry tomatoes.

I am waiting to see how you folks do with Lisianthus...someone here told me they're so long to flower that wintersowing is a good idea. A nursery here sows them in January so they're in bloom in June, they told me otherwise they'd start blooming in August-September.

Yes ,I thought the same if I started them outside ..no blooms till the end of summer...I wish i would have gotten them started sooner..Im redoing our bathroom right now also,and I work...LOL..im curios as to what I will end up with,if they fail I will buy them...I soo Love them..

We have been growing ML for years,I try some different ones every year...All for Flavor,not worried about producers...Kellogs is it Heirloom ? I like sweet 100 cherry.I love the Green Zebra..beautiful and yummie

Reseedy currant tomatoes? I didn't know tomatoes would reseed. But then, the critters here eat anything left on the vines...

Hi ladies, I was just looking at my Lisianthus seedlings and wondering why they have stayed so teeny tiny for the past 3 weeks. I had them near a south facing windowsill, but I now have them under lights because I thought they might do better here. Still the same size. One thing I have done with the inside sowing is to spray the seedlings with a solution of chamomile tea which has worked so far to prevent theses seedlings from damping and falling over. We'll see how well the do from here on.

My petunias are doing well with the same treatment this year. I'm trying not to over water them as I'm sure I've done in the past.
Teri

Kellogg's Breakfast is heirloom, I got the seeds at the Reynoldsburg, OH Tomato Festival.

If anyone wants reseedy currant tomato seeds, remind me in the summer. I no longer save seed, because they reseed in the spot where I plant them every year. They're tasty, indeterminant, fairly disease-resistant, and they make excellent raisin-sized sun dried tomatoes. I will probably have 20-30 volunteer plants that I weed out in May, too. I bought the original plant at Baker's Acres in 1998 or so, and I have no idea of the actual variety. At the time, I'd never seen a currant tomato before.

This is my 1st year trying wintersowing--I tried some coneflowers that I've had trouble w/ germinating, and I love the results. I moved the containers in under the lights (not a patient man here) and they came right up. I will definately be doing more of this. Also, I have several varities of milkweeds that I am looking forward to seeing how they do, but they're still outside.

By the way Kellogs Breakfast is an excellent tomato--one of my favorites.

I put my lisianthus on a warming pad, with a lid to conserve moisture. Patiently waited for the germination time and indeed saw some tiny little green things. but that was all and then they disappeared. touchy little critters. I just gave up on the flat. I have time to try again I guess but not sure I want to. So many other beautiful flowers.

The members who advised me to use pro mix with something that sounds like "mychorriza" for the planting medium and to use the chamomile tea spray were responsible for me going ahead with the sowing under lights. I had just about given up because of the seedlings disappearing due to damp off and other problems.

Im trying Kelloggs Breakfast for the first time too,and a bunch of others, that is probably my favorite thing about gardening is starting new to me tomatos and plants from seed, every winter with trading seeds I always get excited because of all the new types of plant seed I receive. I just went out and checked my jugs and now have pearl bush and father hugo rose sprouting and a bunch of others that I believe I already posted. This week is gonna be a warm week I can't wait to see what else sprouts by the end of the week. And yes after I seperate the tomatos to their individual cups, May 1st they go into the vegetable garden and I again bury them deep..

Glad it worked well for you, Roses. It changed my seed-starting life, and I can thank Tom Bird at Bird's Haven Farms for suggesting it.

What a nice, big garden!

Makes me hungry just lookin' at it! =)

Ive warmed up the greenhouse room a bit maybe 74-75.. to see if thats good enough for everyone.. ; )
Having a bit of damp off with my hyacinth beans..Live and learn..I have more seed. I dont see any Lisianthus yet...and a few others I see nothing...I hate this part..LOL..I ve got a few more seeds to sow today,maybe outside too,if there is no wind.

Beautiful Garden..jealous..I have no flat ground...LOL

This message was edited Mar 11, 2012 8:41 AM

I think spraying seedlings with a 9:1 mix of water and hydrogen peroxide mix will help with the damping off. Supposed to retard fungus and such. Don't know much about it, but it has helped me get rid of fungus on the surface of several indoor plants.

I bought some decorative kale, dill, cabbage to WS. Not sure if that will work. Also need to plant seeds from the New Zealand delphinium place. Hope they do well here. Plus have two kinds of poppies coming from OSPS. Just couldn't resist. I have got to move my car from the garage. i have too many pots, plats etc of stuff like begonias and dahlias stuffed everywhere. Need them under more light. Going to start some more propagated dahlias today. Just to be sure I have ample of some of my favorites like Blue Star and Procyon.

OH, my, you can't be wasting precious garage space on cars when there are seeds to start!

Huggergirl, did you ever check out the euphorbia?

KyWoods -- 'truer words....etc' I propagated two more blue star, two procyon and one Hockley Maroon. No sign of Clearview Orca sprouting yet. Keep hoping. also no sign of White Fawn. Planted five more begonias. My indoor basil, cilantro, parsley is slowly developing. I was looking at last year's pictures. On March 2nd last year I was adding water to my pond as I had around 1+' of ice taking up the water. This year will be so much better as I don't think I have even 2" of ice. Much milder winter. I should be ice free in another few weeks. Still plenty of snow around as we got dumped on pretty badly, but it will be good to see if the fish will come out.

I did the peroxide an water ,It still dosent look good for the Beans.. I use it for fungus too,worked on that..

Euphorbia,Ill ck it out..

OH Kale seed I need some...LOL..I always plant it..need to get on that..Having some great weather...Yay

We got rain here, Hugger. Do you have sunshine?

it has not rained since I got up ,keeps looking like it wants too..LOL

We had rain here most of the morning. I walked around the yard to check the gardens. Of course my vole is making his presence known. Most of my sedum is coming up (not the Purple Emperor, yet) some of the Rudbeckia and roses are forming buds. I noticed that something chewed my new rose bushes down. I read that you should not cut them back the first year but something has gnawed them down or broke them off. I also have some Mums and pups popping up in the back yard. This will be the second season for my pups in a new garden so hopefully I have a nice display back there.

Well, I transplanted my Basil, cilantro, parsley from flats to individual pots; started lettuce, decorative cabbage, and the Millenium Delphinium seeds I just received from NZ. Will have to transplant my portulaca to small pots from flats pretty soon. Looks like pretty much all my tubers (well, at least the ones that were not obviously rotten) are sprouting. Lost Sweetness (Dahlia) for the second year running. pooh. but I have some nice dinnerplates among other sizes coming from Swan Island. They should be here the first of April. Anyone else's dahlias popping. Must be down further south.

9:1 mixture of hydrogen peroxide. I just replanted my herbs and want to treat in advance for damp off. You indicated that it could go on seedlings and won't hurt them. So going to give them a shot. It is soooo disheartening to slave over the little plants then watch them drop over one by one so I am going to 'steal a march' on the fungus or bacteria or whatever and defend my small troops.

Hey! I forgot that some people also swear by cinnamon in/on the soil!

Too late. They are spritzed. Not sure how much or how often but they each got two spritzes today.

I did try the cinnamon, Amanda!! I sprinkled it on right after I spritzed them with camomile tea and everything is still doing great!! (fingers crossed)

Crossing my fingers for you too Roses.. and my eyes... which makes it a little hard to type. ;)

Mary, maybe you should try it also, even though you've already done the other spritzing. I wouldn't think it would hurt. Would it? =/

I thought cinamon was used for fungus gnats ??? Thats what I use it for /?/ Lets hear about this,I was wondering if it could be used on seedlings if I get Gnats ???