Anyone "Winter Sowing" Annual Seeds?

Hi, everybody--

TIME FOR AN UPDATE!

I found this old thread while looking for WS info--and wondered how everyone's projects here on the Annuals Forum turned out and what they're doing this winter?

Fill us in and tell us how WS worked or is working for you!

(For anyone who is not familiar with Winter Sowing, check out the Wintersowing Forum http://davesgarden.com/forums/f/coldsow/all/ and the information links. It's worth a try if you are looking to fill up your garden and stay on budget.) Good luck. tabasco

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Old initial post:

Does anyone have good experience with starting seeds using the "Winter Sowing" method? It sounds like it makes a lot of sense---less muss and fuss inside and no damping off.

Here's the link where I got my info:

http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/wtrsow/


I tried it with a few seeds last year with some limited good luck. Do you think it's worth doing? Any suggestions? thanks. t.

This message was edited Feb 9, 2006 4:49 PM

I will be doing a TON of annuals, perennials and Veggies/Herbs this way. Everyone on GW swears by it. I don't see how replicating what nature does automatically can hurt. I am looking forward to it. Good luck with it!

James

This will be my second year for winter sowing. I had way too much luck with it last year. I had to give away over half of what came up.

I will not start my annuals until mid to late February. Everything else can be started now.

This message was edited Jan 5, 2005 10:03 PM

This message was edited Jan 16, 2005 6:37 PM

This will be my fourth year of winter sowing - I'd say it is definitely worth doing!

Like JuBabe, I give away most of what I grow; it's hard to resist trying to grow everything when the method is so simple and easy. And fun ......

I usually wait until February to begin sowing annuals too - in most cases, for June bloom.

PV

Yes, everyone seems to swear by it on GW but not a lot of interest here on DG--just wondering why/why not...

Also, they seem to start winter sowing around the solstice which seems early to me (Feb sounds more reasonable) and I wondered what they did with all the little seedlings during rough late winter/early spring but maybe they don't come up until later outside in the cold I guess, anyway...

It seems like the way to go to me, just wondering why everyone doesn't do it?!

Anyway, here's another link (not GW)

http://www.wintersown.org/

that is interesting....I wonder if T. Davidoff (the WS innovator) ever posts on DG....

thanks for the feedback...I'm going to start collecting my plastic containers!

This looks like fun! I'm going to try this too.

Btw, I am new here and what is GW?

Thanks,
Gwen

Welcome, Gwen! So happy you have joined. You will like it here--lot's of knowledgeable gardeners who are willing to answer questions.

By the way, GW is GardenWeb, another garden website which has a forum.

Just let nature take hold of everything. We had a late snow last year that I thought plastered some of mine. Those seedlings thawed and came out just fine!

What about winter sowing coleus seeds?....I'm intriqued by all the interest in coleus--but maybe they grow from rhizomes--I'll do some research. mmm...just wondering...

Coleus is too tender for winter sowing - they're often categorized as tropicals. But you could try spring sowing them later - like late March or April - using the same WS method. Germination might be spotty, but definitely better than if they were sown in the dead of winter (outside, that is).

PV

P.S. Forgot to say, they don't form rhizomes .........



This message was edited Jan 8, 2005 12:04 PM

I suppose if I want to grow Coleus I should look over at the 'Coleus Addicts' threads! I had no idea there were such groupies for the plant....but the hybridizers seem to have come up with lots of neat varieties and they are great shade plants, too. Looks like cuttings may be the way to go with them--

thanks. t.

I read over the winter sowing info and think I will give it a try to. Great to hear so many people are getting good results. I have lots of poppy seeds, Columbine, larkspar, and coreopsis that I may give a try. I think I will start some inside under lights to compare them to. Should be interesting.

