Let's talk containers...2009

I guess i did not have good luck with them last year....
[just checked last years spreadsheet] I did not mark how many seeds were sown, the only comment i had was "mold"
but i did get 1 to germinate ... though i do know i direct sown a bunch of seeds and nothing came up.
I will pay more attention this coming season though.... these look like neat plants/blooms.

The first year I had gomphrena I had a purple mix and they were just sowed in my cutting garden. The next year I bought 'Strawberry Fields' and had good plants that I used in pots and anywhere else that I had a bare spot. They grew very well. Last year I grew them under lights in my garage and did not have a lot of plants and it took them forever to get started. The only difference in the 2 years was that a friend grew them off for me the first year. My plants under lights last year did not grow fast at all. I think it was too cold in the garage for them although all I can read says they only need light to grow. Anyone have any thoughts on this. I am thinking of putting one of those things you put on your windshield to keep out sun behind the plants to enclose them more under the lights. I also do not intend to sow so many of one flower that I can not care for. Are we on a ws forum? I forgot which thread I am typing on lol. I am also going to ws a few of the same seed to compare. There! I do not feel guilty if I high jacked. lol

>>Are we on a ws forum? I forgot which thread I am typing on lol.

I do that all the time. sometimes i feel i've gotten "lost" not knowing what thread i'm in since many of us are all in the same chatter on various forums.

Is this just for flowers or can it be used for veggies also?

Cajun -- we all tend to get 'side tracked' a bit on threads ... the topic of this one is actually "container"

you can either start a thread for Veggies, or just rattle off your question.

I have not WS'ed veggies, as i dont have a veggie garden.

Do anybody every use the old cold frames or time hot houses built on the South side of a building?

Like these:

http://www.gardengatemagazine.com/main/pdf/coldfram.pdf

http://www.savvygardener.com/Features/cold_frames-hotbeds.html

I never have - I just stick 4" of dampened soil in a jug with ample holes top and bottom, add seeds and some labels and shove the thing outside. As soon as we take down the Christmas tree.

I used a cold frame built by my DH last year for some containers that I did not have lids for.

How about watering?? Once you put your seed in milk jugs or containers, do you water them throughout the winter, or let nature take care of it??

Deann

Deann: I'm WS'ing for the first time this year, but I've been letting Mother Nature take care of the watering for me. I haven't done anything to them since they were planted except check for germination.

This is my first year as well, but my plan [from what I have read] is to let Mother Nature take care of the watering. I will on spans of warm days check to see if the soil looks really dry. I am trying to think of the flowers/plants that come back each year with me not worrying about them or interfering.

Didn't water at all until I took off the tops after it got warmer. I thought I might need to but never did the soil was always moist or frozen.

I haven't found watering to be necessary, especially if you leave them somewhere that's partly shady. Usually. You'll know. If it's a drought and established, inground perennials need watering, probably so might your WS containers bear checking.

Ws'd 7 jugs today. Got them ready yesterday and was much more organized than last year. These are the perennials that i did today
Knautia
Gypsophilia
Sea Holly
Guaillardia Red
Liatris White
Scabiosa 'Blanco'
Linum Blue Flax
Doesn't sound like a lot but I don't need too many more perennials. I will be doing a few more later (I'm currently in a round robin) and I will sow some annuals in February
Veronica

Veronica, those are some of my favorites. I did sea holly last year and only got one plant but it was so neat. It had 3 blossoms. I hope it comes back and maybe seeded some more. And my burgundy gaillardia from the season before (I only got one plant from that, too) was just beautiful. It got really big and bloomed for a long time.

Wow, was I thinking in Greek up there, or what? Hope you understood, Deann.

This is a great thread. I'm so fired up now that I have all your ideas. The only thing I lack is a little bit of a schedule on this and I assume you start with the winter hardy plants not the tender ones. For example, I will start seeds now in the box (clear under the bed plastic) such as larkspur, sweet peas, califlower, spinach, etc., right? Then later i can start the tender ones, e.g. tomatoes, peppers, morning glories, etc. I'm in NC in Zone 7. This does matter, right? Also, where does the coffee filter come in. Somehow I missed that part of the process. Do you put the coffee filter inside the plastic bag. I assume the reason is so you can lift the coffee filter right out and plant into the ground. I may have this all mixed up.

