What have you wintersowed so far????

Accoording to the map from my seed supplier shirley, flanders and Ca poppies need to be sown in place in the fall-winter if you live south of the TX panhandle. If you live north of that area they need to be sown in March. Also, they need to be surface sown (don't cover them) that is a big reason people don't have success with poppies.
Lisa

So, Lisa, should I just surface sow my poppies here directly into my gardens in March rather than WSing in pots, as I was planning?

Karen

I would probably try a little of both. I have never had luck transplanting poppies and it is my understanding that the seeds need some cold. The ones I started inside either didn't germinate at all or keeled over soon after.

Hmmm..... I will try directly broadcasting in the garden. I did that last year, but we had a very warm, dry spring and I didn't have time to keep up with the watering, so nothing happened. I planted late, too, in May, when I should have been planting in March.

Karen

Karen -- you could do both ways... some WS and some direct.
i do that sometimes with certain seeds... but Poppy would be a good candidate.

Sure, I could try both ways. No reason not to, I guess.

Karen

I WSed poppies in jugs several years ago, no problems when transplanted very tiny.

Karen

Oh, nice poppies, Karen!

Nuts Karen

Result of hos plantings. If any died, I couldn't tell.

Karen

Well, that is definitely nice, and a great success!

Karen

Just transplant when very small, like one or two sets of true leaves. They can be transplanted very early in the season, despite cold weather. Poppies like cold weather, take freezing OK. It's the heat they can't take, and mine bolt as soon as the heat arrives.

Karen

Karen: I appreciate all your tips on poppies, as I have tried planting live ones in my garden several years ago and they promptly died! Lovely flowers, so I'm hoping for the best this year.

Angie

I think that HOS method makes all the difference. The roots don't get disturbed. I have done it before but didn't have a name for it. Spacing things like the directions say has neverr been a strong point of mine. Its common to think that plants can't take the cold but like kqcrna said many times it is the heat. The freeze thaw cycle can be really important. Today I'm going to bring 25+tomato plants back in the house because it was 85 yesterday and 45 today.
Lisa

Won't the poppies stay very small if you use HOS? When poppies sprout in my garden and I do not thin them, they will only grow about 3-50 cm high. If I thin them out, they bcome 100-150 cm high.

Well, I did a fair amount, though a bit less than this year. The only species that germinated really well was columbine, Aquilegia canadensis. I used topsoil in a number of containers (what can I say, I was a novice), and those containers mostly germinated nothing. The containers with potting mix mostly had little germination as well, probably due to mold (the potting mix was really old too and not very high quality). Also, some of the tops came unstuck over the winter, and squirrels got into a couple. This year I think I'll have much better results, as I'm using a high-quality potting mix and sealing the tops with packing tape rather than Scotch tape.

I also messed up the labeling last year, thinking that I could keep track of them in a spreadsheet without putting labels on them. That was a mistake, as I kept fussing over the containers when it warmed up, and apparently didn't keep track of their movements as well as I thought. Given problems other people have reported with washed-out labels, I put the labels on the interior of each container this time, so I have to pop the top to see what each one is.

Labels inside the containers (even with the lettering shoved down into the potting mix) are a good backup... I've also put labels on the bottom of containers... Sun seems to fade them faster than any other factor. Paint pens work very well, and the *industrial* Sharpie markers are also very good (UV resistant; they last a year in my sunny garden).

I too, have done labels in the containers ... so they are usually ID"ed in 3 ways... somehow i manage to lose a few, so the more the better, so i dont end up with NoIDs

My hos poppies were 3 to 5 feet tall,

Karen

Thanks for the details, Jsorens...... As for labeling, I did get some of those paint pens, so we shall see how I fare. I sure can easily imagine mixing them up, tho, if the labels fade badly -- it is exactly the kind of thing I would do, thinking I had it all under control, hahaha. ;-)

I've been trying to get going today.... but things keep getting in my way.
For one... DH is working in the basement, so that keeps him out of my mess in the kitchen....

I have to order some school books for the kids.... but after that... i should get going... would like to get a few jugs done today.

Karen, didn't you thin the hos poppies?
I will try it anyway, because I winter sowed several species in containers. I also will try to transplant some of them when they are very small. Just to look what works best.
Usually I let them self sow in my garden without any problem. But now I have several new species and not being sure where to place them, I winter sowed them in containers.

No thinning here. Let 'em duke it out, most will survive.

