Asking for your experiences?

I don't have enough room next to my foundation. I have too many plants on all four sides.

Karen

I don't put them out by the foudation as the eaves will not allow them to get any rainfall. I put them outside the drip line of the roof.

it's all pretty miraculous, if you think about it. I told my friend that i'm just tempted to go around this fall (one of those months that end in 'R' as I heard the 'plant ladies' on the radio talk about ) and throw seeds in my beds and see what happens.

my thinking is Mother Nature drops and blows seeds around and they come up next year.

maybe i'll throw half of my seeds outside and half in jugs. lol.

I did that last Oct with poppies... You know what? It worked! 8 )))

Give it a try and report back...

I did that with my poppies and had excellent results as well. I'm going to try it with more poppies this year and some bluebonnets.

Absolutely ~ if I remember to do so at the right time, I hope to plant more poppies.

I had a jug of mixed poppy seeds. gave them to two other people, and my Dad's were the only ones that bloomed! well, he had 3 blooms.

that was one color. there were 3 different colors and kinds. I saved the seeds too.

here is that jug of peppers I said was still growing. those are Hungarian Wax peppers.

and I went to the Univ of Tenn Gardens today with my Dad and oh my gosh, all these twigs and seed pods jumped in my purse! into zip lock bags even. lol. my friend calls that 'liberating' them.

i'm gonna post some of the pictures when I get a chance.

This is just the most fun thread... Nanniepb, imagine those seed pods just jumping into your purse into ziplocks. Amazing, LOL. I am so ready to WS!

This is a good forum. I just didn't have much time to visit it as much as i'd like to. I guess I thought it was a winter thing, but its good to talk about these things so i won't forget, lol.

ps, Podster....that poppy was gorgeous. what kind is that?

here is a shot from the UT Gardens. I hope people will see the humor in this and not think this is what we (tennesseans) consider 'art'. but it was fun to see. they had sunflowers growing in the bed. my other favorite flower.

Nanniepb ~ it is Papavar somniferum... if you would like, dmail me for some seeds. Soon time to plant them.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/982171/

Not to worry about the "art" photo. In east TX, I consider this "art"!

My famous robins egg blue bidet ~ LOL

Hey....we got art too! or my cousin does.

Podster...i'm late and couldnt resist logging on but I will dmail you later. i'd love to have seeds.

Is that a port-a-potty?? LOL

it's something, huh?

in the spirit of WS.....this is something new I grew / WS this year. Cleome. I dont know any other names for it but i had it in pink and lilac color.

I love the color.

I love Cleome... I normally grow a dwarf cleome and you just reminded me I forgot to plant some. I was studying too hard on vegetables this past spring. Grrrr...

I grew cleome for a few years. The flowers are so pretty, but I couldn't take another year of that stink in my garden. It smells like B.O. I culled out all of the volunteers this year.

Karen

Odd ~ I never noticed an odor on the dwarf Cleome. Perhaps because I didn't get down on their level. lol

Whew! They stink!

I cleaned a few penstemon smallii seeds today. They smell like dirty feet!

Karen

Yes, someone had shared some of those seed and the envelope had the aroma of dirty socks.

The smell of Cleome reminds me of skunk, or rather the dog after an encounter with one!

I made a couple of big mistakes with the wintersowing this year, the biggest of which was moving the jugs from the deck onto the ground in April. The slugs devoured seedlings like mad! They crawled right out of the lawn at night, into the jugs, which was never a problem on the deck. So next year I'll content myself with a deck full of jugs for a little longer. Another result of moving the jugs, a bunch were under a crabapple with tent caterpillars I hadn't noticed. When those started falling out of the tree, a bunch fell right into jugs and started feasting.

The other mistake I make every year, not good enough records. I'm so bad about that! The thing I really wish I'd kept records on was my growing mix. I used a peaty mix for a bunch, and a free draining mix with a lot of fine bark for the rest. Some things loved the peaty mix, some didn't, some loved the barky mix, some didn't. I remember noticing something (although now I can't even recall what it was!) that hadn't done well for me the year before in Miracle Grow, was so much happier with the free draining mix.

Ok, my resolution for next year is better records!

Gemini, you had yours on a deck - I assume the deck wasn't covered? We have a large awning over ours, which I think makes it so I can't have ours on the deck cause of the lack of rain, so guess mine will go out in the yard.

We also have slugs, heck we have everything ishy, so what do youdo to keep the slugs away? Just put out slug killer in a circle around the jugs?

I'd planned to use Miracle Grow since I can get it inexpensively at our local Sam's - what do I need to add into it? Thanks, Cynthia

Our deck isn't covered, so they got plenty of natural moisture. I ended up dusting the area with Diatomaceous earth, and that helped till after a few rains. But on the deck they weren't a problem, I saw a few slugs, but no major damage like this year (whole jugs of seedlings wiped out).