Help! I can't wait to try this. Just got my plastic box and hope to get started tomorrow. Temp here is around 40 degrees high' 32 low.

Hey, Sawpalm! I am a first year WS-er too, in zone 7 on the West Coast. I am having temps kinda like yours right now, though there was some harder freeze earlier this year.... Do read the sticky forum area, and check out the original website too: http://www.wintersown.org.

Anyways, I started my first batch of WS-ed containers on December 19 and just did another batch yesterday. Some have said they actually sow all winter, which is what it looks like I will do. The safest time, I understand, is two months prior to your latest expected frost date. But it seems the experienced ones among us are saying, just go for it , it works. ;-)

There is a First Time WS thread also.

I am not using any coffee filters, BTW, but I can see the logic of placing them in the bottom so the soil does not leak out the holes..... didn't do that myself tho.

Came in here with a container question: I am using recyclable milk jugs and yogurt containers. Well, I guess I have two questions. 1. is, are these re-useable another season? or do they get wore out, LOL! and 2. is, if they do get wore out, can they t hen be recycled in municipal programs?

Not a big issue, just wonderin.

Happy WS-ing, all,
Kyla

I just had a thought as well. If you are short of containers, you might check out your local Freecycle organization.

http://www.freecycle.org/

You can offer things that you have to give away and then post things that you are interested in picking up from someone else. I just gave away an old feather bed, and got a free jigsaw power tool for my husband. :) He is going to make rubber band guns for the kids. Won't that be fun. Anywho..... usually they prefer that you post an offer before you just go asking for a bunch of free stuff, but I have even seen people offer extras of seeds they have on freecycle.

You can reuse the milk jugs IF you pin the lids back with a clothespin instead of cutting them off in the spring/summer. I did that with some and could reuse some. I don't see why you couldn't still recycle them afterward, though - you're not chemically changing them!

Gotcha! Thanks, Carrie.....

If you do cut off the tops, you can reattach them with a 'hinge' of duct tape on one side. But if you do decide to reuse them, be sure to wash them out with some diluted bleach (maybe a 10% solution....any comments are welcome) and hot water.

No need to sterilize containers for wintersowing as with seeds grown indoors. I don't even wash them for first use. I just rinse out the nasty old milk jug with tap water. Never been a problem.

Karen

I've rarely used bleach, only for a few limited containers for the purpose of eliminating stinky sour milk smell. Other than that, tap water.

I'm not sure why, but never seen dampoff in 3 years. Maybe freezing temps, ultraviolet rays from sun, maybe wind, who knows?

Karen

I think there just isn't the muggy indoor environment, but I can't even remember if Damping Off is a bacterium or a virus or a fungus or has whiskers, so don't listen to me! I've certainly had it happen to me. (Inside.)

I have always understood that sterilization is not necessary for wintersowing. That is part of the beauty of it! I do have some seeds I start indoors, and for them I use new containers or sterilize. But you also have to use sterile potting mix. Last year I bought some just for that, but I used regular potting soil for wintersowing. I am thinking that you would not have to sterilize new containers or 2 ltr coke bottles if they were rinsed well and kept clean. I don't think bacteria would grow on them, but I might be wrong.

I've never sterilized any container for w/s. I also have never had any damping off when they are outside. I believe that is an indoor/greenhouse issue.

I've been lurking on the WS forum gaining insight. Lots of great info.

Thanks Karen; I was putting off starting my WS because of the sterilizing (changing clothes to avoid bleach spots!).

I wanted to mention that I am trying large cat litter 'jugs' - 20 lbs. I think by Tidy Cat. They used to be white but now are pebbly/clear. They are rectangular and seem much larger than the milk jugs. DH did the cutting and drilling for me today, so I'm off to the races.....

