Sun or shade? Water?

I've never tried winter sowing before, but I'm excited to do it this winter.

I have some questions I couldn't readily find answers to on this site (though I know they are buried here somewhere):

Does it matter if I put my containers in the sun or shade outside? I have a lot more shade than sun, but I am assuming that seeds that need light to germinate will do better in the sun. And that once the seeds germinate, they will need light to thrive.

And I gather I should not stack the containers for the same reason.

I figure I'll need to locate a table to put them on to avoid my dogs and/or kids trampling them, especially when it snows and the containers are invisible.

Last question: Do you water at all before the days get warm, say 50 degrees? The less I have to check them containers, the happier I will be . . . . . but I don't want the seedlings to perish for lack of water.

Welcome happy_macomb from another Maryland gardener and Winter Sower!!! I grew up in Bethesda, so I'm quite familiar with your area.

I would find a place that receives morning sun/afternoon shade and is away from where the dogs and children play. Otherwise, the containers will be knocked over and stepped on accidently. Yes, you will need to water them daily in this hot weather. It helps if you add polymer crystals to the soil mix, which needs to be at least 4" deep. Anything less will dry out to quickly! Unfortunately, you learn some hard lessons from experience. The majority of seeds need sunlight in order to germinate properly, therefore, stacking your containers is not advisable. Once the days get cooler and the night time temps drop to around 50 degrees, you probably will not need to water daily. However, you still want to check your containers on a regular basis to make sure the soil is still moist.

Hope to see you a lot more around D.G.!

Thanks so much, Shirley! I wasn't planning to plant the seeds until after Christmas, so I was hoping I could mostly forget them for the winter months. . . . .

I don't know if I have a spot with morning sun and afternoon shade. I'll have to scope out the patio.

Happy, I think they'll do good in just bright light. Be more concerned they will not be in a location that will become too warm once it starts to heat up and remember to start opening the lids once germination begins. None of mine will go where there is direct light this year. I lost a few containers that were in morning direct sun.

Even in the Winter, you have to check that the soil in your containers remains moist. That means either watering or precipitation in the form of rain or snow. Letting the containers dry out will kill the seeds.

If you are planning to germinate Hellebores, the seeds should be started now. You'll have to wait longer for germination if started in the Winter.

Good luck!

Thanks! For some reason, I have never developed a love for Hellebores, so planting them early won't be a problem. I know many people adore them. But I want plants that will bloom when I'm outside, and I'm not outside much in the winter so their beauty is kind of lost on me.

We have an old picnic table that is about to fall apart. I'll locate that somewhere safe for the WS containers. I am really eager to do this -- I had no idea this method existed until I read about it on DG!

An old picnic table sounds like it should do the trick. It's high enough off the ground to keep your containers safe. Are you able to move the table or is that to risky?

I can move it with my spouse and kids tagging along!

There you go! Great idea!!

Here is a Wintersowing FAQ list that you may want to look at when you have questions.

http://www.wintersown.org/wseo1/FAQs.html

It helped me a lot when I was starting.

One of the big ideas with WSing is the carefree nature of the process. I think if you prepare your containers with the appropriate ventilation and moisture slits, in general, they should be OK through late winter and early spring.

When it starts getting warm out you will have to check them from time to time, especially if you have them in full sun. I have mine in 'bright shade' just for that reason--they don't dry out as quickly...

I liked her idea of purchasing a hose sprinkler timer for watering seed flats during hot spells in spring or using a kiddie pool--

http://www.wintersown.org/wseo1/Moisture_and_Watering.html




This message was edited Aug 31, 2006 10:22 PM

Thanks so much! I've really studied the www.wintersown.org site -- it is very helpful. It is amazing to me that for all the years I've been gardening, I had never heard of winter sowing until someone at DG directed me to it. I wonder what other surprises DG holds for me?

happy_m,
Me too. I'd never heard of it, and now I'm all excited to try it.

My subscription to DG has vastly exceeded my expectations.

w

Winging -- I completely agree.

I am hooked on DG, too. When we moved here (to Cincy) two years ago I thought I would take up a little gardening and now I have become hooked on it! There is so much to learn and so many ideas being shared here.

And I love wintersowing. I could never get a seed started properly before!

And with wintersowing there are so many 'exotic' plant varieties to try.

I'm with you. I used to boast that I couldn't grow perennials from seed - now I can't wait! And I know I should be saving seeds from the flowers that are making pods, but that can wait until next year... maybe.

xxxxx, Carrie

Wintersowing is the perfect cure for the "winter time blues"!

I agree Shirley! I put all my containers on my stone patio - it has a southern exposure and I had great germination results!

My best advise would be to do it...don't sweat the details...and enjoy all the plants. You might make a few "mistakes" and you will learn some lessons but you will likely end up with more plants than you can possibly use in your own garden.

Here is a link with some pictures of my wintersowing adventures. I just added a few pictures taken this year and many of my plants started Jan/Feb 2005 are now HUGE!!. http://www.flickr.com/photos/novaguy/sets/592058/

BTW, don't use the shallow tins shown sitting on the deck in the picture below.

- Brent

Brent,
love those pictures! whoever has it all on excel files is a little intimidating. yours are more like what I feel I might be able to accomplish.

xxxx, Carrie

Brent: Beautiful pictures of your wintersown successes! I love Mirabilis jalapa too! I think it is one of my favorites this year.

Is that a "For Sale" sign on your front yard? I hope your house sells quickly and the people that buy it will appreciate your beautiful gardens!

