LESSONS LEARNED for next year?!

Hi Poojer, glad to see you posting.

I received some yellow tree peony seeds in the mail and was wondering how I should plant these. do I soak them over night and put in container and place in the fridge? Our weather temps are in the 50's is this cold enought to start winter sowing seeds now?

My lilac bushes have buds on them along with a few other things, seeds are starting to come up in the garden already and hollyhocks and Irises. My dh's climbing roses have buds on them...

This is my very first time to WS.
I am at a loss as when I should start WSing with our temps being so warm and looks like we are not going to have the really hard cold spells we usually get this time of year...

Connie

Thanks Poojer! ;0)

Yes, Poojer, welcome and thanks for maintaing such a great database. I love the new pictures on the site that I had not seen a few years ago. Very nice..
:)

Susan

Thanks Susan! It's a work in process and a labor of love, sometimes more labor than love. I was talking on the phone with a friend in MD today and he said that I am married to WinterSown.Org--in many ways I think he is right.
-------------

Hi Connie,

This is the perfect time to sow your tree peony seeds. They will benifit from the initial warm weather followed by freezes and thaws and then more warm weather. Germination is likely going to be staggered and eratic, you may be nursing your pot of seeds and seedlings for many months into summer and autumn before they all sprout--sometimes a few sprout a year later. Sigh. The best thing to do with any seed known for erratic germination is to sow them into a larger container with good depth of soil, this way you don't become a slave to its needs for water. If you have a patio planter that is self-watering you've got a great container for the purpose. After the first seedlings germinate you can remove them to a bed or another container and overseed the remaining seedlings with alyssum and petunias so you can still use that container while it babysits your unsprouted seeds until they sprout--whenever.

Trudi

Thanks Trudi,
Will plant them out tomorrow :o) And thats a great idea with the petunias & alyssum... I would never have thought of that...

Thanks again,

Connie

Connie--I just try to utelize everything I already have, that way I don't have to go buy something else. I admit being eternally tight-fisted ;-O

rofl

Okay Trudi one more question - This is my first year to WS, and I was really excited about it and then this weather we are having has me baffled...
I have quite a few seeds that need the cold stratification, would it be okay to go a head and start sowing these now even with the temps in the 50's? I don't want to get a head of myself and then lose them... (I am good for doing that)
I have got plants that are already coming up and my dh's climbing roses is starting to bud again along with all my lilac bushes...
This has got to be the most strangest of winters we have had in a long while... if ever!!

Thanks Connie

Connie,

Winter is more than cold weather, it's also days of low light. And it's nights of very cold weather. It was near fifty here today, but I woke with frost and ice on the ground and its returning now.

Winter is here, it's slow to start, but soon you'll be moaning snowdrifts and heating bills that are through the roof.

Sow you seeds. Keep the faith.

T

Thanks Trudi ;-}

Connie

Sorry Trudi, I lied, I have one more question, I was going to email you from your website and ask it but thought there might be some that are newbies to WSing that would want to know also...

My hubby bought me the organic garden soil to do my winter sowing with, it is a very heavy and rich soil, My question is - would it be a good idea to add some peat to it? or does it matter? (sorry thats 2 questions :)

Connie

I am not Trudi but...what brand is your "organic garden soil"? Does it give an indication of the ingredients? If it is the Miracle-Gro brand, I see that their label has the vague statement:

It seems to me the principal cost of WSing is buying all the high quality dirt. Has anyone figured out a way to do it right, but economically? I gather using compost isn't the best idea. Of course a sterlized potting soil will become unsterile in a few minutes sitting outside, but I assume it is still far safer to use than compost (which I otherwise adore) for seed starting, because of disease, fungus, etc. The good seed starting mixes cost a fortune. Should I get Pro-mix by the bale?

Happy - I purchased 2 bales of Pro-mix and might need to get 1 more before I'm done. Mine were about $25 each and are the compressed 3.7 cubic bales. After hearing the lousy results from using cheap stuff I'm biting the bullet and just going with what is recommended. I really love the texture of Pro-mix and will probably stick with it in future years.

I'm a little surprised at how much my winter sowing adventure is actually costing me but in the end I'll still be saving a huge amount of money.

Joanne

Where can you find Pro-Mix, and which one did you buy? (I see their website lists several kinds.)

Darius - I called around to all of the local garden centers and garden supply stores. It took a few calls but finally found a place with a few bales. The only kind they had was Pro-Mix BX with gray packaging. http://www.premierhort.com/eProMix/Horticulture/Products/GrowingMediaCat/mycorise/fBiostimulant.htm

Joanne

You'll probably cringe when I tell you this, but I used soil from my garden for my wintersowing last year. I did have a few weed seedlings, so this year, I just bought some cheap bags of garden soil from Lowe's. I don't know that I would have any better success with any special soil. The seeds that germinated did just fine. It's no different than direct sowing, or what happens when plants self-seed. They germinated in the same soil they would be growing in eventually.

