What have you wintersowed so far -part three.

oh good for you!!!!! Save some back to sow later too, for insurance? ;-)

but you are warmer than it is here so you should be fine I bet.

Why winter sow cucumber rather than waiting for the soil to warm up and just planting them out into the garden? I sometimes give cukes a 2 week inside start, but I wouldn't put them out if there's any danger of frost... maybe you're both just in much warmer zones, LOL.

good question. I am basically wintersowing everything because I have no space inside and am impatient to boot. ;-)

That's why, Jill, at least for me - I have NO SPACE inside. If I winter sow at all for veggies it's to save space. Of course, will I ever WS this year remains to be seen!

Critter - My hope is to get a crop early in summer and later, by both WS and direct sowing. Last year I bought a 4" pot in April and had cuc's from June to early July. I'd like to have these yummy cuc's May-Sept. The lit. says they do better in cool weather which may be why I lost them in July. We'll see ^_^

Thanks for all the info on the lupines, everyone! I can't wait to see them in bloom.

Here is a picture of my containers with the pots of seeds in them that I've WSed so far. Seems rather paltry in comparison to many of you, but I'm not done yet. I will be leaving for TX for 10 days on Feb. 25th, so I hope to have all my perennials done before I go. I'm currently waiting for an order from Thompson and Morgan to arrive.

Karen

Karen: Your bins look good, so neat and organized! My box lots of jugs are coralled in one area of the patio, but it's a rag-tag looking group. This has been a great experience and I can't wait to get all my babies in the ground.

Angie

Thanks, Angie. I just didn't have many milk jugs, but had lots of pots, so I decided to do it this way. Seemed easier to me. Can reuse both bins and pots next year.

Bookerc1, I have that Double Decker Echinacea myself, and the one I have does not double out on top hardly at all. Anyone else have that experience with theirs? I've had it 2 years now, and I'm not excited with it. Doesn't look much different than a regular echinacea.

Karen

I've had success sowing cucumbers in March.

Oh good, then mine sown in Feb in 7b oughta work out. ;-)

good luck to you :)

nutsfordaylily - Wow. Your pots look so orderly in those plastic bins. I am just using cardboard boxes to corral my containers. I am sure you would gasp and it wouldn't be a good gasp either, if you saw how willy-nilly mine look compared to yours ^_^.

Hopefully my seeds will forgive me for the cardboard and reward me with oodles flowers. I cut taller boxes in half width-wise and got two boxes out of one.

Well done!

Elaine and Otis

I did another container of rudbeckias yesterday...my Cherokee Sunset.

I've been focusing on cataloging my WS seeds on a spreadsheet (excel), I have 75 so far. Amazing! Where am I gonna put them all? Neatness? Well I have gallon jugs, strawberry containers in grocery bags for the greenhouse effect, clear tubs w/lids, yogurt containers, to name a few. They don't look neat, but are doing the job. I think in 1-2 weeks I can plant out my lettuce, since it is pretty frost tolerant.

Karen, are there enough holes in the lits? It looks like the containers in the middle won't get water.

Hey, FYI; I need more seed bags, so I am starting a bag co-op, here is the link. If you know of a better deal, send me the info. and we will go with what you got!
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/954434/

Whew, got the dirt, now I have to find the time! You are all so ambitious (barring Carrie, who is too busy writing! LOL Right Carrie?), you inspire me.

Angie

I still have to get som Monarda seeds to do.

Elaine, that's okay if yours don't look neat and organized. I really don't think the seeds are going to care. You're the only one who will care about that.

Jonna, I have four holes in each lid, in the corners. Should I put more there? I also have four holes on the bottoms in the corners as well. The holes are at least an inch or more in size.

Karen

Karen, it's my first year WS, so I'm not sure. But how will the containers in the middle get water? The water won't stay on the bottom. I made enough holes to water every container. Maybe someone more experienced can tell us more about this.
Jonna

I guess it's a little late to post that when I used big containers to hold pots, I put drainage holes on the side, so the containers would hold some water (no more than an inch)... and then I put a couple of small holes in the bottom, so the water would drip back out slowly, letting all containers get a good drink. Maybe you could put a towel or something similar in the bottom of your container to absorb water and act as a capillary mat so all pots get a drink.

How would a frozen towel do?

Here's my updated list... http://lakehousecreations.com/wintersown_2009.htm

The towel won't be frozen all the time Carrie, LOL... when it thaws, it'll supply moisture to the pots.