Jan, I am trying your "bag" method, these are the plastic bags-sleeves that we get our newspapers in. I tie a knot in the center and cut below the knot and get 2 bags. I have sowed Poppy, columbine, Wild Primrose,& Delphinium. This is may first attempt, I have always sowed seeds under lights in my basement. But I decided to try something new, and besides I was running out of room on the shelves in the basement the last few years. Gosh, I have a seed starting addiction. LOL

I have always started seeds under lights in the winter. I use the Jiffy 7's and plant no more than 1-2 seeds in each. When I transplant them, I transplant the Jiffy 7 itself into a pot. It is separated from all other seedlings and able to grow without impeding root growth.

The way that the winter sowing seems to be done is ... many seeds within a small space. Then each plant has to be separated. It seems like that process would be a pain in the neck to do and take too much time. I would not like doing the separating!! Are there any shortcuts to that part? I am interested in in WS, but would have to get around the separating seeds part in some way in order to try it. Am I missing something in your process? LOL

Karin ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Karin -- that is true... if you separate each plant, that would be time consuming.

if the seeds are 'not dust like' i can sometimes get each individual seeds 'off on it's own' to where when germinated, it is easy to plant each one. Many times i just plant a clump of seedlings together ... and sometimes it looks like, what we call Chia Pets ... and you do the HOS method [hunk of seedlings]

The best thing about WS is the sorta 'Fix it and forget it' until spring time.

---------

I should get rolling today... my kid finally remembered to bring me home some milk jugs. he gave me 7 of them, rinsed out to boot... .and i have a few other odd containers... so hopefully I'll get some done today. Plus some of the smaller nursery pots i have been saving out in the garage.

Karen, the first time I tried WSing, there was a thread on here called "mistakes from last year" or "lessons we learned last year". And i had NO idea what I was doing, but over and over i read: don't put too many seeds in each pot!

I had never used seeds before! What could be simpler, one seed per pot, so that's what I did, unless it was impossible. After that, it's as easy as pie - stick them outside, and look again in March!

Carrie,
That sounds like what I would do with the seeds and the Jiffy 7's. Can you use the Jiffy 7 and insert it in the baggie? I would not do the HOS method for SURE because of the separations of the seedlings. I would rather have a few seedlings that grow healthy than hundreds of them that I have separated and the little roots and stems break off with minimal effort.

Karin ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

tcs1366,

I don't know where I would put the blob described as HOS . Where would you put the seeds if you grew them like the Chia Pets? I have no ideas.

Karin ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Karin: I, and many others, don't separate seedlings. We plant out HOS- i.e. hunk of seedlings. I cut the soil in the milk jug into squares with a kitchen knife, then plant with a spoon.
http://wintersown.org/wseo1/Hunk-o-Seedlings.html

I wouldn't use Jiffy cups for wintersowing- too small. Think big containers, like milk jugs or 2 liters, and 3" of potting mix.

Other Karen

Karin: What do you mean by "where would you put the seeds"?

Other Karen

Karin, in your situation since you are familiar with the growing seeds indoors and might have some of the supplies, I would think you could set up your trays of seeds that you are interested in sowing outside, and put them in a plastic bag. You could just put them outside instead of using up your precious space inside. I would think you would want to prop up the bag in some way though so that the plastic isn't lying flat against the tray, and the little seedlings have a little bit of "greenhouse" type headroom to grow.

For me, I am doing the milk jug thing and the HOS method because I am so new to gardening I have NO supplies. Just seeds and potting mix. Also I need a TON of plants to fill up an acre of landscaping, so I will be planting hunks of plants to really fill things out.

:)

I think you should avoid using seed flats. They're too shallow, will dry out too quickly in warm weather. You might get away with it in Alaska, but I sure wouldn't consider it in NC.

Have you new folks seen Trudi's site? Lots of good information there.
http://wintersown.org/wseo1/index.html

Karen

GreenThumb Karin... i'll dig up a few images later... i dont have any on this computer.

but sometimes HOS is not a bad way to go....

one in particular that i know i did was ... Tunic Flower
I've done salvias, Bee Balm, Agastaches ... all of these i certainly was not going to separate.