Calling all experts! I am afraid I am going to lose them!

Calling all experts!

I am in NE Texas and a lot of my wintersowing has already sprouted. It is going to be down to 30* tonight! Do you think it will kill them?

Do I need to find some old sheets or something?

In my experience, Winter Sown sprouts can and so survive much colder drops than 30.

Based on your excellent photo, it looks like everything still has lids on -- leave them that way. You don't actually need to do anything....

To the best of my knowledge, the only sprouts I've lost were Marigolds to a late, severe cold snap. Everything else has always toughed it out.

Good luck,

Liane -- in chilly zone 5, expecting more snow tonight...

Thank you for your response. I was just worried since they were already growing . If they hadn't sprouted yet I would have not given it a thought.

Thanks again!

Carol

yardqueen: Be sure to let us know how the plants fared in the cold.

Karen

Carol -- how did they do?

Hi everyone, and thank you for your response and your caring!

After I posted last night, DH went out and covered them with sheets. It is a good thing he did because it was 26* when he got up. He uncovered them when it was in the 40's and they are just great! He said they were not hurt at all. It got up to the 50's today.

I need to check the forecast for tonight. I have not done it yet. For all I know it may do that again, but I don't think so.

Thanks everyone!

Carol

Carol, is that a concrete slab they are on? I wonder if it holds a little heat from the sun.

I have had sprouts and sproutlets (actual leaves up) for 3 weeks now in my zone and we have been consistently in the 20s at night. I have some more containers that germinated this week and I am expecting a lot more to be popping up.

Our temps this whole week are supposed to be in the 70s! and nightimes just below 40! Crazy warm weather for this time of year. I don't even know what to think.

Wow, Lissa! I never dreamed seeds would sprout with nights in the 20's! I have had a lot to sprout but our days have been in the 60's and 70's, nights in the 40's. I know the containers make it warmer for them, but I still worry if them temps get too low. I don't know if the slab helps or not, because I have heard the opposite... that it make it colder. But it worked fine last year. The slab is the foundation of my old greenhouse. DH was going to build me a potting shed on it, but I decided I didn't need one and I really like it for the containers. The containers won't tip over like they might on uneven ground, and there is no worries about grass& weeds growing up around them in the early spring.

I am so glad someone mentioned putting them on a concrete or brick slab. I have one batch up on a table which is not the best I think. I definitely know that the concrete or other hard surface is best. When you are outside for a long time as I have been in my community horticulture work, there is no doube that the sidewalk is warmer to your feet than the lawn. We have had below freezing weather a lot here in NC and I'm trusting that there is no harm to the seedlings that are always up. I'm trying to have faith and patience. I'm chalking it up as an experiment since this is my first attempt.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Don't whine to me cold from from NC! You'll get no sympathy from this Buckeye! Zone envy! It was 14 degrees again this morning when I left for work, now 29.

They're predicting a warm-up here starting tomorrow with 38 degrees, 50 by Wednesday. I sure hope they got it right this time.

I usually see my first sprouts in March. I'm always torn between wanting to see something green peeking back at me from the milk jug and not wanting them to sprout before it gets warm.

Karen

I hear that, Karen. I check on mine and want so badly to see something growing and am soooo afraid that I will. I will worry all night about them if they sprout.

I've got 6 containers germinating so far, and we're getting lots of night temps in the 20s. They just freeze and stop and start again when it warms up. The only time I cover anything is later in spring when everything is getting true leaves and we have a cold snap, but they're on their own till sometime in April.

I just checked on my this weekend and i have sprouts in a couple of mine. I just put the lid back on and kept going. We have a high today of 28° and I know it has been colder or as cold as that before I checked on them. They look good. I'm excited as this is my firts time WS. I tried last year with one carton but had it in a spot where the wind got it. This year i was a little more prepared. I cant get over how easy it is. I'm sure yours will be just fine.
dawn

Hi, I am going to jump in here. One year I lost most of my winter sowing to the cold. We had an early March thaw and a lot begin to grow and then it got cold again in April and the poor things didn't have a chance.

Since most of you are in warmer zones you don't have the same chance of loss, but if you are going to have sustained cold do what you can to keep them warm. I am still winter sowing, but winter will be here into April.

zen, was that the spring of '07? My whole garden turned to snot that spring! I remember throwing mover's quilts over the WS containers that year, and being concerned that they stayed covered for a week (we had a week of temps in the low 20s around the 2nd or 3rd week of April that year), but those actually survived.

That was the year.

Wasn't that a nightmare! Then we had a drought that year on top of it, seems like it quit raining in late May. Everything went from slime to crispy, LOL.

It is interesting that we had basically the same weather.

I remember that freeze well. It was Easter weekend and the temp never went above freezing for the entire 3 days, day or night. A lot of my established perennials had already put out new spring growth and were badly damaged. None of my hardy perennials or hardy annuals were damaged in their jugs, covered by a sheet. I stashed all the tender sprouts in my unheated garage and parked my car outside all weekend.

And the summer was not only the worst drought we've ever had but also the worst heat- more days over 90 and more days over 100 degrees ever since records had been kept. The rain stopped in May and didn't start again until September. That entire growing season was a gardener's nightmare.

Karen

zen, it was freakish, seems like most of us east of the Mississippi got zapped.

I think it is to do with how long the temps stay well below freezing. Here, every day the temps are getting into the 40s. I believe that means that, even if the thermometer reads, say, 25* at the coldest point at night, the soil temp does not get cold enough to freeze before the air temp rises again.

True, if it suddenly dipped below 15 or 10, or if it were to stay below freezing for even a half day, I would be out there covering my containers!!!!! you betcha!

Good discussion here, as learning what the tolerance level of germinated seedlings in the WS method really is seems to be a big key.

Kyla

Yes! Best learning forum I have been to in awhile!

Kyla, that's exactly right about duration of cold temps. We frequently get late frosts- those don't typically do much damage, but the fluke a couple of years ago was that it stayed under 30F for about a week.

For most things I wintersow, I think the exposure to cool temps makes them stronger, tougher all the way around.

Another thing I've noticed with wintersown seedlings is they transplant into the garden so easily, and resume growth vigorously and quickly. More so it seems than plants from cell packs or pots. I'm guessing it has something to do with the roots making immediate contact with the native soil rather than having to reach beyond the soft friable potting media to denser real soil. Have any of you noticed that?

Yes, it seems as if there is no transplant shock for most plants. I think part of that is also that they don't have to go through a hardening off process.

My winter sowing should be well buried under the snow by this afternoon.

Well, today is going to be a real test of some of this around here. I do not know how cold it got last night....... was not supposed to be below 20, but this am the soil in all the WS containers is hard frozen.

It is predicted to warm into 40s today but get cold again tonight. After that is a warming trend. So the question will be, is there damage to anyone out there from last night's cold. I am watching closely...... I kind of feel it will be okay but may cover with a sheet or something tonight. If I do it will be the first time.

wish me luck! LOL!

Okay. At this point in the day, all the containers have thawed enough that the soil is no longer hard...... and as of yet I see absolutely no damage whatever to sproutlets.

Whew!

The only ones beginning to put out true leaves are spinach, CA poppies, and lacy phacelia. All the others are still at earlier stages of germination. But looks like nobody got hurt.

I do think I will throw a sheet or something over them tonight, but as tomorrow is supposed to hit the 50s I probably will not do it more than the one time....... and it may not even be necessary. At this stage, though, I would rather not risk it.