Well, anyway, it worked for me. LOL

kbaumle: That's great to know. My garden soil is pretty awful -- I constantly amend it with compost -- so that really isn't an option for me. It is horrible clay. And my compost isn't "ripe." So I'm stuck buying something. I have heard that the less expensive bagged soil mixes do not have enough organic material and so they mat down -- I don't know if that is true, but I was cautioned to try to use a soilless mix for that reason. But I have no interest in spending money unnecessarily on, of all things, dirt.

Oh, our soil is clay, too. Believe me. Awful stuff. What I used was the topsoil off the veggie part of the garden, so it wasn't rock hard clay, but that's what we have to work with here. Our town has a clay works factory, making clay tile. What does that tell you? LOL. Actually, they don't manufacture clay tile anymore, but PVC, but they could, if they wanted to. My mom has always said we should be doing pottery instead of gardening. LOL.

I had great success with Miracle Grow last year.

Me too. One of the things I like about winter sowing is it doesn't seem to matter what kind of soil you use.

I like the Miracle Grow with moisture control too. I don't water my containers until spring and they come out great. I am a little frustrated right now. My containers are outside and we just had two blizzards in the last 3 weeks and I want to plant my seeds already! But right now they are covered in snow. Our snow usually melts off in a 3 days here so I wasn't concerned about getting to them but I haven't started yet and plan to do about 50 containers. I know I have time but I want to get it done now!

au contraire Beaker!! You can count on me to find a way not to do it.. I used spent potting mix a nursery had thrown out.. Got it for $10 a truck load off their mountain... I germinated all kinds of weed seeds. Big mistake.

Susan

This message was edited Jan 5, 2007 11:28 PM

I used Miracle Grow potting soil with moisture control last year because that was what was available at Costco when I was looking for soil. I had great results.

I have information abvout soil and seeds here:
http://www.wintersown.org/wseo1/Soil_and_Seeds.html

At the bottom of each of those pages you'll also find edulinks leading to more information.

Trudi

Trudi: I am so glad you are contributing to this thread -- I know we are in good hands now!

You wrote on your site: "So I look for the biggest and largest bag of soil I can find. It's an economical choice to get the biggest bag because it costs less per pound or quart. Plus, with more soil, I can sow more flats!" Where do you find the cheapest big bags? On-line? (But then there is postage.) Or locally? But my garden centers don't discount bags of soil much . . . .

Zenpotter: I didn't realize Costco carried bags of soil. I wonder when they start with the planting supplies? Maybe soon, now that the Holidays are over.

You have to shop around, you know your stores better than I do.

I go to a large nursery and by 3cu.ft bags of promix. I belong to their "club" and get the bags for 14.99 each.

Thanks -- that's helpful as a benchmark.

The Home Depot and Lowes garden centers in my area have some pretty huge bags of soil, much larger than what I typically will find at the WM I work at. I haven't tried the smaller nurseries. The ones around here are rather high end so I never think to buy basic soil from them. 1/2 price end of season perennials and hard to find annuals and herb, of course! but not regular stuff. =)

My Home Depot sells broken bag pallets for dirt cheap.. (couldn't resist~!!) you get a mix of things, and I save them and pile them up and use as needed. Check with your HD to see if they do this.

Susan

tabasco, Do you mind if I start a continuation of this? It is getting very slow to download.

If it is getting slow for you or anyone, please do make a new one.... just come back here right away to post the hyperlink to the new thread.. I have been reading this thread and attempting to take in all the good advice herein.. I am sure Judy (tobasco), wouldn't want any of you guys to be held up loading such a long page.. In fact, zen! Thanks for speaking up!! Good timing!

Deb o/ Wintersowing up a storm ....

This link will take you to # 2.

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/682914/

I have both potting soil and ProMix to start a few containers. Which is best? Also how often are you watering? Do you just have drainage holes and water them from the bottom? Clueless but interested.
Teresa in KY

If you have holes in the top of your container, you shouldn't need to water much. I did it on an as needed basis last year but I don't think it was more than 4 times all winter.

I found the transparent duct tape to be a great improvement so far. Much more flexible than regular duct tape or aluminum. I don't have to worry about tape covering where I wrote the seed type. And it's cheaper than aluminum tape. I'll let you know how it handles the winter and how it removes in spring.

Yes, of course, I 'm glad you made a new thread. Let's all go to the new thread.

I just didn't know what to do since the first one is a sticky.

Here's the continuation: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/682914/ everyone! See you over there. Thanks.