What have you wintersowed so far -part three.

Anita, I usually start my dahlia tubers now. I put them in pots and put them out on the blacktop driveway during the day, then as the temperature cools - I bring them inside.

Then in May I plant the dahlias in the gardens. I have flowers by the 2rd week of June until frost.

edited to add: BTW - I have my first winter sown seeds germinating - lavender and perennial allysium

This message was edited Mar 8, 2009 6:47 PM

Hi All:
I usually sow perennials in March. Some that requires stratification (cold treatment) I sow in Oct in my coldframe. This year my only intent was to check some old seeds I forgot I had. I gave my daughter seeds to scatter in her garden and though I had given her all of them. I didn't. Stored in a plastic shoe box out of sight in my garden shed, I came across them while looking for something else. Some seeds, like the Datura, are from 2002, others a bit fresher.

I didn't want to waste a bunch of time and seeding mix on seeds I figured wouldn't sprout. Although each varietiety was stored in prescripttion medicine containers, they were certainly not stored properly with heat and cold according to the season.

Boy, was I in for a surprise!!
Now I'm on a roll.

I used a method borrowed from my son, which according to posts in DG is referred to as the Deno method.

I started with the first seed on February 11, 09, which was Centaurea macrocephala that is suppose to germinate 1 to 2 wks. I used 10 seeds and 7 sprouted in 6 days. Hibiscus moscheutos, after nicking and soaking in hand hot water over night, germinated in 2 days. These were old seeds from 2006, which when I tried them back then, was lucky to get one to sprout. Now I have 12.

Here is how to do it:

The seeds I use were large enough to be held by fingers, not dustlike.

Cut a paper towel in half. Wet it and then squeeze out excess. Open it and fold in half and place seeds in one corner. Fold the napkin over the seeds twice until you have a square. Place in ziplock baggie. Zip the top, leaving an opening to blow air in to create a balloon. Quickly close the bag. If the bag doesn’t hold the air, open and rezip again. Sometimes these bags don't zip easily if the runners don't match. Once done, place the baggie in the refrigerator for 3 weeks (cold treatment) or room temperature, or the top of a refrigerator for seeds that require more warmth. I use a waterproof black Sharpie marker to code with a number on each package, which corresponds to the name on paper.

Check on the seeds every 2 days or so. As soon as you see radicals (tiny roots) emerging, gently pick up the sprouted seed by the empty shell with tweezer. Make a hole with a pencil where you will plant the tiny seedling. Guide the radicals into the hole. Firm the soil against it from the sides. I place the sprout level with the soil, unless leaves have developed. If no leaves, cover it with seeding mix to the depth recommended for the variety you sprouted. When you see growth break the soil, give them light.

I am so pleased with this method that I will never sow straight into seedling trays again. There is no damping off since there is no soil. I have had a higher stand on seedling with this method, even seeds that were hard to germinate. At least they were for me.

Another bonus is that you can regulate how many plants you want, rather than oversow and waste seeds. They can also be placed in the flat without crowding. No more thinning. No worry about how deep to plant. A perfect method for new and seasonal gardeners.

Never throw seeds out because you think they are too old. They are hardier than you can imagine. Nature made them that way to procreate its species.

CAPTION: These were started with the above method then planted in trays. These are only a few examples of what I have sown using the above method. Tiny seeds can be mixed in fine, moistened peatmoss then place in the baggie. Once germinated, spread the peatmoss/seed mixture over the surface of flats or other container. My next experience to try.

Pictured are:
Tiny plants of Dianthus (upper left)
Flat of Hibiscus Heliopsis, and Datura (upper right)
6 hardy geraniums (lower left)
6 plants of Asclepias incarnata (Swamp Plant/Pink Butterfly Plant)



This message was edited Mar 8, 2009 7:00 PM

Here are the Hibiscus seeds that sprouted in 2 days. Notice the radicals. Planted in soil shortly after. They are shown in the photo above.

I forgot to add that I also start perennials in July and August to spread out the sowing season. When large enough, I plant them in my coldframe over winter. I don't try to keep them warm since I want to check their hardiness in my zone 4. I have chicken wire over to protect against animals. That all the protections they get. By spring, these are husky plants ready for permanent planting.

CAPTION: My simple coldframe made from scrap lumber. The top is hinged and has a shade cloth to protect seedling against our hot summer sun. I planted seed in Oct. 2008 of those perennials that require heavy duty stratification with flunctuating temperature. Will sprout during spring when conditions are right for the variety sown.

my seeds are all coming up! Help... I did not think all of them would...

more

I have tried to post this 4 or 5 times and it won't post! I will try one more time...

ok... Well, it finally posted... Now here are some that I have already had to put in sseparate pots because the containers were too full, and in some cases the plants were growing out of the holes in the top!

a few more...

and I put some in the cold frame in case it does get cold again...

This is just a sampling of them... Anyone want to come on down and get some plants???

Wow, yardqueen, that is some success story! I'll have to show your pictures to my 7 yo DS, who is a little less than convinced that WSing will really work. :o)

Angie

oh, and here are some I intend to plant out in the flower beds in a couple of days

Oh, it works!

