LeBug do you WS everything the last of March? which means now is a bit too soon?
CG Forum STOKE'S SEED SWA-OP
I'm not LeBug, but when Pepsidrinker said she had done so many containers this month I was about to give her my unsolicited opinion and decided not to. ...she was so happy about it. :))
But I can here!!! It is too early. The weather this winter is going to be too unpredictable, and there is too much of a chance they will sprout in this nice Jan & Feb, and die when the arctic blast comes.
Feb 1st is the earliest for Wsing, and that is early.
Only shrubs, trees & perennials that are hardy in your zone should be sown that early.
You can start on hardy annuals the week after. Calendula, Cerinthe major, Bachelor Buttons, Clarkia, Agrostemma, Snaps, Poppies (although direct sowing makes way more sense on the poppies). There are probably a couple more.
Then you go back to perennials. Just hold off the the more tender stuff, although Lea is really good at this and she might have other tips. She might also say, oh, no, if you do ______ , then you won't have any trouble. I just don't know what ____ is!
The jugs should be put in the semi shade so they don't heat up on sunny days in Feb and germinate too soon.
Ony sow that early *IF* you have a way to get the jugs inside the garage for a week in March or April should the temperature dip down. Keep an eye on the forecast, you will be ok. Do not put them in the house or any heated building.
23 degrees + zero frost is fine for an awful lot of stuff, but 32 + frost is still the magic number for killling. It depends on what it is :))) In between there is a big question. Keep a log.
Suzy
Thanks suzy!
Now I don't feel like a slacker! I did winter sow some things - but I have extras of those if they fail.
Now I won't start until Feb. :-)
Last year was my first year, so I dutifully did my winter solstice seeds on Dec 22. I sowed and sowed and sowed and sowed....then that 1 week Easter freeze came and I had to move every single $#@#! jug from the far side in the back all the way around to the garage, keep my car outside, and listen to Mr Clean bith about it all. (Not really he helped me move them all and set up the tables and stuff. It was 300 jugs, so no small feat, but I was cold. ) And angry. When I saw somebody posting complained about their seedlings all being frozen out, somebody posted back that it would be okay because all the "smart seeds" wouldn't have germinated early and they were still there, safe and sound and ready to germinate. She sure didn't see my milkjugs!
My seeds did not pass their IQ test. Maybe that's why they were up for trade. Too stupid to keep?
*I would have lost everything* It killed huge tree limbs!
Suzy
Well, what I did is I looked at the winter sowing site and saw the records of when people sowed stuff and when it successfully germinated.
For zone 6, the most successful stuff was wintersowed in Feb and March.
so I have ziplock baggies for each week from now until the end of April as to when to start stuff.
Stuff that gets started very early stays on the front verandah. And at this time of year I only have seeds started that require deep freezing to get them started.
edited for spelling
This message was edited Jan 9, 2008 11:48 AM
You guys are making me glad I've been too busy to start. I was going to put some out last weekend and didn't get it done.
You are way ahead of me from this time last year!!! O'course with your geranium seed from this year, you're way ahead of me this year, too. Plus your color wheel design...you are just better is all -- and I bow to the master!
Suzy
Well, if we could predict the future weather we'd all be rich....we could buy all the Green Envy we wanted and share with our friends. We could just BUY Springhill for that matter.
It's just a very iffy year. I think a lot of stuff is going to leaf out early and get socked in the gut.. Do I know this? No. But my unsolicited advice is just don't do anything you can't protect later in the spring, and I'm sure you'll be fine.
Suzy
Suzy and Seandor - thank you so much, I was dealing with a panic that I wasn't getting things in soon enough, but worried about this weird weather. Now I feel better that I can sit down and sort through things like you have Seandor, and get a bit more prepared - whew!! And I agree with you Suzy - especially after last summer when I was struggling to keep up with my clients' yards, not knowing what Mother Nature was going to do from one hour to the next. I think this year's weather is going to be just as unpredictable and bizarre.
Good grief! I am not a master! I probably still qualify as a newbie! I am just having dumb luck.
As to planning stuff out - well, the proof is in the pudding - we'll see if we can get the garden made!
If you learn your cool season annuals, you will STUN them by June 15th.
Suzy
Okay - gotcha - getting cracking on cool season annuals - stuff like the snapdragons, right?