That towel is an idea, critter. I was just thinking all I needed the holes in the top for was air circulation, so it would not stay too damp in my containers. I don't want too much moisture in there. Don't want mold or damping off. I figured there would be enough moisture in there that they wouldn't get dried out, and if they did get a little dry I can give them a drink. I have to check them tomorrow morning to see how they're doing. This will be only the second time I've checked on the ones that were sown on the 9th, and the first time with the ones that were sown on the 14th. Don't know if I will be seeing any sprouts yet. Still getting in the 20's and 30's at night, 30's and 40's during the day, though we've had a few days in the 50's. We're expecting rain tomorrow.

Karen

Taking the lid off to give them a drink would surely work. if you're relying on rain, though, the middle pots might not get enough water. It'll work... :-)

I don't think you need to worry about damping off with w/s'ing. At least not in my experience so far.

Well, I got a little busy yesterday and did a whopping 11 more jugs..I'm now at 24 jugs total :) I plan on doing a few more today and then will wait for the other seeds that are coming my way to get them in there too.
Since this is my first time WSing, I've just been using every seed and not looking to see if they might be too delicate for WSing. Figure I'll know for next year that way :) Is that the lazy way of doing it?? lol!

this is what I did:

Blackeyed Susan
Malabar Spinach
Tassel Flower
Carpet of Snow
Rock Rosemallow
Rudebeckia "Henry Eilers"
French Marigold
3 diff colors of dinnerplate Zinnias
Cardinal Flower (Ruby Slipper)

Are there any people who are the more knowledgeable about WSing who recognize any of these as "She WSd THAT??? OH NO!" ^_^ lol

Chris

Chris, I see people adding things to their WS list and reporting success every year I hadn't thought possible with this or that plant. Only one way to find out :-)

I've had two or three containers germinate one or two seeds and when I go back there is nothing there. Any ideas what is happening to the little babies? I think I have seed one or two gnats flying around out there. Seems like I remember Ella saying gnats could bother WS containers too. Anybody else ever had that problem? Did you figure out what the cause was?

Here's what I have germinated from my WS'd list:

Gaillardia mixed
Georgia Aster
Bronze fennel
Oriental poppy `Brilliant'
Myosotis
Gaillardia `Burgundy'
Clarkia `Confetti' (looks like a chia pet!)

Edited to include my Salvia viridis!

I'm so excited every time I step out the door to check my babies!

This message was edited Feb 22, 2009 5:33 PM

: ( I ordered a whole bunch of seeds from some web site. They got here yesterday and were all past their dates! They were so cheap, and fresher than the ones I haven't planted from 3 - 4 years ago, but still. It would definitely not be worth the aggravation to send them back, but I am fairly certain it did NOT say on this site that they were past their sell-by dates.

What was the website, Carrie, so we'll know who not to order from. I'd definitely complain too, if only in an email.

Also, if they happen to be on DG, you can definitely put in your review of them to make everyone on DG aware of what they're doing.
That's beyond wrong unless they have it in BIG letters on the homepage!

Here is what I got WSed this weekend -

Wanted to do more but apparently it was phone and drop-in on Elaine weekend. Drats.

Rudbeckia - kind unknown since I relocated them from SIL's garden in the fall

Cosmos Early Sensation Mix X 2

Tree Mallow - Colour unknown X 2

Scabiosa Butterfly weed

Silenedioica English Maiden

Belamcanda or Chinese Blackberry X 2

Seemed like more at the time :(

I am up to 37 separate single containers. I did HOS with most of my seeds.

Next year I'll have the proper containers. I am getting obsessed checking out everything that I see lying around outside stores, houses, etc. I am so pathetic.
Even DH is starting to roll his eyes at me. I don't think that is necessarily a good thing.

Happy WSing

Elaine and Otis

Tonya, I see that from time to time (finding a seedling only for it to disappear). Typically others will arrive later. I think sometimes a few germinate a little too soon and get frozen or sometimes a bug gets in there and munches them. Usually the majority will germinate at the right time.

Thanks, Neal. That is reassuring.

I set out my Papaver Sominiferum poppy seedlings this weekend. We'll see how they do!

Elaine, DH's do that...I got the very gentle but firm "no more spending for right now, you have enough" talk last night. AND he is actually right. I have some I cosmos & zinnias I ordered from Value Seed coming and Lazlo's Mystery Mix and some from another DG'er coming.

For today

Zebra Mallow-Zebrina
Cleome-Purple Queen
Alcea Rosea- Fuscia Colored

all sent ot me from Fiberholic last fall.

Yesterday, I did Zebra Mallow-Zebrina
Alcea rosea: Fuschia, Red, Yellow, The Watchman - nigra, Pink & White
I just did the 100th container! and still a lot to go.

But seeds are SO CHEAP to collect, compared to plants, or clothes, or diamonds or furs or antiques!