I finished the last of my winter sowing yesterday - 9 more pop bottles, for that grand total of 67 containers. They're all snuggled nice and comfy under a new blanket of snow. Now I just have to wait for them to start sprouting come March........and resist adding anymore!
--Ginny
I've sown/winter sown.........
I have to cut drainage holes in the rest of my containers still, they're those ones cored pineapples come in. They seem good so far except they're pretty tough to cut through...I still have to sow poppies, dianthus 'siberian blue' and clarkia and godeta. But thats just the winter sowing........theres still some indoor sowing........and spring sowing.......and probably direct sowing........I have to do every type!
Steven
Steven
Hi It can be easier to heat up a metal stick and make your hole , it will glide through the plastic .
I have found that this way I don't cut myself.LOL
Ann
I usually use an old soldering iron to melt holes in them - just a different version of a heated metal stick, but it stays hot :-) Another option some people use is a drill.
--Ginny
Ahh, Good idea. II'll use the drill and save myself all that time hacking my way through plastic :)
Steven
I decided to ditch the pineapple containers and go with ziplocks. They were the best to plant, all thats needed is lots of slits across the bottom and thats it. I like how I can ajust the top according to the weather.I also finished my containers and I have 23,and I tried an experiment, instead of watering right away I tossed some nice clean snow on top of the dirt and set my containers in the sun.
Steven
That sounds like an interesting experiment that just might work Steve. You'll have to keep us posted on progress.
--Ginny
Yes, I'll be sure to keep you posted. I found it much easier then putting in the dirt, then the seeds then the water, instead you can just fill all your containers and plant them then when you're done just add snow. It was much easier :D
Today I sowed:
Shirley poppies,
Danish flag poppies,
Primrose 'Colossea Mix',
California poppy,
Basil 'Oriental Breeze',
Clarkia,
'Angel Wings' Rose,
'Radar Love' Clematis,
Summer forget-me-not,
I think there was another, but I don't remember...
Steve
I'm severely lagging behind you guys in my winter sowing; I'm starting to get a complex ;p
I will do one container as soon as I get home from work tonight, even if it's midnight!!! Shirley Poppies are on the menu!
I got some hosta streaky seeds in the mail today and will start those indoors this weekend. I ordered a packet of 100 (the only size packet I could get) and the fellow sent me 50 extra as a bonus....way more than I need or care to start. I figure I'll do about 25 max and that's probably more than I can deal with. If anyone would like to try some of these seeds, please send me a dmail or post here and I'll send them by mail to you. I figure there'll be enough for 4-5 peeps to do 25 each.
Erynne
Erynne, I've got 30-some hosta pots under lights downstairs but that's an offer too good to refuse for a hostaholic like me! I'd be interested if you still have some left. D-mail coming your way.
Sandy
Hey Sandy,
Yup, you're the second taker, so I'll send them out to you. Somehow it doesn't surprise me that you have a hosta grow-op in your basement,lol. Have any of them germinated?
I just sowed 4 pots of hosta seeds a few minutes ago and 1 container of Shirley Poppy seeds for the WSing. Hey, I'm up to 8 containers outside now! I can't do anymore tonight though as I'm fading fast.
Erynne
Thanks, Erynne! Yes, some of the little darlings are just starting to poke up their heads now. Makes me feel like a proud mama. I can't imagine sowing seeds in the wee hours, you are one dedicated Wsower!
Sandy
Sandy, how long on average does it take for hosta seed to start germinating? I sowed some in a flat on Sunday, so of course I'm checking them everyday to see if anything is happening yet or not :-) My first experience with baby hostas - can you tell I'm anxious?
Erynne - slow down! You don't need to be up until all hours to get those little seeds started. I didn't get my WS done last year until near the end of February, and everything worked out just fine!
--Ginny
Lol @ you guys. I'm really not that dedicated; just short on time! If I do a container here and there, by the end of Feb, I should reach my goal of at least 20 containers! Plus my indoor stuff. The bonus of gardening at midnight is that nobody bothers me, lol.
Ginny, it's just my second year of hosta sowing and I can totally relate to checking them everyday! We just got back from a weekend away, and checking my hosta seedlings was high on my list to do when we got home (after making sure that the house was still in order due to leaving two teens on their own for the weekend!) LOL
It'll be 2 weeks tomorrow that I sowed them and out of 39 pots, only 10 have no sign of germination. Before we left, there were only 4 pots germinated! There were a couple of varieties that germinated earlier, like Lakeside Zinger and Independence and the blue varieties seem to be slower. I've also got some gold ones coming up, which I didn't know would be so visible even when so tiny, so that's fun.
