winter sowing in texas

who is going to do this? when are you going to do this? how are you going to do this?

i planned on waiting till mid. jan. is that the time?

I was going to try winter sowing last year, but by the time I was ready to start, our "winter" was over!

i know. it was 101 in april. from what i can tell in texas it might be o.k. to start about mid. jan. have you heard anything different?

I would think that Mid-Dec. would be the best for WS but for most of us we don't really need to winter sow as we can start stuff for the garden and just put if from starter pots into the ground "usually" around Mar 1 w/the intention of covering if we should have a snap freeze at least here in the Houston area. Further north they might want to start a couple of weeks later. Those in much colder climates are the ones who really need to WS, Just my thoughts.......

Ann

ann, i know winter sowing is more for the colder regions of our country but i am wanting to start seeds in a major way this year. i have a kiddie pool i intend to fill with dirt, although i am not sure what to cover it with yet, and winter sow large amts. of different seed. what i have difficulty with here is having room inside to do what i want to do. and i am afraid if i start in dec. it will warm up enough for everything to germinate and then everything will die in feb. if i wintersow in dec.

if someone knows an easier way please lmk.

Why not plant your started plants in Feb? You can mulch them and chances are you won't lose much if any.
Just a thought. Your z isn't that different from mine.

Ann

i have some seeds that i really don't want to lose so you have bigger ovaries than i, ann. please forgive me but i was an o.r. nurse in my former life and if men can have ............never mind. lol.

are you saying to direct sow in feb.?

I would but that's just me. If you want to start your planting sooner you can just start the seeds in whatever you sow in and then put the started plants out. I just can't see doing all that work - twice it - kinda like having twins..

Ann

Hello Mamajack, it was nice to meet you last Saturday.
The only things I winter sow are the plants that I have a lot of, and what I do is just shake the seed heads and let them fall where they may. These are mainly the wildflowers.
Of course I don't worry about those because I have plenty of them and if they don't come up, no real loss.
The seeds that I want to be sure about, I plant in early March in little pots and keep them on a tray so that if a cold snap threatens I can just bring the tray inside, it is much easier to control this way, and I don,t have to wonder whether they will get killed or not. When they are ready, I divide then into little pots again, and plant then in the ground when it is safe.
I hope that helps.
Josephine.

well that's how i do it too josephine but i want to know if we can do this winter sowing here or not. i am going to try it and i will hold back some seeds for each to sow inside but if we could do it this way how much easier that would be to me. just wondered if many texans had tried this.

I have tried this and will again do it this year. I like to get them in and let them grow - I try to get everything that will take a winter outside in the ground early. Late Nov to early Dec I will get out there and get it all in.

mitch what are you saying? that you sow seeds directly outside in nov./dec. or you do it in the house at that time of year? can i start seeds inside now? that would help if i could do that. or are you saying that you have tried winter sowing and plan on doing it again.........and do you mean sowing in the closed containers when you say winter sowing or do you mean direct sowing?

They say that male sea horses have or at least carry the babies, but I think that the scientist that discovered them first identified a female as a male and then when one of his colleagues told him that it had to be a female because it was having babies, he then said "oh on sea horses the male has the babies" to redeem himself. Anyway, maybe you could cover the pool with painters plastic and if the plants get taller than the sides before transplanting time, you could use cinder blocks to prop the plastic. My step-dad always preplants and then transplants, which is alot of work to me, like the twin thing spoken of earlier so I prefer to use my time trying to build up the soil. I might pre plant a few things like tomatoes, but if I do I will use those peat planters that you just rip off the bottom and trim any circling roots and stick in the ground. Take care, Mike

so............ABSOLUTELY no one in texas winter sows in containers outside? to me it would be easier to do it in a pool than all of those little cups all over the place. maybe i go to a lot more work in the house than you folks do. the seed starting medium takes forever to get wet enough. i thought with winter sowing i could use regular potting soil, wet it with a water hose over and over until its saturated, then put the seeds in and then cover it and voila................plants! what am i missing?

I sow outside in the ground - and so far most things have worked out.

I always winter sow in containers outside--I use plug trays. They are already done or will be by the end of the month. I just pot up bigger as needed. I only do perennials this way--they usually bloom the first year too.

Mamajack ~ I am in your zone and have never but hope to try Wsing a few things. My intention is to do so in Jan but haven't really decided what all I want to try. I would not sacrifice any seeds I didn't have multiples of. I chose Jan. as my sanity doesn't start till then. pod

podster, i will LOSE my sanity if i don't have something to watch besides my kids.

o.k. debbie, looks like you are it. when do you sow? what is a plug tray? where can i see a picture? what do you cover them with? and so if on a particular night after your seeds have germinated and are not quite seedlings (or even if they are seedlings) (here's another "or".....is a plant a seedling the minute you see green stuff?) do you bring the tray in if you know it's going to freeze? i know we get more freezing temps than yall do.

