tips for newbies

While I'm by no means an "expert" at this, I just thought I'd put down a few things I've learned in the last few years. Anyone else feel free to chime in.....

Soil depth: A minimum of 4 inches seems to be necessary......more is better. Anything less seems to dry out too quick in the spring and the soil gets compacted, even with good soil.

Drainage: So important. Before I sow my seeds, I check to see how fast the water drains. If it sits there for more than 30 seconds, I know I need more holes.

Air holes: If you use bottles, just leaving the caps off works well over the winter. Once the warm weather starts, I start cutting them open and moving them to dappled shade. I've tried just putting my finger in a bottle on a sunny day....you won't believe how hot it gets in there.

Markers: A heavy lead pencil works really well. This year I had to actually erase them to reuse my markers (cut up mini blinds). I also used a "china marker" one year. It worked well, but I couldn't write as small as I wanted to.

Elastics will disintegrate in about a month. String is better for holding loose plastic onto a container.

Strange looks from your neighbors: Ignore them, you'll have the last laugh in Spring. So what if they see you sticking your eyeball into each and every container, because that little green speck just 'might' be a sprout. Actually, they must think I'm sniffing all of my bottles, I hold them so close. :)

Above all, just enjoy being able to garden in the winter!

Excellent!!! Thanks so much. Everyone here is always happy with tips and suggestions from others who have had success. This is my first year w/s'ing and I am all ears. I think some of it is common sense, some luck and patience. Can't wait to see my results and everyone else's!!!

Anita

Well done merryma! This is my first year too so I'm just soaking up all the info and advice I can get. Even if I end up with a 50% success rate, I'll be happy.
I sure can relate to that second last comment about neighbors, lmbo. My neighbor is a sweet lady but a little nosy. She just had to know what I was doing so I explained to her and she stared at me like I had horns growing out of my head. Then she said, "you young folks sure have the strangest notions" and then she walked away. I'm just dying to show her the outcome of my so-called notions..

Cheers,
Erynne

hahaha I love nosy neighbors. Two consecutive days I had 2 different people coming over and I didn't tell her beforehand that I was expecting anyone. The second day she marched on over and asked me who's been coming over to my house!!

With her as a neighbor, who needs police??

Cheryl

That's one thing good about the nosey ones!!! They are also a good source of entertainment...as told by these stories!

This is my first year winter sowing, but my neighbors already think I'm nuts. For that matter, my husband does, too. I guess it has something to do with my showing up in their yards with my leaf sucker to collect and hoard leaves for my compost. Or taking their grass clippings for the same. Then when I started piling "garbage" in piles and covering with burlap for lasagna beds. Then I started collecting the "garbage" milk jugs from their recycle bins for winter sowing. No, I think when they see all these containers on my patio, giving something of a getto neighborhood effect, I don't think it will surprize anyone. My husband says he thinks they call me "that wacko flower lady". But I have prettier flowers than they do!

Karen

atta girl Karen!

When I look at other people's pictures of their winter sowing, I notice some pictures show the caps on the jugs, some pictures show the caps off of the jugs... and I always wonder cap on or cap off? Does it make a difference?

I thought you would need cap off for air circ and water - unless they have put slits/holes in the top...

Caps are off for precipitation & air circulation to do their thing!

Caps off also allows snow and rain to get into the container which adds moisture. Also, I seem to recall reading somewhere that snowmelt helps germination.....something to do with what's inside the snow....ions or something. Way beyond me, but since I've always had germination when I've done it this way, I can't really argue with it.

merryma, if you can find the article about snow ions, I'd love to read it!

Shirley, someone posted something about it last year over on the "other" winter sowing site. I couldn't begin to remember what the site was. I googled it just for kicks......nothing looked familiar. From what I remember, though.....the snow "holds" on to the ions in the air, which is absorbed by the seeds. Also, the friction as the snow melts helps to break the seed coat. That's all I remember. Maybe I'll try a search at that other site.

Hi. This is my 1st attempt at wintersowing and I didn't realize that the soil should be at least 4 inches. I'm glad I read the tip but now I realize that most of the containers I've been gathering won't work. They're all mostly take-out containers and strawberry containers from the grocer.

I'm going to keep reading this forum for better ideas about what containers to use.

Thanks for the thread! :-)

LoraB

Lora - from my reading - yes, the soil level may be too low- but if you stay on top of them in the spring and make sure they don't dry out - you should be fine. You can probably transplant them once they sprout and are larger.

Lora.......I agree with Anita......I myself juse gal milk jugs....

How early do you transplant? I know the seedlings need to show their second set of leaves first. But can you plant before the last frost?

I was actually able to sow my seeds today. I found a milk jug and then just used the deepest of the containers I had. I'm REALLY keeping my fingers crossed. I put them in morning sun and afternoon shade. Is that correct?

Thanks,
Lora

Lora,
I transplant them when they're really small.....second set of leaves, like you said. Usually, by the time they're ready to plant, the weather's warmed up enough. Remember, though, as soon as they sprout, you should be hardening them off by opening vents in the containers. By the time they're hardened off, you should be past the frost time.

Hi Everyone....about the nosey neighbors, thats really funny...maybe when they see the results more people will catch onto this winter sowing thing.
I love the idea. No more waiting for the right time to sow seeds outside or planting inside then potting them up then waiting for the right time to set them out. I use the gallon milk jugs (no cap) with about 2" of top soil then add about 2" of potting soil add the seeds then set the jug in a tray of water. The water soaks up a bit from the holes I have drilled in the bottom of the jugs and out side they go (into the snow )

LoraB, if you add some of those polymer moisture crystals to your potting mix, the shallower containers will work fine. I did this and had pretty good success last year sowing in salad takeout containers, which held 1-2 inches of potting mix. I did have to water them every day or two when the weather got warm & sunny (I opened their lids too), but since I had them in shallow cardboard boxes, it was easy to spray water from the hose to water them from the bottom (the boxes would fill with 1/4 to 1/2 inch of water, and by the time the water drained the containers had soaked up a good amount through their bottom holes).

that's a good idea Jill!