lessons learned for next year #6

This is a continuation from #5

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/784760/#new

thanks zen.... it was getting quite long.

I thought so to.

terese, that's 150, plus whatever I can direct sow or start in the house. if that doesn't kill me, nothing will LOL (don't tell anybody, but I've got a few milk jugs tucked away just in case)

you're gonna have a busy winter.... then summer getting them all in the ground... or give away to friends/family/neighbors

So happy you found your styrofoam cups! Funny thing--I was obsessed with finding more containers and looking in the basement for cups I had stored away years ago when I was 5th grade room mother--found 'em too. Knew I had saved them for a reason!

Lots of info and ideas on these long WS threads, but I too find the info on the threads hard to sort out and couldn't even find the WS postings for a while either--

Another resolution: I am going to post pics of my WS project and keep notes on my DG diary for next year...

I think keeping individual records is very important. While you can use others' results as a guide, none will be more accurate for your yard than your results. I'm reviewing the dates I've sown and when the seed germinated to determine when I will sow them this year.

I found a spreadsheet most useful, because I could print it out. I put it on a clipboard so I could take it outside with me and mark germ dates, # of seedlings, etc. Then update on the computer when I came back in.

the notes we add to the database will be extremely helpful to newbies, though. or for plants that someone hasn't tried before.

aren't styrofoam cups the handiest things? I needed something to start melons and cukes in the house last year...lined some cups with newspaper (poked holes first of course)...worked like a charm, and no disturbing the roots.

Lorraine, you could grow almost anything in those 32-ouncers

Wow! You are a genius, granpapa! I was trying to figure out how to wintersow some annual lupins that are not keen on having their roots disturbed - but lining styrofoam cups is brilliant! Thanks!

LOL...Jan - I did the same thing.... I had a note book [spiral] for taking quick notes, but my main sheet was my spread sheet... that is actually sitting right here under my printer [easy access]

I spent A LOT of time last night entering the new seeds I am getting in the swap [53 to be exact] but i still have another 50 or so that I got over the summer.... PLUS the ones I grew last year, which was nothing compared to what i'm doing this year. [provided i sow them all]

Seandor --- for plants that do not transplant well, I grew in "jiffy pot" then i just sunk the pot into the ground so the roots were not disturbed.

I think last year, for sure, i did my tomatoes and yellow 4-O'Clocks [even though the 4-O'C only needs to be direct sown]

A question about individual cups. You can't get the recommended 4" of soil can you? So how much do you use?

yes, that is true Zen.... i just filled them to about 1/4" under the top of the cup
all the ones i did turned out fine... then when I planted out, i broke out the bottom of the cup to give the roots room to roam.

For some, i do recall i had them in a Steralite shoe box and put additional soil in the box along with the peat pots [i'm really kicking myself for deleting all those images] that way there was more moisture in the box and in the spring when they needed more water, i'd water the soil, and not the pots directly, and the moisture would then be like bottom watering.

I did have a few containers that were quite shallow and did OK ... maybe 1.5-2" of soil instead of the 4" ... but the roots were so entangled.

everything is so trial -n-error and YMMV ... but it did work out OK for me.

I did my very first WS in milk jugs today. I'll be trying the 5 gal buckets later this week.

Everything well be looked apond as a maybe container : )

Ths everyone for ideas and great information to winter sowing.


Edit, Oh boy the spelling

This message was edited Jan 20, 2008 6:18 PM

How do you all capture a quote like the post earlier , the ones that are in the blue boxes ?

Ths for info on how to's

it's in the FAQ's somewhere... but for quoting.... use the word quote inside of these [ and & ] then dont forget to close it by adding the /

[ quote ] put quote here [ /quote ] **remove spaces.

Great thank you tcs1366


test

:) it worked thank you

**clapping**

I had a tough time in the beginning with "quote" because i was using the < & > which is used for the formatting of text.

I have to share, I checked my sharpie red and green marker tags today and they are already fading. From now on I use paint pen.

Are they down in the dirt? I wonder if red & green are different than black? I used black for years, and although I have switched to the paint pens, if they run out of ink, I'll use a black Sharpie until I can get to the store. Glad you found out now instead of April. :))

Suzy

I mark my containers near the bottom with a Sharpie felt pen. Then I make sure that side faces north :-)

they stick up out of the dirt and are written in large letters so I can read them easily (vision issues), and face east.

maybe all of you are already aware of this site, but just in case, I'll post the link. Hudson's seeds...has a lot of good info about germination and how long it takes, what seeds are hard to germinate, which ones need cold stratification, etc

oh, yeah..they also sell seeds, but it's not like a regular commercial site

http://www.jlhudsonseeds.net/index.htm

enjoy ... jan

Seandor, I did my first few jugs like that with the name in black on the bottom half of the jug, but found I could not read them -- dark writing on the dark surface (with the dark soil behind it, I mean) It drove me crazy. With all the plants you have, I would strongly urge you to put in plastic plant markers now that can be moved with the plants themselves at planting out time. You need to streamline the process now so you can get those plants in the ground the very most effiecient way.

