Lessons learned for next year #3

Thanks Mobi :-)

My jugs are where they get sun from sunrise until about 1 pm and they did just fine last year. I have the tops off and only had one jug out of 80 that didn't have any germination.
The snow melted enough yesterday so I can see them again. I figure I have enough winter left that I am going to pot up some more today. We have been having weather in the upper 50's low 60's but are getting freezing nights and highs in the upper 30's starting today for awhile.

Our temps. change a lot here too, I’m getting ready to plant some more, this week in the 70’s and next week will be freezing lol Mine have only been under the snow once and that was only for a day it melted the next day, I have 72 jugs so far.

Well my jugs are coming out of the full sun and into the back yard, the part sun/shade sounds good, I’ve got to do something different from last year, I want all of mine to come up too! lol

whoops -- this thread was getting lost on page 2

anyhooo -- my lesson learned from this year.... use bigger (higher) boxes. Shoe box size is not tall enough.

other than that... everything else seems to be going well.

tcs1366: What do you use shoe boxes for?

oh -- that was in the "Tupperware" thread....
http://davesgarden.com/forums/p.php?pid=3205925

they were plastic shoe boxes.

I sowed about 40-50 jugs (2 liter soda bottles) in early February. They are in morning sun, and some nights temps have been down to single digits. So far almost 1/3 have germinated which I consider remarkable because some seed was old. You betcha I will do this again!!

My jugs sit in a kiddie pool full of drain holes.

On lesson that I learned from my previous go at winter sowing is that you do have to think about mature sizes when planting out your babies. I will let many of my seedlings mature for a month or two in pots, but even then they are such tiny plants. I had such a hard time convincing myself that these puny plants would soon be 3' wide.

I was really surprised by how fast my winter sown plants matured and how quickly some of my plantings became over crowded. In general I do like to plant new perennials close to get that full look earlier with the ideas that I can thin them later. With my seedling I though that the thinning job would be in a year or two, but many plants were too crowded after just a few months.

Below is a picture taken in June 2005. Look at the recently planted garden to the left of the bench that is about 50% wintersown plants.

- Brent

I seem to be seeing some oddities with images, but I here (what I hope) is a picture of the same garden bed taken in August 2005.

- Brent

it looks about right... Very nice.

what are those taller purple flowered plants?

I see the coleus by the fence.... were those from seeds too?

Terese

The two taller plants are Verbena bonariensis and Agastache (Anise Hyssop).

Yep the Coleus by the fence was winter sown. It is one of those plants that took forever to get going and by the time they got to a decent size I did not have the motivation to find a spot for them. I should have moved them inside or taken cuttings. I have a packet of seeds this year that I plan on sowing soon.

As a follow up to the bed shown...this was my kids "butterfly garden" and a primary reason that I got into winter sowing. I wanted to get my kids involved with some gardening but I did not want to spend $100 on plants. I supplemented the bed with some annuals and some other plants because I did not want it to look empty all year long. I really thought that it would take a year or two for the winter sown plants to take off. I was so wrong! I saw the same type of results in the other two beds that I loaded with winter sown plants.

BTW, the only plants in that bed that were purchased are the marigolds. While many of the other plants (lambs ear, cannas, plus a couple others that got swallowed up) were not winter sown, I traded a number of winter sown plants at a local swap to get those plants.

- Brent

This message was edited Mar 21, 2007 12:29 PM

Brent: They remind me of "before" and "after" pictures! What a beautiful butterfly garden you now have!!

Lessons I've learned from this first year of winter sowing (so far)...
A. Fill opaque cups with planting medium as close to the top as possible to prevent lanky plants trying to reach the sun.
B. Remove nasturtiums from boxes as soon as they germinate, as they tend to get too wet and rot (I almost lost my first ones before I realized this).
C. I've learned that this method really works and I love it. It will definitely be a part of my gardening plan from now on.

Out of 193 containers (so far...yes I have more seed, lol), only about 24 haven't germinated. Some of those have hopeful little green bumps and some I know need more consistent warmth than we've had so far or are long germination types, so I haven't given up on anything.

zen.... anyway to "unsticky" #'s 1 & 2 and sticky this one... so this is on top and the others don't get new posts... or even just sticky this one up above the other 2 ??

There is a way I will check with the powers that be.

I asked yesterday to have this made a sticky hopefully when the weekend is over it will happen.

thanks zen.....

