Lessons learned for next year #3

dmac085: Oh my gosh! "I found a huge shard of glass in one bag....." plus, the soil turning sour is absolutely horrible!!!!! I hope you didn't hurt yourself on that piece of glass. I would have brought the bag back to the store where I purchased it, filled out a complaint form and spoken to the store Manager. Definitely stick with the name brands.

Seandor: It has been proven over and over again that inferior brands of dirt will dry out quicker, will contain more debris such as sticks and eventually the dirt (not using the word soil on purpose) will become rock hard and have the consistency of concrete. You were lucky this time! I know of many wintersowers (at another website) that tried to save a few dollars by buying cheap dirt. They lost almost every one of their sown containers because the seedlings died when the dirt became rock hard. This is a very avoidable problem!!

Well you are right about the sticks and twigs . . . Haven't had it turn to hard rock, but I have been vigillant about watering. In the future, I will heed your advise.

Cheers,
Seandor.

I've been using MG soil, which I am morally against but I can't argue with its efficacy. I have sproutage in almost every actual WS container, whereas my spring sowing annuals in flats and peatpots has not been nearly as successful.

xxx, Carrie

I don't really know what was wrong with my WM soil, mine never turned concrete-like, but it was way too coarse, I think that was the problem. Anyway, it is really worth it to spend a few dollars more and be assured that one is using good materials 9 so any failure cannot be blamed on the soil, lol).

I used several different kinds of soil (nothing cheap!) and kept track of what seeds were planted in which soil. so I can match failures to soil and see if there are any trends.

i used 2 types... i'm thinking the first bunch of bags were Jiffy and the last was MG.
my seeds did great in both. my only seed failures were due to "soaking".

My dh bought me the MG garden soil, and it was full of stones, sticks and WEED seeds. (and lord knows what else) I won't use it again for anything.

I used a seed starter mix on some, and a regular potting soil (MG) on others. The seed starter was too dense, not airy enough. It was very hard to divide the seed starter mix. I also had to fertilize those, since they didn't have anything in them. It seems like the tiny roots were more sealed in there, more than the loose mix.

My lesson learned for WS is to not be stingy with the seeds. A lot of containers I only planted 3 or 5 seeds, and was lucky to end up with 1 that actually became a plant. I'll definitely oversow next year and thin out what I don't need. Tamara

My lesson is don't plant so much. I am still planting and planting. I am just about out of room and then it will be time to start giving plants away.

I learned that this is the only way I can afford to mass plant - today I planted 35 snapdragons, about 9 old-fashioned carnations, about 15 pinks, 20 viola (blackberry cream!) Plus I have already planted about 50 larkspur, and there are still more to plant!

I also planted about 100 or so impatiens (started inside - then moved to veranda). Also planted about 15 foxglove, and I still have to plant the delphiniums!

Wow Seandor! You really did well.

How much space do you have, Michaela?

xxx, Carrie

Is this what you mean by mass planting?
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/730772/
xxx, Carrie

Carrie--OMGosh! That's amazing! I can't imagine planting 15,000 bulbs!!! I thought 100 was a lot! Tamara

Please show me your Blackberry Cream when they are blooming! I just love Viola!

Well - obviously I haven't attempted to plant 15,000 of anything (yet!) but yes, that is the generally idea, Carrie. I still have about 60 or so impatiens to plant today, and I will also plant the delphiniums.

Nikki - I am new to this, so I have no idea whether the viola will bloom this year or not. But it sure would be great - they encircle two mini roses - Scentsation - which is lavender coloured with a cream underside to the petals. These mini-roses were selected because they (supposedly) have a strong scent. I think that these roses (they will grow to about 24") will be beautiful framed by purple and white violas.

Anyway - both the roses and the violas are new this year - if I get blossoms, I will definitely take pictures and post them :-)

Cheers,
Michaela

I think we need some pictures Michaela

You guys understand, it was not I who planted 1500 muscari. I wish I could but DH doesn't get the effect in my head, he just hears me saying "don't mow there yet; the foliage has to ripen."

Ok, I did my best to read everything. This year will be my first year winter sowing. My sister is planning to do it too. I rely on her for information as she retains much more of what she reads (she is also a DG member). If I have this right,
1) I will keep saving milk jugs NOT cutting and tossing the tops, - Get lots of those as I have in home Day Care.
2) I will cut through three sides (do you keep the handle side intact? Would this hinder the desired "hinged" effect?)
3) Buy Miracle Grow soil NOW if on sale (any particular type?)
4) After winter solstice (or whatever that word was) then I will:
a) Put drainage holes in all my jugs (guess I could do that earlier)
b) Pre moisten soil in a bucket of some type (totally soak it and let it drain over night?)
c) Fill jugs to the edge of cut (give a tap on counter to settle and top off again?)
d) Add seeds on top of soil? Or
e) Sprinkle a little more soil on top of seeds?
f) Close jug and tape shut
g) Replace lid to jug? Or do I leave that off for ventilation?
h) Place outside in sunny area on picnic tabletop (or do I want them directly on the ground?)
i) Let Mother Nature do her work and await spring to enjoy

Is that all? Do I do anything with them from the time I set them out until time to plant them in the ground?