Do you use a heat mat? I understand the hosta seeds like some bottom heat and some people put them on top of their fridge. I didn't use a heat mat last year and they all seemed to germinate fine. But it's a lot colder down the basement, so I snuggled them with old towels and put the lights on, even though they don't need light to germinate. I put baggies around each pot to keep the humidity high too, which is how I've sowed indoors for years (I just recycle the pots and even the baggies). So I figured my part was done. Perhaps a heat mat may work better, but what difference could a few days make, I asked myself.
So what did you ask me again, Ginny? Oh yeah... average germination.... short answer is 10 days to 2 weeks. LOL
Sandy
edited to change Island Charm to Lakeside Zinger... ooops
This message was edited Jan 30, 2007 1:17 PM
Sandy, I'm doing the baggie method as well with my hosta seeds since you got me onto it last year and it worked so well. This time I'm supplying bottom heat via a heat mat just to see how long it takes for them to germinate this way. I'll let you know how long it takes until germination. I guess I'm impatient to see some baby hostas!
Erynne, there you are gardening at midnight again, eh? That'll be great info to know if the heat mat makes a difference.
Here's my hosta sauna. lol
Hey! It looks like mine except a whole lot more baggies ;p
I finally got my "plant room" all put together with the grow op on one wall and a new desk with all my favourite garden books and magazines in one place. My DH renovated that little room for me several months back and it's about time I put it to use. I was just in there doing more winter sowing and yes I admit to more midnight gardening,lol.
Thanks for the info Sandy. No, I don't use heat mats. I have them sown in the plastic packaging that a DVD player came in - holes in the bottom and placed on a drip tray made out of a cardboard pop can carton - about 2" high - covered with a small plastic trash bag. I believe in recycling (and I'm cheap too). I didn't cut the top all the way off so I just had to tape it shut on one side to keep all that nice moisture in :-)
My indoor greenhouse is a 4 shelf unit. The shelves are wire and the flourescent light fixtures for each one hang immediately (1/2" to 1") below the shelf above it. So they generate just a nice amount of bottom heat for my little darlings.
Ginny, you sound a thrifty lass.... OK except for the indoor greenhouse part. heehee
I did 19 more winter sowing containers yesterday.
From Gardens North:
Alyssum caespitosum
Astilboides tablularis
Aubrieta pinardii
Campanula carpatica 'Alba'
Clematis mandshurica
Clematis tangutica ssp. Obtusiuscula
Cortusa caucasica
Digitalis grandiflora
Digitalis parviflora
Hosta ventricosa
From Dominon Seed House:
Kale 'Red Bor'
Kale 'Squire'
Kale 'Nero Di Toscana' (Toscano)
Hibiscus acetosella 'Red Shields'
Painted Sage
Agastache rupestris 'Apache Sunset'
From ON Rock Garden Society:
Bronze Fennel
Helleborus foetidus
Pulsatilla vulgaris 'Papageno'
I have about 30 more to go tomorrow (I know, I'm nuts... but you guys drove me to it). Then I'll sow some annuals indoors probably in March, then (clap, clap) I'll be done!
Sandy
Way to go Sandy! Any day now you'll catch up to me ;-) --Ginny
Yeah, way to go Sandy! I love wsing, but my problem is I just can't stop!
WOW...whatever do you do with them all. I'm looking around my gardens, thinking...where on earth would I put them all!!!
Hubby would have to do some serious digging in the spring...
Steve, you know it's all Ginny's fault for starting this thread, eh? We are totally blameless. (Not ready to admit, yet!)
3gardeners........ Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work we go......
snicker
Sandy
I agree with Sandy. We are totally blameless. ;)
Threegardeners, I don't have room to put any of mine.....But I'm determined to make a new bed in full sun the year! Sun is so precious, our yard is surrounded by lots of large trees....
Steven
Ah..trees, my kingdom for a tree......I am inundated here with full sun, except for one red maple, under which we put the pond. On the other side of the house there is a row of maples, but the neighbour that owns them put a cedar hedge(yuck) between them. Hubby is struggling with a garden along it, but the cedars bring their roots up and you need a jackhammer to dig in there.
Well of course it's my fault! LOL I couldn't be the only person guilty of these things, now could I? I had to gather some accomplices too :-) --Ginny
LOL @ Ginny.
OH! The wonders of glorious full sun.......If only I had it....then I could grow my sun plants as they should be and less like sardines jammed in a can...