193 containers? Egads, surely that must be a prize winner of some sort of WS Queen/King for the year or something! I started small for me (a rarity) - I only did about 30 or so. But I'm hooked :)

I did learn that heat is far more deadly to sprouts than cold this year - and that the containers hold moisture pretty well. Next year as soon as it hits 70 I'm taking down the tops on my sprouted ones. I only lost a few sprouts thankfully.

How do you guys manage with the annual seeds that are SO TINY? My manual dexterity is not great, and they stick to my palms and get under my fingernails and end up with all the seeds in one container when I wanted it in 10 different containers!

xxxxxxxxxxxxx(I finally have sprouts!), Carrie

Sometimes it helps to mix them with sand if you're direct seeding, though that might not help with trying to divide them among containers.

Yeah, I thought of that, then I thought of that!

Somebody makes a tool to dispense carrot seeds and other tiny seeds one at a time. How small are carrot seeds?

xxx, C

I have the little green bulb that you squeeze to pick up tiny seeds with air suction, but sometimes I throw it aside in frustration because it's not super efficient.

Put them in a salt shaker.

Good idea! Probably a pepper shaker for some, like Lobelia.

I'm glad someone brought up this topic--because I ended up with all my really tiny seeds going into one jug because I didn't know to separate them! "Sowing thickly," indeed.
I'm going to try the salt-shaker method next year . . . meanwhile, I'm watching those jugs--two or three are germinating--yippee!
--Emily

Love the salt/pepper shaker idea.. maybe with some sand to mix and spread easier?

Susan

Susan,

I should have mentioned sand helps, but forgot. Thanks!

Jody

That is a great idea. (Taking notes for next year) It could have saved me a lot of grief and seeds today as I was trying to untangle Coreopsis tinctoria "Dwarf Red Plains" to plant out the seedlings. I finally said, "I give up, and just planted the rest out in hunks."

Lessons Learned...What works: Initially placing several markers inside the jugs at the start of winter sowing...
One thing I'm glad I did do when I first sowed my seeds... I placed several plastic forks and knives marked with their plant names and date in with the jugs. As I was planting some of the seedlings into groups, I'd just take one of the plastic markers from the jugs to name the seedlings. I planted 3, or 5, or 7, or 9 in a group depending on the plant. One marker per grouping. Now, I can relax and make a "real' marker at my leisure, giving these seedlings an opportunity to grow on further in their new bed. Most will get a nice looking metal marker, later when I'm not so tired after planting.

I'm never original so I'm sure I read this from ya'lls last year lessons learned.LOL

This same information was also written on the outside of the jugs. However, what I plan to include next year will be the plant's maturity height (& bloom color if known) on the outside of the jug. Since there's not enough room on the plastic forks and knives for this. I did have this information on file, but not quite as organized with my maps when I take them with me to the beds. I change my mind to often when it's all said and none (really ready to plant).

Dawg, an excellent idea of the multiple markers! I wish I had done that.

Suzy

Excellent idea of salt/pepper shakers and a little sand! I tried plastic knives but I just couldn't write well enough or maybe mine are extra petite knives or something! And the condensation inside my containers caused the writing to wash off in the cases where I put both a marker and an outside number.

xxxx, Carrie

Believe it or not pencil works well. I use pencil on one side and paint marker on the other, just-in-case. The ones from last year made it till now right through the winter.

I used the paint marker thing on wooden craft sticks. (they look like wide popcicle sticks)
it has worked well for me.... plus just the writing on the outside of the container with the paint marker.

I plan on using it yearly since it worked well.

for the containers where the lid/cover wasn't that high, i broke the stick in half.
(though that doesnt leave a lot of room to write)

I begun my first round of winter sowing I've learned from you guys in early March here in northwest WA state. 5 milk jugs numbered, and the seed packets kept. 15-30 seeds in each, and they have sprouted. I am so happy. They look so much better then the leggy indoor starts from february. My only problem now, is where do I plant them all? I guess I'll plan on thinning later.
Thanks for this great idea. Love, FreeBird!

Ok folks, I didn't have any sand, did NOT want to use salt (I'm not that dumb) so I used sugar. Will that do anything bad to the tiny seedlets? It worked well; I could see the little seeds among the sugar and it melted nearly instantly.

xxx, Carrie

Carrie, Are you growing sweet peppers?

No, they give me heartburn! LOL. Plus I believe my soil to be unhealthy for children and other living things.

xxxx, Carrie

Carrie, Get it analyzed. Doesn't cost much.

By whom, Doug? And I'm the only one who eats veggies around here, anyway.


x, Carrie