Someone sowed poppies in Jan. last year but don't know the outcome to those, I'll be doing most of mine in March this year just a few tree and shrub seeds for now or when I get done with this cotton pickin swap just getting all of these seeds listed again lol I'm really working hard on them tonite and alllll day today lol and I thought this was Tues. and it's wed.? where does the time go!!! I still need to go get my jugs at the recycle center so you know that means doing the cutting, holes and all that yet lol And then there is the plantstands downstairs I need to clean yet and haven't gotten some of my seeds yet that I want to start in Jan. and it's getting late for those lol I need help! How do you all do it lol
No, I don't do it all that well., I have sown the geraniums and 2 primulas inside and that's it.
I am falling further and farther behind on seed sorting because I can't get rid of anything! I might need it ! LOL!
I sowed my poppies last March directly on the garden right before a snowfall and they did great. I sowed them very very thinly. Lightly? well, the seeds were far apart because it was a windy day. They were gorgeous. If I had gotten nothing else last year in trades and swaps, it would have been worth it just for those poppies. No seed from them. They were NOT popular with the insects like the other ones I had. Very odd. I was thinking about putting a dropper full of honey inside each flower next year. (a drop full?) not sure.
See? I make time for some idiotic things like pulling out honey water for the poppies. But then somehting else slides BIG TIME.
Suzy
I have th same problem with my big orange poppies I never get any seed from them, they're perennial. Every time I take the seed pods there are no seeds so disapointing! Well the next snow we get that might have an inch I'm throwing my poppy seeds out and crossing my fingers!
I'm going to put my snap seeds in a jug in the spring just before the last frost and see how they do. If I ever get my jugs lol
My snaps from last year are still green and sort of growing. I think it's possible they are perennial to zone 8 or 9? The reason I am not sure is because some years they come back, but some years they don't, and temperature is nt the only factor involved.
Here is plant files -- it says they are annual, perennial, and hardy to -40. LOL!
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/77530/
My guess is that most are a first-year blooming biennial. Or a 2 year blooming biennial. (LIke a short lived perennial)
In any case, they are very, very cold hardy.
Suzy
I sure did know those things would grow down here. Wow,...that 'Black Prince' is pretty.
All the snaps I see are little short ones, around here. Maybe 8 inches tall..max.
Hmmm......
~Lucy
Suzy, I still have green snaps but they are ones that reseeded I'm sure of it, the ones I planted are gone. So maybe that is what is happening with your snaps. I went to look at the link and lost my dmail so I'll go look at it now. Snaps are cold hardy but when Feb or March rolls around they are gone here, and quit blooming way before that like Dec. maybe? Depends on how cold it gets.
Lucy, I like the shorter snaps, if I could collect seeds off of my taller ones I would save you some but I watched them last year and didn't get one seed.
I don't mind the shorter ones, but I really love looking at everyone's tall ones. Kinda gives you alittle height where it's needed. The are so pretty. : )
~Lucy
This message was edited Jan 10, 2008 12:32 AM
Lea, No I am not sure of anything on the snaps. They could have reseeded, but I doubt it - they are front and center where I would notice seedlings, on the other hand, it isn't Feb-Mar yet, so they'll probably bite the dust. I had some rockets years ago that probably reseeded but I had them in the same place for three straight years.
I won a blue ribbon for my tall snaps at the State Fair in 4th grade, so I have a special fondness for them :)
Lucy, put tall snaps on your list. I have a ton here, also there are some white and pink ones in the swap. Plus maybe mixed. (Sory wrong thread, but what the heck)
Suzy
Ok, thanks Suzy. Blue ribbon, huh? : ) Isn't it funny how we get attached to things from our childhood.
those 'black prince snaps' are georgeous!
If they look as good as those pictures, I will have to agree. : )
I've been so busy trading seeds (suzy's fault, of course), that I haven't had time to plan anything, never mind PLANT anything. I started yesterday making a list of perennials that I really, really want this year to prioritize my seed-sowing. That narrowed it down to less than 50 LOL now I have to see if there are any that can't be w/s.
I've got this whole new container scheme I'm gonna try. I like the milk jugs, but I have to beg them from other people (I get mine delivered in glass bottles). and in a lot of cases they are too big. anyway...here's my plan. I got Rubbermaid clear plastic storage totes 66 gal. and clear plastic gusseted bags 5x3x15, so they're kind of like a brown paper lunch bag, only taller. the bags have a footprint the size of a 3x5 card. I can probably put 25 bags in a tote. if I need more of one kind of plant than will fit in one bag, I will just do multiples. I am going to fold over the tops and staple them shut to keep in the moisture and just make a small opening for air circulation. then, when I'm ready, I can just cut off the tops. the top of the tote (also with some holes cut), will keep the weight of the snow off. then when the weather begins to warm, I can easily take off the tote top. totes should last at least several seasons (I hope). I bought 1,000 bags, so I hope this works.