Plug trays are those small 1 x 1 x 2.5" plastic pots--I bring in if its going to be below 30 and throw a frost row cover over it 30-32. I sow Oct and Nov--perennials only. I've been doing it this way for literally 10-15 years. All natives and any other perennial I think needs cold stratification--I never do refridgerator--they prefer the cool then warmer then cool temps of outdoors--its called sharp stratification. Most of mine are done--got a few things more to do. You do have to water sometimes if it doesn't rain.

what do you cover the trays with? just a sheet of saran type wrap with holes? oh i want to start some now too. but i won't use all my seeds just in case. and if i cover with plastic wrap.............as long as i can see water condensation on the inside plastic are the trays wet enough?

I do not cover trays with anything.

Thanks, Debbie, I am going to try the plug trays. I have a bunch I got at WalMart a couple of years ago. I am going to put them in semi-shade well away from the big digger, chewer dog and let nature take its course. The seeds I have tried to refrigerate just don't make it, and the greenhouse temps are too high in the daytime even with the exhaust fan for the seeds that want cool to germinate. If I fill the compartments only partially, I should not have to worry about seeds floating away in case of a downpour. (HA! Like we would really get much rain at a time!)

That reminds me Pat--I generally bottom water (need to go check and do that now on my Hibiscus dasycalyx), use seed germinating medium, and put them out in full sun this time of year on. I still only have to water every other day. I fill 3/4 of the way full and let it rain on them. I think real rain works better on some things (sure works better on fall blooming Zephyranthes, Lycoris, Habranthus, and Oxblood Lilies--they know the difference). But I do pull out the bottom tray if they are predicting rain. I've never had seeds wash out even in Houston "deluges and gullywashers".
Debbie

What kind of medium do you use for germinating seeds? Vermiculite? I've been using Miracle Grow potting soil for my potted plants, but I'm not sure if this is good stuff for starting seeds. Like Mamajack, I've got a lot of seeds that I want to get started. Debbie, thanks for all of the pointers.

-jessica

anyone who is interested in learning more about this..........go to the winter sowing forum and find my thread. the guru of "the winter sowing METHOD" is on there talking about how to do this.

I use "seed germinating mix"--there is a particular brand I like and an online source for it too. But I've seen some at Lowe's, Southwest Fertilizer, and Cornelius (but only in the spring there--which is too late for me) Greenbud, if you dmail me we could save on shipping by combining one order.

The only thing I use vermiculite (which Lowe's has) for is bulbs that need really good drainage but I don't want to use the weight of pea-sized pebbles.

Wintersowing in Texas is much different than the rest of the country. I start Oct and Nov--they have problems believing I'm winter-sowing because stocks and snaps start blooming down here in FEB not JUNE.

This message was edited Nov 11, 2006 9:36 AM

it is different here but i was wanting more info. on the METHOD of winter sowing. this method uses vented covered containers that are never brought inside and deb i am not as warm as you either. we will get a month or more at least of really cold temps where you might get just a few days, is that right?

Where I am--north and west of I10--I get a "hard" freeze every single winter, including last winter. In fact, I almost lost several plants last winter. The cover has nothing to do with temps; in my opinion. Do seeds in nature grow under plastic covers? I am 6 miles as the crow flies from yucca do nursery--they consider themselves 8b--I consider myself 8b too. Most of the people from Houston on this forum are much farther south and much closer to the Gulf than I am.

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/668696/

this is what poojer says about that deb. i wondered too.

i don't think that hyperlink works but go over to the winter sowing thread and see my thread there as i asked her about covers and you can see her answer.

Link worked... I may be wrong ( again ) but think the effect would be the same as starting your seeds in a gh should you have one. This would be the poor mans version.

and that's me. lol.

but podster...........if you have a greenhouse...........do you just sow seeds in a greenhouse without warming lights? my sister is building me a greenhouse type place and i just wondered if i would need special warming places for the seeds.

No gh here and have never tried it. I have a plant shelter which is not heated but I think warm would be necessary for the seed to germinate early. The principle of wsing is the seeds will sit dormant until the proper time/temp is achieved rather than forcing the seeds early. The domed lid retains humidity and the vents aids in temp control. It should be optimal timing with little fuss, i.e. watering, temp control etc. I am probably wrong again and will be corrected if so, but that is as I understand the ws theory.

thank you. i know a lady who has quite a bit of experience starting seeds and she has offered to help. i have been successful with a few things but a whole lot of other things never got out of the starting gate. it is really so satisfying to see plants that you grew yourself.

This link was on another thread and is a fantastic aid in identifying those seeds and seedlings that you lost the labels on, etc. It has an alphabetical listing with pictures & other good info too. http://theseedsite.co.uk/seedpods.html
This will be my first real effort at winter sowing, so I am all ears on this thread.

sheila, that's a great site for seed identification. if you want to know more about the METHOD of winter sowing go to the winter sowing forum on daves. the guru, poojer, is on there answering our questions. it's the thread i started.

http://www.wintersown.org/wseo1/Free_Seeds.html

here's a link to FREE SEEDS for winter sowing..............FOR SASBE.