How is your winter sowing coming along?

I am winter sowing in spurts. Almost all my poppies, shasta daisies, foxgloves, and hollyhocks from Jan 31st sowing have sprouted. Now I am doing a lot of others: delphiniums, iris, larkspur, primrose, etc. In the Mid Atlantic region how long should I wait to sow the annuals?

We're building a new home and so are only doing vegetables this year. Here's some of what I'll be sowing at the end of Feburary :)

Dea

My winter sowing last year was such a dismal failure that I decided against it this year. Especially since we've had such atypical weather, I didn't want to chance early germination and then having to bring everything into the house. Oh, what I'd give sometimes for a greenhouse! :)

Wintersown jugs with freshly fallen snow!

At least you won't have to water them when the temps rise this week ;)

Dea

You're right, Dea, but we may need to build an ark!

I have so many seeds left, I can resow if necessary. Tonight I think I will plant echinaceas and who knows what else. My dining table is convered with all kinds of sowing paraphanalia. I feel that things will survive.

Not to worry...they will be fine! How much snow did you get Gloria?

Hardly any! Richmond seems to be somewhat cursed when it comes to weather. The rain most frequently goes to the northeast of us, stops just south of us, or coming from the east stops short of us. So goes it with the snow. The problem is that we have drought when a lot of the state does't.

Hi, I've been lurking for a while, but recently decided to take the plunge and start posting!
I winter sowed as well, I've had most come up already!
For indoors, I do have a small portable greenhouse (3 tiers bought at Big Lots) But only two small grow lights! I have started lots of seeds, veggies and flowers because I want to sell some to raise money to work on my house! (I can hope! LOL)
My problem... I have lots groing and only a little of light! What can I do to keep them from getting Leggy??

You need more light! #1 reason for leggy plants which are not going to have strong enough stems for when you put them out in the ground. Get some double shop light fixtures pronto with a cool bulb in one side and warm bulb in the other (or some say just two cool ones are all you need). I put mine no more than 6 inches above the plants (some put them higher, whatever works for you) and I am able to raise them as the plants grow. This will quickly solve the leggy problem if they aren't too far stretched out already.

-gert

Edited to say: Welcome to posting on DG! Jump on in with any questions! I know you will also find more with lighting help on the propagation forum http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/572148/ for a thread where they talk about only needing cool white bulbs rather than a warm and cool one. I've done it both ways and haven't noticed a difference except where cost is involved. We can point you in other directions also for more info if needed!

This message was edited Feb 13, 2006 12:49 PM

Funny...I set aside 20 or so milk jugs but the garden gnomes have not stopped by in the middle of the night to fill them with potting soil and seeds. I guess if I am going to winter sow anything this year I guess I am going to have to do the work myself. ;-)

Actually I might end up passing this year. It is very likely that I will be moving to a new house in the spring (as long as the housing market cooperates). Last year was my first year winter sowing and I had great success. I only sowed 25 or so milk jugs, but ended up with lots of plants for my garden and to share. Caring for all the little seedlings was more work than I expected, but I was really impressed with how fast most of the plants took off once they got planted in the ground.

Here is a photo album showing a bunch of my winter sowing successes: http://www.flickr.com/photos/novaguy/sets/592058/

- Brent

Fantastic wintersown plants, Brent! Good luck with your move. Are you staying in the Mid-Atlantic area?

I have a lot of seedlings up. They're mostly prairie plants so I hope they're hardy enough to stand the cold snap we're having. On vendor just sent me a batch I had forgotten about so got them into trays this weekend. I hope there's enough cold weather left to germinate the ones that want cold stratification.

I am so behind wintersowing, but finally getting some out on the deck. Turns out it was for the best since we are getting this cold spell now.

I wintersowed WAY too many containers last year, I'm just going to do what I can use in my garden. I still have some 05 wintersown babies outside now still waiting to be planted out. Also starting on getting my indoor lights set up, have big plans for germinating some of the perennials indoors (albeit the garage) this year.

I had great luck last year with grow lights in my attic. I admit that I went overboard and started some things WAY to early, but it was my first try and I was very excited. By the middle of April my husband was scared to go up there, like something out of Little Shop of Horrors....but I learned A LOT. This year I have just started some Johnny Jump Ups, Lady Lavender, hot peppers and mother of thyme (to grow around flagstones in the patio i just made.) In a few weeks I can start more 4oclocks (loved em' last year) tomatoes and such, then I can do the zinnias, cosmos, sunflowers and the like. I've got the pre-sprouting jitters (what if nothing grows??!) but I guess thats normal. Last year I didn't know what I was doing, and I still managed to start a darn rainforest in my attic, so I gueass I should have some faith eh? A friend wants me to start some Asclepias Incarnata (swamp milkweed) for her too. I hope it works out, never tried it (or SEEN it to tell the truth), but the picture looks nice! Also, how soon can I direct sow spinach, radishes and cool weather veggies? I'm in a microclimate of zone 8a...but I'm scared to start too early...it's still a bit chilly here. Good luck to all, I can't wait to see everyone's pictures of there gardens this year, and to post my own!

I fall into that same category too anxious too soon, so this year I am determined to wait to start any seedlings until at least this weekend!

Anyone found promix around town? I was a great product I used for wintersowing and seedlings last year. The HD that had it last year doesn't seem to be carrying it this year. Anyone else found it around town?

A couple places to check...

There is an out of the way nursery that I do not know the name of...I just found out about it last year. It is in Sterling near Claude Moore Park on Maries Drive. They have the large bale of Pro Mix for $25. I am not sure if they are open this time of year.

There is another small nursery that was setup near the corner of Route 7 and Barron Cameron Ave. It is in the South West corner near the gas station. There have been a handful of markets set up there over the years but this one looked like they have a permanent store. They had various bags of Pro Mix. Again...not sure if they are open this time of year.

- Brent

It sounds like I am really behind the eight ball.

I just set up my growlight and shelving YESTERDAY. I did put up some some bareroot that I picked up at HD. So far I have echinechea, stella d'oro, and rudbeckia. I also potted some elephant ears, and calladiums.

What I really want is geraniums. I love having them in window boxes, and I want to line our walkway with them. I don't know if I will have time for them to grow this year if I plant them this week. The problem is that if I have to pay $3-4 a pop for plants, its going to cost a fortune.

I probably am going to order some geranium seeds tonight from Burpee since I haven't seen any nearby.

Anybody experiencing REALLY slow growth? I started my Early girls and Roma on March 12....so late compared to all of you:-) and some still don't have second leaves????????????Help!
Deb

Not to worry! They will grow a 2nd set of leaves when the temps warm up and stay consistant.