Anyone: when you separate your seedlings for planting out, what tool are you using? I've already thought of tweezers, but seems like the metal might crush those delicate stems. Any suggestions here? I'm thinking of wrapping the tweezer nips in cotton or something to soften the impact.

if they are clumped together like a chia pet... i do the HOS method ... I they are individual plants, say 6-12 per containers and i can actually 'grab' them... I just separate them by hand, trying not to disturb the roots.

TCS: I've tried with the larger seeds to put some separation between them in the jugs, but some seeds are so tiny that it was impossible, so I'm sure some thinning will have to take place. Guess I'll wait and see what seems to be called for. Thanks for your input.

>>but some seeds are so tiny that it was impossible, so I'm sure some thinning will have to take place

this is when you get that Chia Pet look... lemme see if i can find an image...

Did someone say chia pet?

Cut into squares with knife, as with a pan of brownies. Plant with a spoon. Works like a charm. No thinning involved.

Karen

here's a group shot from 2 seasons ago... my first season...

you can see the Cosmos up front/center ... you could take each individual seedlign and plant them out.
then you have the Bird & Butterfly Mix next to it, looking more like a large Chia ... that i took and quartered the HOS way.

in the back, you can see what looks like 3 rows of Chia... that is my Vervain type plant .... i took chunks of each row, and divided them HOS too ... but there are others where you can see individual seedlings... and yes.. with the tiny seeds, like poppies or Husker Red ... those you either carefully place them in the soil... or sprinkle; hope for the best, and most likely, get a Chia.

Oops, forgot the image again

LOL Karen... Yup.. i had a lot of those too.

I think I'm always quite succesfull in transplanting seedlings.
First of all: the earth must be WET!
What tool I use, depends on the kind of seedling.
When I'm unknown with the seedling I first try to pick up one in the corner to see what is happening with the root. When the seedlings are very small I use a toothpicker, if they are a bit bigger I use the backside of a teaspoon.
Sometimes you'll find out that the roots of the seedlings are mixed up. In that case I take out the whole container and try to get out the seedlings by tearing the earth very very gently apart (wet earth!) You may loose some, but a lot will survive.
It may sound a bit arrogant, but I seldom loose seedlings. The only way I lost them was to put them in too rich soil , like Amaranthus or Godetia azaleaflora

Reading the comments, it looks to me that a lot of you transplant the small seedlings direct in the garden. Since my garden was a meadow for at least 100 years, a lot of weeds stay coming up (some seeds can survive 100 years!).
I first transplant my seedlings into pots until they are big enough to combat the weed. For me it works perfect.

Mine go right into the ground. I usually have time to get most the weeds out before i plant.. though more weeds do grow ... it's a constant battle ... but as long as I know what the weeds look like, and i'm not pulling seedlings... i'm OK.

All: I'm prepared for some chia pets this spring, because try as I might, some of those seeds were simply too tiny to separately sow. Others will be okay, but all the advice is most welcome. I'm just hoping we'll get the beds ready for them to go in before they're ready to plant out.

Angie

WS'd columbines and petunias. I had a flood in the bathroom, and the cuphrea seeds got wet, so I WS'ed some of them, too,although you wouldn't normally WS them.

oh, yikes... hope there was no damage with your flood.

Well, i've got 15 containers ready to be filled.

One thing that should go into Lesson's Learned....

poked the holes in the bottoms of your containers before cutting them in half.... if they are already cut, there is less 'stability' when you try to punch the holes in the bottom.

OK.. .now to find 15 seeds to sow.... i've got 5 so far.... 3 types of Joe Pye [lil joe, chocolate joy, and regular Joe Pye]
and 2 Echinacea; Tennessee and White Swan

I'm not cutting them in half. I punch holes in the bottom, then I cut letter 'C's in the top part, with the C lying on its open side. Then I pull the flap open and put the damp dirt and seeds in. Then I push the flap as closed as I can get it.

So far, it seems to work. I keep the top on so the rain doesn't get in. I guess I have to keep an eye on it that it stays damp, but so far that isn't a problem. I'll cut it in half when the plants get big enough and the weather is warm enough.

TCS: You're right about punching the holes before cutting in half. Another thing I've learned is to leave room for some dirt on top of the larger seeds after sowing (this after I filled a couple almost to the brim and then oops! I need to add a little more dirt) You probably already knew this, though.

Brightstar, if you're talking about milk jug containers or 2 l. bottles... leave the top off so rain *can* get in. I like your "flap" idea. :-)

Another easy way to WS is with Seedballs. They are broadcast directly on to the soil