Susan

Tabasco:
Thanks ever so much for this hyperlink and suggestion. I have gotten pretty busy the last few months, and I was beginning to think about not sewing my own annuals. I did have good luck with petunias, pansies, and cosmos that I started last year. I was around more often to baby the seedlings. We had an ok showing despite the heavy spring rains in Wisconsin.
This might just be the option. I will give it a whirl and post my results later this spring.
Mary

I will be trying WS and lights inside. The WS method is supposed to make for hardier plants, as they grow with the elements (wind,variable temps, weather, etc). Also, there is no hardening off of your WS plants. I have spent quite a bit of time on the WS forum, the best group of folks around on GW. (I can't believe I can mention GW here, if I had mentioned DG on GW, I would have been booted!). They really know their stuff.

Lincolnitess, poppy seeds, columbine, larkspure, and coreopsis would all be great candidates for WS. Good choice. I will be starting a batch once a month till April. I will record my results so I will know what to WS next year and in which month. It's foolproof it seems. Just like mother nature does.

They have a FAQ page, you must check it out!

James

Thanks for all the ideas. I am definitely going to start a lot of pansies. Can't wait 'til my seeds come in. The links give lots of good info and it sounds like Wintersowing makes a lot of sense. Everybody, pls. let us know how things are going for you. t.

Here is a photo of my first attempt at winter sowing. I used the snap over medium size Seran Wrap covers and they fit very well on the 4.5" X 4.5" flats that I had. I poked a few holes in them and sat them in a larger flat that also had draingae holes. These are the seeds I have planted so far:

Lady Bird Scarlet Cosmos
Kingsize Scarlet Larkspur
Copper Rose Verbascum
Rising Sun Coreopsis
Camelot Rose Foxgloves
Persian Jewels Nigella
Giuant Imperial Mix Larspur
Perenial Forget-Me- Nots

I'll let you know how they do in the Spring and hopefully will have seeds to share next year.

Susan

lincolnitess--your seed list makes me long for spring--your garden will be lovely--is that snow your seeds are sitting in? t.

We got about 8-10 inches of snow last week and it is very cold. Hope my poor seeds make it!!

Susan

Hi all, it was 60° here two days ago I and went out and broadcasted poppy, columbine, and
forget-me-not seeds on the bare soil. Now it is 27° and snowing. They will sure get extremes here!
Hope they make it.

tabasco, I am getting more and more hooked on coleus. There are a lot of newer, sun tolerant ones too, so they are much more versatile than they used to be. Many of them will take full sun all day in my zone.

Cindy

hi, oceangirl--BTW do you use the 'wintersowing' method at your work? I saw those beautiful pictures of the gardens you work in on another thread and just wondered if some of those plants were 'wintersown'?

It sounds like your garden of columbine forgetmenots and poppies will be lovely (and colorful)!

We have snow too and it makes me want to sit by the fire and look at catalogs. Spring seems like a long way off...

Just found some more seeds to wintersow- rose nigella, I think it will look nice in my iris bed. We have about 5 inches of snow this morning, Maybe I'll snow-sow!
We don't winter sow at work, We stop work from late December to March or April. In April we start seeds in the green house.
Spring sure does seem like a long way off. i'm looking at all those tempting catalogs, too. I've aready ordered some seeds from Parks and some shrubs from Forest Farm.

Hi, again, everybody--Time For An Update!!! (-:

Found this thread on our Wsowing projects from last year and thought I would bump this up and ask how everyone's wintersowing went? And whether you are doing it again this year?!

Here's my report: Last year my wintersowing went OK, but many of my seedling were drowned out by heavy rains (and poor drainage in my container set up). Now I have a little experience, so I'm trying it again. And the new DG Wintersowing Forum has provided excellent tips, also, to insure success.

Here's a link to my (too ambitious?) Wintersowing 2006 list on my DG diary, if anyone's interested...

http://davesgarden.com/journal/d/t/tabasco/2169/

I am part way through planting the list--I will wait a while to do many of the annuals and tropical vines.

(I am trying to plant a (super) Butterfly garden from scratch this year-- a big deal for me! But fun.)

So any updates from your Wintersowing projects? Let's hear about!? (-:

p.s. For anyone thinking about Wintersowing this year, here's a list of flowers that seem to succeed using the Wsowing method:

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/125843/