Ginny - Yup, we're your partners in crime! ;O)
Steven
Ok, I just have to jump in here. Is anyone from Zone 3 actually doing this? Can it really be done? This will be the first year I'm actually going to try starting seeds indoors; am I really ready to try wintersowing outside??? It's going to be -25C again in a couple of days. My husband will surely have me committed if I try this...lol.
Joanne
Hi Joanne. Obviously, I'm not in zone 3, but what I can tell you is what I know from my own experiences. Last year was the first year I ever winter sowed. I had everything outside in their containers under a nice blanket of snow by the end of February. The temperatures here last winter were very cold. We had a number of extended periods of -29C before calculating wind chill, and my stuff turned out just fine. I had about an 85 or 90% germination rate, which was so good it almost stunned me. I hadn't expected that at all.
I think you just need to think of it in terms of what happens normally in nature vis-a-vis self-sowing. Perennial, biennial, and hardy annual plants shed their seeds to the ground in the fall. These seeds sit dormant in or on the soil over the winter and then begin to germinate in the spring. Some start germinating right away with the warmer temperatures, others take a bit longer, while still others may in fact take an entire extra season.
What we are doing with winter sowing is just giving Mother Nature a helping hand. We are placing the seeds into little miniature greenhouses that not only give them a head start with the warming of the sun, but also protect them from predators (mice, voles, squirrels, etc.) and from being washed away in the spring rains.
So go ahead and give it a try. I'll bet you end up as pleasantly surprised as I was :-)
--Ginny
Hi Joanne! Winter sowing works. I had great success last year too.
I used to live in Calgary, although it was in my pre-gardening days. I remember the Chinook winds would swoop down in the winter and raise the temperature astonishingly in the matter of hours. To my mind, that would be something to be aware of - that your containers have an insulating blanket of snow on them so they don't think it's spring too early when the Chinooks come. Have you had any this year yet?
Oh, and as Ginny suggested, if you stick to perennials, biennials and HARDY annuals, your success will be pretty much guaranteed. You could even bet your skeptic(?) hubby for something 'real nice' and I'd wager that you'd win! LOL
Sandy
Well, Sandy & Ginny, you've got me convinced. -29C before windchill, eh? If it works under those conditions, I can't be afraid to try it in Calgary. Good point about the Chinooks, Sandy. Yes, we've had lots of them this year. In fact, we didn't have a whole bunch of snow because of them until about two weeks ago. Now we have a LOT of snow. It's been snowing off and on for 5 or 6 days. I will just have to keep my containers in the part of my garden that retains more snow, even in chinook conditions. Well, I'm off to do some more reading up on this; I think I'll start small, maybe a few containers this year, and see how it goes. Thanks for the inspiration!
Joanne
Right on! It was the wager with hubby that won you over, eh? LOL Let us know how it goes! ..and if you have any questions, of course.
Sandy
Hi Joanne! Good to see another WSing recruit! I had my first go at WSing last year and I just couldn't get over that it actually worked so well plus it didn't take up my valuable shelf space in the house. You'll be out there checking those containers daily once things warms up and the excitement is in seeing those first sprouts! Great fun!
I hope we can have a "show & tell" here with pics when our containers start sprouting.
This is a "before" pic of my plant room that hubby made me for my indoor set up.
This is the "after" pic. I also prepare my WS containers in here. One day I hope to get my own puter for this room.
Oh I love your plant room Erynne. This would work beautifully in our spare room - it's about the same size, but unfortunately I have nowhere else to put all the *stuff* that resides there now. The joys of living in a 125 year old home - absolutely no storage :-(
--Ginny
What a great plant room Erynne, very cool.
I'm really keen to try WS. And amazingly, the hubby is buying into the concept! He's already dug two squashed plastic milk jugs out of the recycle bin for me and is going to prepare them for me to winter sow. Who'd a thunk it. LOL.
Now have to decide what to seed...I'm just going to do a few hardy annuals, so I'm combing my annual books for stuff that looks appropriate, particularly things that we might normally be able to sow outside in the fall. Stay tuned...
-Joanne
Wow, Nice plant room Erynne!
I agree and think we should do a "Show and Tell". I've been having alot of meltage of the snow on top of my containers the last couple days, and today it's 0C and sunny, maybe something will sprout...
Steven
You *MUST* live in the banana belt Steve :-) Somewhere around Sarnia, Chatham, Pelee, Ridgetown, Windsor,...? I work in London and it's only -3C here today.
Yes we should do a show and tell. Whoever gets the first WS sprouts start it, okay? I'm going to start a Cdn. Seed Exchange indoor sowing update thread too. I have a few things sprouting inside from that already.
--Ginny