I don't think anything needs to be added to Miracle Grow mix, for most things it works fine. I just remembered one thing that preferred a freer draining mix over the peaty types (like MG), Penstemons! They tend to prefer dryer soils with excellent drainage, so that makes sense. If you have some seeds for plants that prefer dryer conditions, you may want to amend MG soil with some fine bark or grit for better drainage.

I researched slugs a few years ago. Seems they become active in spring when the soil temp reaches around 40 degrees. I monitor the soil temp, and when it gets to around 40, I start treating with iron phosphate. I treat all my planting beds 2 or 3 times, several weeks apart, starting in early spring. Since I keep my jugs on my patio, I also sprinkle iron phosphate around the borders of the patio. No slug damage anymore.

My county sprayed BT from helicopters last summer to treat for tent caterpillars and we had very few of them this year. But one did get into 2 of the jugs of seedlings I had started this summer. He had apparently started with the penstemon (half of them were gone) and he was working on rudbeckia in the next jug when I caught him in the act and slaughtered him.

Karen

What is iron phosphate, Karen, and where do I get it? I definitely will want to do that before anything starts growing next spring cause the slugs can be notorious here in the spring. Thanks for the advice. I surely do enjoy DG though I read so many threads now it takes me days to get through them it seems, LOL.

Iron phosphate is less toxic to humans, animals, birds, and beneficial insects than most slug poisons. It breaks down to iron, which plants need anyway. When treating for slugs, it takes a VERY SCANT sprinkling for it to be effective. Some more common brand names are Escar-go and Sluggo, but many different brands are showing up in garden centers. Just look for slug baits with iron phosphate as the active ingredient.

If you google "iron phosphate" you can find lots of hits. Here's one
http://www.pesticide.org/slugs.html

Karen

LOL, I read the link, thank you! Did you read the part about hand picking slugs after dark? Right............ never gonna happen. I think I'll buy some iron phosphate instead! ROFL.

You can also set traps- small bowls of beer buried level with the soil, they supposedly crawl in and die. I never did that- slimey boogers aren't getting my beer. A board placed flat on top of the soil will catch them too, then just squish them.

But iron phosphate works a lot faster, gets more of them, and quickly.

Karen

I agree with you - I'd rather spread the IP around and let that kill them. I don't think I could squish them - maybe pour salt on them and watch the lil boogers sizzle? Ewwwwwwwwwwwwww is all I can say! LOL

I've heard that Sluggo Plus will also kill off the rolly-pollies that attack my beet greens...We shall see...

podster......i am following you. what exactly did you winter sow? when did you do it?

'tis lazy but let me link to my journal page as I listed the seeds and the journal shows the dates. http://davesgarden.com/community/journals/viewentry/227978/

In reading thru that I will say I won't wintersow cucumbers again. Two different kinds and they did NOT like it. They also germinate far too easily to worry with wintersowing.

I also found that when the growth began, I needed to provide protection from freezing as some tender plants got killed from freezes. After that, I carried the more tender sprouted containers to a sheltered location. I suspect a person could also cover the jugs. Mine may have frozen more quickly as I had them on shelves off the ground level due to dogs and fireants.

There!!! Are ya saving jugs yet, Mamajack? 8 $

Gymgirl ~ where have you been lately? Been missing running into you in the forums too...

i won't use the jugs. i am going to use some big tubs and put lots of different things in each.

Did you wintersow last year? If so, what and when?

Pod,
Been lurking, learning about wintersowing, which I seriously hope to do this time round. Here's a planting schedule for Arizona Zone 9a that mimics our schedules. I'll be closely following this chart for my winter sowing. I'll also be watching you and Mamajack!

http://www.yourguidetogreen.com/TheUrbanFarm/wp-content/uploads/Planting_Calendar.pdf

heya Pod =)

does anyone use bleach containers for WSing? and, what about freezing seeds vs a cool, dark place?

i was wondering how much longer it would be till I saw my dining room table again? all I do there is unload groceries and let seeds dry

i think i have a problem ;)

the things that already reseed themselves here are poppies and zinnia. and hibiscus cannabinus. which is the coolest plant. a bit large so not for small gardens. oh and millet. blasted ruellia. in blue and white. and yvonne's salvia. and yall mine got at least 5 ft tall just like up north. so texas reigns yet with having the biggest. lol. a purply green really pretty plant that i can't think of the name. it gets really big too. and loses it's purply colors. larkspur.

i didn't winter sow last year but the year before. i had good luck with quite a few things but i can't remember now what i sowed. one was carnations. good germinaton rate i thought. red buckeye.

Gymgirl ~ glad to know your are still amongst us dreamers. How is your DHs' Auntie? I saw your post on her health issues.

Nanniepb ~ what is a dining room table? or floor for that matter? Right now, I got into some plant swaps which are great. I get to unload some plants in time for winter but am getting paid back by the traders. They are getting rid of some before winter too. Where on earth will I put them all... lol

Mamajack ~ are you going to try some vegies & herbs this year? Or are you only doing bloomers?

I've not used bleach jugs. Anyone? As they aren't clear, how well would they transmit light.

prob. won't do veggies till the spring.

by winter sowing?