I'm posting this here to see what you guys think. I didn't want to put it on the w/s forum until see how it's going.
I think it will be ideal -- and I think you'll love the bags. So many people swear by ziplocs, but they are just a little too floppy for me. The gussets at the bottom will allow the to sit flat and not be so floppy.
Holes in the bottom of the gusseted bags, right? Or clip little pieces with a scissors...you know what I mean. And there need to be holes in the rubbermaid bottoms because it will catch and retain a lot of water.
I'd like a nice corral for mine like that tote because I had to move them so many times last year: in and out of the garage, in and out of the sun, on and off the patio (Mr. Clean doesn't like milk jug trash on his patio!) If I had had them in a tote or container it would have gone a lot faster every time I had to move them.
I so have a couple of totes -- brand new. I can't make holes in them! They're brand new!
I did some baggies last year, but I had them in some of those bags that comforters come in. when I tried to move them they all scrunched up and the seeds all fell down the cracks. I think I'll really like bags in something more stable like these totes. they'll be neat...Mr Clean might like them LOL they are brand new, but I got them for 6.77 each I bought 8 of them, but I'm only putting holes in the bottom one at a time as I need them in case I don't need all. then I can use them for something else.
grampapa, do you have a recycle center close by that's where I get my extra milk jugs, they are getting to know me there lol
I could probably get them, but it's hard for me to get out. I'm looking for the easier way to accomplish this. It's an experiment :0)
Well, I am going to use box lids. At work the box lids for the paper is exactly the right height for a four inches of soil. I am going to encase the lid in a cheap plastic kitchen catcher garbage bag - punch holes in the bottom, fill with dirt, place the seeds carefully so the plants can grow until I am ready to put them in the ground. Once the seeds are in place, I will rig up a kind of tent made of heavy plastic to place all the winter sowing under - with holes for ventilation.
Wish me luck! I won't be starting this until mid-Feb. and I will let you know how it works.
Biggest problem I anticipate is keeping animals out.
That should work, although you may have to do some supplemental watering (the way you would with a traditional cold frame), depending on how well rain can get into your ventilation holes. Be sure your plastic is well supported so it stays up off the seedlings.
Actually, I'd suggest using some sort of containers for sowing and using the box lids (unlined) to corral the containers. I like using cardboard boxes, as they will hold rain water (or water from my hose) long enough to let everything get a good drink, but then the water slowly drains out so that nothing drowns.
ummmm . . .good point!
Hey Y'all who has started the geramiums? Have you had good luck with them? Mine have been in soil for 5 days and I'm starting to get a lil anxious. I have them covered, (although I've not noted much condensation) on a mat at about 72°. Any suggestions or am I just being too antsy too early?
omg, I haven't even bought the mat yet. I don't want to try to start the seeds until I get the mat. I think they have a much better chance with the even bottom heat. I'll probably have blooms by Sept LOL
For all of you WinterSowers, have you tried the Deno method (seeds inside of moist paper towels, inside of a plastic bag, inside a dark container outdoors or in cold shed)?
I appear to be one of the few who got an early start on sowing indoors under lights ... and having fun with it. :)
have the lights - forgot the trays - they're on their way - eeek!!!
This is my first try at wintersowing wrightie. Wondering about this Deno method? It sounds too easy! Right up my alley! LOL.
You just put the seeds in a moistened paper towel and stick them in a plastic bag?? Like a ziplock bag? No air? And does it have to be dark and cold?
Hi Cat, I'm not a Wintersower (can't bare the thought of all of those jugs & containers), but here is more info. on the Deno treatment: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/566356/
They do need air, so the plastic is not sealed.
Thanks! I'll go read up on it.
Have a super day and I hope it's not too cold for you up there
Okay - so far only 3 of the trailing geraniums germinated . . . 2 look terrific, the third is struggling and the other seeds . . . well nothing so far.
I had thought I had four germinate. Not sure what to think . . . it's probably something I have done wrong.
Michaela how long did it take for your three (maybe 4) to come up?