WINTERSOWING 2014 Ambitions...

Thanks to all for info on Delosperma.
Yes, some micro climates could do a WS.
Caroline

To be honest, I am not sure. I certainly could have gotten them from JL Hudson, but I also remember maybe Horizon Herbs.

Everyone's done wintersowing? I just got a few extra packs, and I'm adding in a late flat...

Celen, no I am still WS. My iris seeds are still outside in a bin on the north side of my house. They won't sprout until spring with 50 to 70 degrees---if it ever comes. Right now they are under 4" of snow.

Depending on where ya are, and what you're sowing, you've still got some time to play - doesn't look like Spring is in any hurry to get here. < =/

That is for certain, we've got more snow and cold temperatures headed our way.

We haven't had snow since December here. maybe the tides will turn and we will get snow all during spring....who knows? Often times we get snow in March, April and sometimes into May.

Wow some great lists ↑up↑ there!! I had initially planned on setting my jugs out Jan. 1 but ended up getting it done way later, Feb. 27! I also edited my list of 100 down to 59, with the majotlrity of them sown in your run of the milk milk jugs, and a few 2 liters for the ones that are notoriously resentful of transplanting or having long taproots.

Agastache Urticifolia, Giant hyssop 'Alba' (3)
Ageratine altissima, White snakeroot, 'Chocolate'
Amsonia hubrichtii, Hubricht's blue star
Armeria maritima, Sea thrift 'Alba'
Aruncus dioicus, Goats beard
Clematis terniflora, Sweet autumn clematis
Crocosmia 'Lucifer' (4)
Eupatorium altissimum, White joe pye weed 'Prairie Jewel'
Geum, Avens 'Mrs. Bradshaw' (3)
Heuchera, Coral bells 'Palace purple'
Hibiscus coccineus, Texas star hibiscus 'Red' (4)
Hibiscus coccineus, Texas star hibiscus 'Alba' (3)
Hosta, NOID
Knautia macedonica, scabiosa rumelica (3)
Lagarus ovatus, Hares tail grass
Lantana, NOID (Camara?)
Mirabilis jalapa, 4 o clocks, Tall Med. Pink
Mirabis jalapa, 4 o clocks, White & yellow mix
Orlaya grandiflora, Minoan Lace (3)
Papaver, NOID
Passiflora incarnata, Purple passionflower
Persicaria orientalis, Kiss me over the garden gate
Rudbeckia, Gloriosa daisy 'Double gold' (3)
Salvia azurea, Pitcher sage (3)
Salvia coccinea 'Coral nymph' (3)
Salvia coccinea, Red (3)
Stipa brachytricha, Korean feather reed grass
Veronica longifolia, Speedwell
Veronica spicata, Spike speedwell
Zinnia elegans 'Señora'
Antirrhinum majus, Snapdragon (3)
Echinacea 'Cheyenne spirit'
Echinacea, NOID
Echinacea purpurea 'Pow wow white' (3)
Gomphrena globosa, Globe amaranth (4)
Impatiens balsamina, Balsam (3)
Ipomoea quamoclit, Red cypress vine (3)
Lavandula Vera, Lavender
Leucanthemum x superbum, Shasta daisy 'Alaska' (3)
Monarda, Beebalm, Light pink (4)
Monarda, Beebalm, Magenta
Muhlenbergia capillaris, Pink muhly grass
Perennial mix (3)
Portulaca grandiflora, Double moss rose, White (3)
Butterfly bush, NOID (4)
Stipa tenuissima, Mexican feather grass (4)
Achillea millefolium, Yarrow 'Cerise queen' (3)
Aquilegia, Columbine, NOID (near black)
Asclepias incarnata, Swamp milkweed 'Ice ballet'
Asclepias tuberosa, Butterfly milkweed, Yellow
Callicarpa Americana, American beautyberry
Cephalaria gigantea, Giant scabious
Cleome houtteana, Spider flower 'Rose queen' (3)
Conoclinium greggii, Gregg's mistflower
Cornus kousa, Kousa dogwood
Hesperaloe parviflora, False Yucca, Yellow
Physostegia virginiana, obedient plant
Sesbania vesicaria, Bladderpod sesbania
Vitex agnus-castus, Chaste tree (4)

Numbers in parenthesis are weeks to germination.

This message was edited Mar 27, 2014 11:40 AM

That's quite a list too Becky, can't wait to see/hear about everybody's results!

I took some pics with my iphone lens stuck right where the screw-on cap should be. So far, 25/59 jugs have germinated! I'm hooked for good now! With these higher temps (70-80) I've realized I need to water them once or twice a week, especially the ones that get a little more sun.

Good job, lot's of action there! Did you have drainage holes in the bottom? Mine do not...just hoping that's not a crucial step.

If you need to get drainage holes in your containers, a soldering iron is much easier than poking holes with a knife, if the container is already planted.

I have a few WS sprouts, but it's going to snow again today. Seriously. Ugh.

Thanks Celene, I only want drainage holes if I absolutely need them. Sealed containers with the perfect amount of moisture added at the onset...kind of like the DINO method. At this point it's a wait and see if I screwed-up thing.

I did that the first year, and I ended up with dry soil and condensation on the inside of the containers. One of the reasons I went to flats for WS.

