I finally found sprouts!!! Yesterday I found the tiniest little sprouts of Dianthus! There are also two sprouts of Scabiosa. Still nothing else, but this is the beginning of something great! I was ready to do the happy dance right thru my front yard!
They are calling for snow tonight and the next few days, but I'm not worried too much. We also just got hit by some hail. I've read that melting snow is good for ws, so any idea on melting hail? LOL
Heather
Congratulations, heathrjoy!
How did you ever cut those perfect little rectangles in the jugs? Boy, you sure are a lot neater than I am!
Karen
Doin' a happy germination dance for you, heathrjoy!
We had a powerful thunderstorm, 40 mph winds and hail come through our region last evening. ALL the ws containers came through like troopers! Not one even blown over!! Hail/ice will melt and provide your ws seedlings with lots of moisture....so NOT to worry!
Do tell, how did you cut those perfect little rectangles in your jugs? Did you use an exacto knife and a template?
Heather,
Doing lots of dancing for you here! So glad that you have reported sprouts I have been watching for your happy post!
Michelle
Thanks for sharing in my dance!! :) LOL
I used a wood burning tool to melt/cut the holes in my containers. I was just telling someone about this and now I can't find where I was telling them. Anyway, it's fun to do, but it can be stinky from the plastic melting...but I think it was so worth it. I tried cutting one container and got so frustrated with it! I try to cut them when no one else is home, or burn lots of candles to cover up the smell. It goes pretty fast. I also keep a wet paper towel on hand in case the melted plastic builds up on the tip (then it smokes badly). You can also use a soldering iron, but they usually belong to the DH, so don't get caught!! I found the wood burner much easier to use than the soldering iron.
Hope that helps! I know Wal-Mart sells wood burners and I think they are pretty cheap. I used the tip that is angled on both sides and almost comes to a point, but I think almost any tip would work.
Have fun!! :)
I just used a good sized drill bit on my cordless drill. It went really fast, and no smell, smoke or singed fingers.
YAY, Heather!!!!!
I finally found a few sprouts in some of my columbine containers this week, so I'm doing the happy dance here too... boy, 18 different containers with columbine seeds (a good portion of my wintersowing effort), and no sprouts, I was getting discouraged..... but now there are just a couple of teeny little sprouts and I'm just thrilled!
A lot of my containers have columbine and dianthus. I'm still waiting for columbine sprouts here, but hopefully by next week. We did get our snow for a couple days and it sure was cold again, so I haven't gotten out to check things, but I will as soon as it warms up which may be tomorrow! :)
Don't worry, I'll post as soon as I see more sprouts!!
I have more sprouts in my dahlia containers -even the ones outside. the 2 nights of below freezing temps and ice and snow didn't faze them at all. And here's a note for the journal. I sowed Cerinthe major 'Blue Kiwi' and had set the 4" pots into a solid plastic dish with no holes by mistake, and then bagged it all up. They were actually standing in water. They were nicely germinated with the first set of baby leaves in that sopping wet soil. The ones in my garage that have been drier and warmer are not so far along - just starting to unfurl.
In my garden I am finally getting to more of the leaves in the beds and uncovered some little tiny Winky Red and White Columbine seedlings just poking out of the soil with 1 dark purple leaf each. Now I'll be interested to see if they are true to the parent. I've tried and tried to get other columbine to come true from seed and never works.
heather: I really like your diagonal windows in your container, but personally I would worry about inhaling the fumes from the melting plastic. I don't want to worry you, but I would not continue to use any instrument that melts plastic. I worry that dioxins, which are carcinogenic, are contained in plastics. It's always best to be safe than sorry.
alyrics: When grown from seed, I would assume that your Columbine's are hybrids and therefore look a bit different than the parent plant. Perhaps soft stem cuttings would work better, if you wanted exact duplication.
More sprouts to report! Now I'm really dancing!! Whoo hoo!! :)
Hosta, Johnny Jump Ups, more Dianthus, and Poppies. My Delphiniums are getting the little white curls on the ends of the seeds, so in a day or two they'll be actual sprouts. The Rose of Sharon and Clematis both look like they are going to explode anytime soon, so I'm expecting them to be sprouts soon too.
Here's a question for everyone...is it just my containers or does everyone else's seeds get uncovered over the winter too? I remember being so careful to cover each seed as it was supposed to be covered and now I can see them all....except for the Hollyhock and Datura. I know it's from the rain, but I'm wondering why I bothered being so careful? As long as they germinate and grow well, it doesn't matter.
I'm just so excited about all of this!! I think I may even ws or ss (spring sow) some more this week. And what a good use of last year's soil this is! All smiles here! :) :) :) :)
BTW, Shirley, thank you for your concern, I really do appreciat that. Now that it is a bit warmer maybe I can melt my stuff outside. Believe it or not, I think using the melting method is safer for me than using a utility knife. I also don't think that a little bit of melted plastic is going to do me in, after all of the other things I've been around and done in my life, melting plastic is not high on my worry list.
Heather
Heather,
Congrats on your new sprouts! I have lots of action as well. Managed to sow 10 more containers today and I hope to finish up the remaining this week about another 20 or so.
I plant all my seeds on the top of the soil and gently press in. They all rise to the top. Most seeds you don't need to cover at all because they need light to germinate. The really big seeds I push down a little farther but they always manage to rise to the top of the soil eventually.
Michelle
Thanks Michelle, it's good to know I didn't mess anything up. It's actually kind of nice to be able to see the seeds, to watch what they are doing and how they are progressing...that way if there's no sprouts yet you at least know what's going on w/ them.
Heather,
That is exactly how I feel about it too. Things seem to be sprouting early for me this year. I have Aster Lilliput Moon that are sprouting already. Last year they did show any signs until the first part of May. Also my Heliopsis "Lorraine Sunshine" are so fat they should explode into sprouts any day now. It certainly has been a great year so far for germination. The only problem now is where will I put all of these plants. Time to dig up some more lawn!
Michelle
LOL, Michelle. One problem I don't have this year is where to put everything! We built a huge retaining wall last year but didn't get it planted. My only problem is deciding what goes where and actually having enough to fill in all the space! I never thought I'd have too much room...be careful what you wish for!!! ;~P