Oh, Cathy4, Yes, that would be a problem...with any of the sharpies, much less the colored ones. If you need to have the name exposed, a paint pen is truly the only reliable marking pen. (There are other garden markers that will work as well, but they are specialty items, and I'm not really talking about them. I don't like to use them because some I have bought have a HUGE tip and I can't read what I wrote because it's just blobs.) I like to us a Sharpie because I always have them around, but I tuck the tag down in the jug with the name facing out. I can read it through the sheer milk jug, but not from real far away, so I bet it might not work as well for you.

Suzy

Good point about having markers that can be moved to the garden :-) Guess I better pick up some yogurt at the store lol

Or Fake Butter, Cottage cheese, some ice creams, and mini blinds. (?) Just something.

Suzy

Suzy -- originally when you said "yogurt cups" i was thinking the 6-8oz kind... now i'm thinking yours are much larger. what is the OUNCE of the containers? I get the 32oz yogurt 'buckets' as we go thru a lot of it.

but i know what you mean about reusing 'plastic' recycling containers... we do it too.

Yes, it's the little 8 oz ones, with a #5 stamped on the bottom in the recycling triangle. (but I am not above using about anything, and I forgot Cool Whip containers, too) I like the shorter yogurt cup sticks I make because they do NOT rise above the level of my pots, jugs, or whatever, but that is the exact opposite of Cathy4, so our needs and what is easiest for each of us, can be very different.

However, we ALL need a physical name marker of some kind, maybe more than one, for planting out. I am 100% sure on that one, or at least sure enough that I want to push Seandor into making them. LOL!

Suzy

Hey! I'm smart enough to take advice from a master winter sower! :-) lol

gotcha!! i have the 8oz coolwhip in the frig now [can't figure out what to do with it though -- before it starts to mold]
and i have TONS of the 1# deli containers... they are clear, but too shallow for SW. i used some of the 2# ones last year, but this year they are white, and not clear.... so i can use the smaller ones for "markers".

I went in search of 'steralite' buckets today... they had deep ones, 66qt i think, but no clear lids.
I only went to Big Lots because it was in the strip mall i was grocery shopping at.

i really need to go to HD or Menards.... wouldnt think the "Dollar Store" would have them, do ya?

I need to go to Bloomingdale... but it's 15-20 min away.... and i just can't get organized enough to drag myself out there... but there are about 4 stores I could hit all in one day. I just seems since DH has been home, i am NOT productive anymore.

I think your Bloomingdales must be different than ours. Here it is an upscale clothing store.

zen... sorry, it's a town. we have those too though.

but bloomingdale has Home Depot, Michaels, WallyWorld, a scrap booking store, a Dollar Store, and clothing store all within one long strip mall.... all of which i need to go to... plus the Mall, if i decide I need to go there too.

Sterilite doesn't make any with a clear lid. rubbermaid and Iris do. there may be other off brands, too. I got mine at Target and I know I saw some at JoAnns. doesn't sound like that'll help you much.

thanks Jan -- actually it does. Joanns is ALSO in that strip mall ... like i said,,, it's huge.
I have target near me at home... though there is one near that HD. Bloomingdale is has just about every store imaginable.

Guess I'll start looking for Rubbermaid then.

I'm really leaning towards the ziploc baggie in a giant box, like you are doing... are you using Quart sized bags?

Anitabryk2, I have been ooohing and aaahing over your website! It is fantastic! Anyone new to wintersowing should go to Anitabryk2's home page.

A new technique for me this year is using Dave's Garden journal RID #'s. Each seed used from my winter sowing journal is cross-referenced with that particular RID number on my containers. Recordkeeping this year should be an improvement over last year.

Oh, that is a great idea C-dawg, definitely easier than writing long names. I never really got the hang of the RID#'s and used the diary / blog instead of the journal, but I'll try that this year.

TCS,

If you look closely at your #1 deli containers. they are a cheap plastic, and not a fine vinyl like cool whip. They will splinter in the cold, so I wouldn't use them (although I have used them before, and they were okay, not sure how they're going to do overwinter, tho.)

On the flat deli containers....I use the flat ones just for germinating under lights last year and they were fine. I also have a friend who uses them for wintersowing, but she is a very dedicated gardener and never let them get too far along before planting out. She bought a gazillion from Ebay and gave me a stack of them plus the lids. I used a long drill bit and drilled holes in about 10 at a time, and about 15 lids at a time. My biggest problem with them is that the lid goes down in the container too far. (I filled them too full of dirt) and the seedlings hit the top before i figured out they had even germinated.

tcs, I used ziplocs last year, but I bought some clear plastic bags online that are sort of like brown paper lunch bags with flat bottoms. they come in more sizes. I got 5x3x15 and I can fit about 25 of them in one of the rubbermaid tubs.

Suzy and Jan... gotcha.

oh.. for the bags., the pleated bottoms would be better.
maybe i'd have to move up to Gal sized...

i do recall putting more gla jugs in the basement... i think i have 4 or 5 down there, emptied an additional milk today.... so i may be up to 10.