Robin - thanks, I'm such a proud mama right now! Yes those pics are from over a week ago, some of them have really taken off since then, especially the balsam. I used a 1/2" bit in a power drill to put four drainage holes in each jug.. one hole in each bottom corner. I would think that the containers would need to have drainage or you'd end up with soggy soil and possible rot. It seems like a lot of the failures I've experienced with gardening in general, not just WS, are due to watering issues. Either I over-water, under-water, don't provide enough drainage, provide too much drainage, do I add rocks to this crock and not another, blahblahblah, see I am constantly learning what NOT to do, school of hard knocks LOL

Celene, that's a good idea to use the soldering iron for adding drainage holes to already-planted containers. I hope your sprouted flats do okay with more snow headed your way.. I assume your flats have lids? Sorry, I know that's a stupid question, I am just very visual, and I imagine some of my sprouts would be pressed up against the roof of a shallow lid. Two mystery plants in my perennial mix are already a few inches tall!

Speaking of, my next hurdle will be trying to determine when is the right time to take the tops off my jugs. Is it a weather thing, to keep the seedlings from cooking inside the jug? Or is it a size thing, where the plants are literally outgrowing the confines of the jug (roots and/or tops)?

I only have tiny sprouts, but they've survived with actual snow cover. The first year they did not die, I was amazed. I use regular 1020 flats with clear lids, and I move to the taller "greenhouse" style lids when the plants get bigger. If it's super cold, I may throw a layer of bubble wrap over the flats. Having the seedlings already in cells is easier for me.

Oh Celene, you had to go and say that... I'm going to dismantle my containers and check now, although I'd have no idea if the seeds have rotted since the temps here aren't anywhere near germinating temps yet.

Lol Becky, hard knocks is the school I went to too, live and learn...and learn...

Celene, I can imagine it's very tidy looking with the flats. I like the visual I'm getting..

Yes Robin, I'm kind of a dunce here at the SOHK! Lol! I almost roasted all my jugs to death! And a few jugs look like they'll literally burst open if I don't plant them soon! Ai ai ai never enough hours in the day..

Still, got any photos of your near-to-bursting milk jugs please? < =) I love the look of Winter-sown containers full of little babies ready to be planted out!

Mine are sprouting, but no flats bursting with seedlings. Yet. lol

Celene, you're ahead of me! I checked on mine, they have condensation, enough moisture but no sprouts yet...

I'll wait an hour and check again.

Okay here are my worst jug busters! Lol first is the perennial mix, I think I see a lupine in there? Second pic is the impatiens balsamina, I really can't decide where I wanna plant these.. Anyone grow them before?Do they look better as a group or peppered here and there among other plants? Last pic is ipomoea quamoclit, red cypress vine.

Those are bursting! You're such a good WS'er, I bet you're hooked now.

Ha, not good yet, only half my jugs germinated. And aside from this freak cold front we are experiencing today, temps should be back up in the 80s again this weekend. Hardly the weather for winter sowing LOL

But hooked, yes I am! And my first WS 4 o clock came up this week, so I may get a few more jugs to sprout after all :)

Sounds good -- good job!

Okay, I love I. balsamina. I like them weaving in and out of borders, or in groups. They also look palm tree-ish in a large container.

I'm gonna try I. balsamina for the first time, I thought it was tropical and didn't need to be cold stratified. Was I wrong? Celene, how did you sow it?

Robin, it didn't need to be wintersowed, but I had so many seeds I wanted to try. I looked up each one in various WS databases and made a list of everything that could handle this method of sowing. I still have about 40 packets that could have been WS but they are more the native varieties and my "weeds" I love so much.. They are getting their own "wild" bed later this year.

Well its good to know I didn't miss my chance for Balsam this year...thanks Becky!

I don't have the room to have specific beds, I just get to artfully mash them altogether. If its a good looking weed, it stays. If it becomes a problem, it goes.

I did dig a new bed last year and hope to share pics with you guys later in the season...even though my efforts are woefully smaller in scope than you guys, I'm hoping to get some 'bang' for my buck!

I. balsamina does not require cold stratification, it just wintersows easily and saves me the indoor space for plants that need warmth for germination.

Thanks Celene, even though I get an answer, I equally appreciate another point of view! I'm always learning, I guess if I wasn't...I'd be dead...

Wow Still, they really ARE bursting with babies, huh? They all look excellent!!

Mipii, always learning is the fun of it, huh? :)

Haha yes robin I do the same, I discovered wild cleome here last year and it was the star of my bed midsummer when everything else couldn't take the heat!

Thanks speedie!

You bet Speedie, something to look forward to everyday! When my jugs grow up they want to look just like SPWD's.


Edited because I couldn't spell 'to'!

This message was edited Apr 18, 2014 7:49 PM

Here in my zone balsamania reseeds itself every year , I cannot get rid of them so I just incorporate them in my garden beds and they are beautiful and they transplant very nicely.

Mine reseed as well, but this year I purchased some seeds for fancy flowers--spotted and swirled. They're good to fill a blank spot in a bed...where a perennial is sleeping or creeping, filling in after spring ephemerals, etc.

Lol okay great to know! Ooh spotted and swirled!

Yes good to know info, I'm in the zone neighborhood of CYTF and Celene. Celene, you're gonna have to brace yourself for some whining...we're gonna want to see pics of those babies!

You know...just to ooh and ahh.

It's a little early for sprouts, but maybe you guys can help me combine colors for the Mango Twist. I am not good with the whole peach/orange thing.