Oh YardQueen, That is so cool! Congratulations

Every gardener has their own way of sowing seeds, which suits them. For me, I wouldn't want all those containers standing around, plus trying to prick out indivicual seedlings from those container and planting them since they all sprouted. Seems to me that there will be many discarded seedlings, and double work.

The Deno method bypasses all that. It takes less room, less time to germinate, I can control how many plants I want without waste and oversowing, less time also in planting since it is done once from paper towel to seed flat with already sprouted seeds.

Yardqueen: Congrats on all your babies! Are you related to Suleman? Seriously, that's a great endorsement for winter sowing at its best. I'm a little farther north than you, so some of mine haven't sprouted yet, but I do have quite a few sproutlets. It's so exciting. Your plants look so healthy and lush already.

Great job.

Blomma: I'm going to give your method a try as well on a few seeds I never did get sown.

blomma: I don't prick out seedlings, ever. I plant HOS, this will be my 4th year of doing so. See Trudi's site
http://www.wintersown.org/wseo1/Hunk-o-Seedlings.html

Wintersowing is not something I want to stop. I like it, it's fun for me all winter. You are lucky to have a nice cold frame, but not everyone is so fortunate. And not everyone has space or finances for lights and shelves to start seeds indoors. For those folks, wintersowing is perfect.

Karen

yardqueen, you go, girl!!! Everything looks perfect! Those Poppies are ready to get in the ground and growing, they look beautiful!

blomma, I'm like Karen with wintersowing, for me it actually saves time and energy. I do like the Deno method for special or more expensive seed though. I still sow a lot indoors under lights, but transplanting and intricate seed sowing keeps me humped over too long and kills my back. Wintersowing bypasses that and allows me to grow a lot more (I don't prick out WS seedlings typically). I have a lot of space both to fill in the garden, and good hidden spots for WS containers, so that enables the process too. I have more space outside than in for containers- my shelves of lights are bursting at the seams, LOL!

Way to go yardqueen! I was equally pleased with my first WS experience this year. I was able to grow so many plants with minimal cost and effort. I have been spending days this past week or two planting out the seedlings and they are all doing great here in 8b. My allysum was even starting to bloom in the container, so it was one of the containers I have put in the ground already. I have also put these in the ground: poppies, hollyhocks, alpine catchfly, malva moschata, scabiosa, cleome, puple hyacinth bean vines, Granpa Ott's MG, Scarlett O'Hara MG, stock, salpiglossis, kiss-me-over-the-garden-gate, red flax, nigella, tomatoes, borage, and maybe more that I can't recall at this moment. We have had only two nights since I started planting out that it got chilly (low to mid 30's but no freeze). Those two nights I covered the then-planted babies with sheets and all of them did fine. Oh also geranium 'Bill Wallis' and tidytips. I still have lots to plant out and will get to them as I can! I really think you should be able to plant out some of those babies, soon, too. I found that what looked like a lot in the container did not go as far as I thought when I planted them with the HOS method. You may not have as much "overage' as you think you do!

Ain't it fun!

Tonya

Karen, I agree. It can be hard to find space and money to grow seedlings inside. Buying plants is expensive and you can be very limited in varieties available. Going the WS method solves so many problems. I wish I had done this years ago instead of dreaming that someday I would have space and money to grow bedding plants inside. This make so much more sense! It also save time. Caring for all of those little starter pots is time consuming.

here is what i did the other night: (25 nursery pots)
Basil
Thai Basil, Siam Queen
Charters Double Red HH
Agastache, Mex. Purple
Rotibida Columnifera Mex.hats
White Cosmos, Sonata
White Cosmos, Sonata
Rattle Box
I. scabrida, Yellow Impatiens
Red Dahlia
Red Dahlia
Wild FLower Mix
Wild Flower Mix
Wild Flower Mix
Sonata Mix, NoID
K. Black Knight MG
Lantana
BES
BES
BES
BES
NoID seeds
NoID seeds
Verbena Stricta, Hoary Vervain
Verbena Stricta, Hoary Vervain

Last night I planted...

Swiss Chard "Bright Lights"
Helenium Helena Red Shades
Gaillardia Burgundy
Gaillardia Yellow Queen
Zinnia Red Spider
Lavender "Sancho Panza"

Great list Terese! I was excited to see my cinnamon basil, agastache ruprestris and agastache cana germinate. Not sure how they compare with your basils, and agastache. Both are new to me, both growing period and WSing. I WSed 4 kinds of cosmos on a lark because they were old seeds. None have germinated yet. Do you know if cosmos seeds have to be relatively fresh? I'm still watering and watching, but figured if they were going to do anything they probably would have by now. I think they were 2002 seeds.

Tonya

I replanted Gaillardia Burgundy again yesterday. It was the only container out of 150+ that I dumped! I'm not sure if it was on this thread or another one that I read today that gaillardia don't want to be too soggy to germinate. Have y'all found that to be true also? I have watered my containers almost everyday lately due to our drought. Maybe I am keeping that one too moist. It's a beautiful flower in the pics, sure would like to grow it!

New thread..... #4 http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/960226/

OPsssss, i just noticed that I started a NEW THREAD a few days ago, and this one kept going...so now we have 2) #4's.

I'll see if i can't get Admin to delete the second one....

**feels like a knuckle head**

This message was edited Mar 9, 2009 11:41 AM

Please move on to this #4 http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/960226/