If this list of "to do's" seems accurate, I will print it out for reference. If I get some comments on changes, I will revise it, and then print it out.

Thanks so much! Dave's is the best site for learning from others who are so much more experienced.

Sheri

Well, I can't really comment on your list, but I totally agree on your comment re: DG.

xx, Carrie

sj, i don't think you need to worry about getting it down to a science. it's all about making LESS work & worry, not more.

what you basically want to do is create a slightly protected environment that still gets moisture & lets it drain out.

Summerkid, so does my list seem appropriate or are there errors? Is it over kill? I like the idea of little work, big results but I also don't want to neglect them TOO much and end up with a bunch of empty dirty jugs on my picnic table in the spring.

Don't put the lid back on; remember, you want them to get some rain/snow.
Put them on the ground if nothing will disturb them there because they will be more protected. The ground helps insulate them.

Why don't you experiment a little & find what works best for you?

As for planting depth, put them at the normal depth or perhaps a bit shallower -- remember, you're letting Mother Nature do the work, a la the wildflowers that just drop their seeds on the ground & spout when they're ready.

Thanks, I am also reading on the winter sowing.org website that was mentioned earlier in this thread. Hopefully by early January I will feel confident. Maybe I will do half the jugs on the ground and half on the table? I see where a lot of DGer's have thiers on a deck so that would be similar to the picnic table.

I had mine on a table so i wouldn't have to bend over to see if I had sprouts.

Also, I am thinking up here in WI we can get several feet of snow. I am assuming we don't want the containers litterally burried in the snow right? On the table they would get the snow, the cold ect. All the elements, but still not be completly buried in it.

Actually, I believe buried in the snow is good. It's all insulation.

Carrie, that's what I always tell my children!

Dave!!!!

How do you maintain moisture in the gallon jugs? Do you set them in a wading pool? I lost several seedlings in the Spring from drying out. When working a lot of hours I neglected to keep a close eye on them. Any suggestions?

I have w/s for two years. Both years I've use milk containers and miracle grow soil. I start planting in the January and continue through April. I fill the container, pour water until the soil is saturated, let it drain, sprinkle the seed, sprinkle a fine later of dry soil on top and put out side on my patio. It is not covered and gets southern exposure. I don't do anything to them or move them about. Once the sprouts look like little plants I start paying attention to them. I start flipping back the lid if the weather is nice and I pay attention to the water need. Seeds don't soak up water, plants do. I've planted out as early as April if the plants are big enough.

This fall, I'm planning on creating a list of the plants that I've planted and what month I w/s'd them. This year I can make an educated decision on when to w/s as not all plants need the Jan/Feb cold to germinate.

If anyone's interested, once the list is done I'll post it here - http://www.lakehousecreations.com/winter_sowing.htm

Like Carrie, I think buried in snow is great. In this pic each hole in the snow has a milk jug under it. Great results.

To maintain moisture when weather heats up:
Place jugs in shade.
Bottom water
Use misting sprinkler on a timer.

Karen

Has anyone heard if we are going to have a dry winter, if it's dry we may not have much snow, I don't have much here anyway. If it's going to be dry I'm debating on WS not sure if I want to worry about all of those jugs not getting watered and if I water them I'll worry if I washed the seeds away unless I water them from the bottom lol I don't really want to be watering all winter like I have this summer, what do you all think? I can't just do a few jugs it's not in me lol

you wont need to water them when they are frozen.

i didnt water mine until there was already seedlings and they were getting dried out from the spring sunshine.

just like Anitabryk2 stated.... when preparing your containers, get the soil wet, sow your seeds, put them outside. They will then [eventually] freeze, and just forget about them until Springtime.

I'm probably just crying for nothing lol I know I'll end up doing them anyway lol Wouldn't be a winter without WS!

Anitabryk2, your site is a huge help! Thanks, I'm book marking it. I'm already saving and prepping containers.

I don't think I ever stopped saving containers lol

Anitabryk2, I marked it too, thank you!

Can I reuse containers? If i wash them with bleach or lighter fluid or something?

xx, Carrie

I think that would be a wonderful idea, Carrie.