Brent.....how did those plastic cups hold up for you? And thanks for showing the picture of the milk jugs....I was wondering if I should leave the caps on or off.....lol. Now I know!

The plastic cups worked okay...I went through a huge pack of them from Costco...they were a bit tippy and the roots tended to circle when they hit the bottom. I ran into the landscapers at my office while they were bedding out annuals and I scored a bunch of 4" pots. Those have worked better.

Yep..."for sale"...still!

- Brent

Hi Brent,
How did the flat containers do with the clear lids for you, What are they 2" deep? Any problem with the roots? I have a few of those and the round ones that salads came in. But mostly gal jugs and 3" pots up to the gal size pots? Any suggestions on what seeds should be planted in what, or does it matter???

Connie

I think I had one "did not sprout" failure with the milk jugs and two with the shallow containers. That is quite a difference considering that I did over 20 milk jugs and only 4 of the containers. It seemed like the shallow containers were either soaking wet or bone dry. I will not use them again for winter sowing.

- Brent

Brent, did your milk jugs go topless all winter long ??

I'm leaning toward that method of wintersowing this year and am curious how others have faired.

~Julie =0)

If I put my seeds in a milk jug or any other type of container and store in my green house, do they have to be covered with a lid?

Julie: Yes topless...if you are referring to the small milk jug cap. That lets some rain or snow in. I am here on the edge of zone 7, so my winters are a bit milder than yours, but I am pretty sure that is what most people do.

- Brent

froggie, I think I got this right, I am sure if I am wrong someone will let me know :o)

my understanding is if you put them in a greenhouse, you don't put the top part of the jugs on them and you have to water them... The whole purpose of putting in milk jugs and tops (w/ slits for drainage) on (minus the little lid and w/ a few slits in the top to.) is to make individual greenhouses with the whole/slits in the top for the snow and rain and air to pretty much do all the work for you... if using pots, you cover them with plastic (w/slits in it) leaving room for growth, you just have to check them to make sure they are doing ok..
http://www.wintersown.org
this site, really explains it so much better than me. cg

thanks I will give it a spin. When can I start winter sowing?

Usually from what I have read from others, they start somewhere between Dec 21st to January.
The link I put in the last post is a site that explains all about winter sowing...

My thought and question I guess would be, which seeds you would start first. Are there some that need to be started in Dec to others that would need to be started say January or even February??? I think there are some seeds that need a longer germination period? and some that need shorter?

Could someone please clairfy this for me :o)

Connie

Brent, or anyone who has WS, can you tell me how you watered your containers please. Did you take off the lids on each one, or did you water from the bottom?

Donna

froggie: An excellent place to start learning all about wintersowing is at http://www.wintersown.org The majority of your questions will be answered on this website.

Hi Donna: If Mother Nature does not provide the moisture through rain or snow, I watered with a hose because I had a LOT of containers last year. I watered them from the top because it is the fastest & easiest way. It really depends on each individual's preference, either a watering can or hose. No need to take the lids off until the sprouts are large enough...usually in early Spring time (it will vary with each variety). The containers with lids have holes in them so that the precipitation or water can get through to the seeds. The holes at the bottom of your containers will provide the drainage. Hope this helps.

I was kinda planning to make the "respiration" holes in the top big enough so rain or snow could get in to counteract evaporation. I was hoping to be able to go to Puerto Rico or Cancun for vacation or, who am I kidding, the grocery store, without worrying about these little guys.

xxxx, Carrie

Carrie,

The respiration holes can be expanded as the seedlings grow. Eventually, you'll be cutting off the "head" of the container because your sprouts will have grown so BIG! They should be fine if you're just going to your local grocery store....you sure shop in some exotic places! :~)

Seriously, Shirley, I don't feature myself going out to check on these things until the outside temps warm up. It can be really cold for a really long time up here. And there can be lots of snow and ice between me and the patio table.

x, Carrie

Typically we have enough snow that I probably won't even be able to see my containers they will be buried. I plan to leave the jug tops open. But in the event that there isn't that much snow and it's freezing cold outside is it healthy to water them.... I mean won't it hurt the seeds to "ice" up into little blocks. I guess I envision the snow acting as sort of a "blanket" of insulation where as soil with water on it will freeze up icey. I know that doesn't make sense sorry....

~Julie

The potting mix in your containers will be wet when you put them outside. They'll freeze and you can ignore them until the weather warms up. If there is a freaky warm spell in January, say, and it lasts for several days you might check them. But they probably won't dry out if it's reasonably cold outside. In spring they dry up quickly in the warm temperatures and you will have to check and water frequently if there is no rain.

I usually watered with a pump sprayer set on a fine mist if they didn't seem to need a whole lot of moisture. The wand could be inserted through the top opening and misted. When the weather was warmer, I bottom watered them.

Karen

PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT YOUR CONTAINERS OF SOIL HAVE PLENTY OF MOISTURE (WATER DRAINS OUT THE BOTTOM) AFTER YOU HAVE SOWN THE SEEDS & BEFORE PUTTING THEM OUTSIDE!

Gardeners in the Northern areas of the country are very lucky to have adequate snow fall to help keep their seeded containers moist. Yes, adequate snow fall will act like a blanket of insulation. The constant freezing & thawing is exactly what is needed to break open the hard seed coats and let germination begin. As Karen stated, you probably won't have to worry about your containers until the Spring, unless you do not receive adequate moisture from Mother Nature. Obviously this will vary in different parts of the country.

My hose has a nozzle where I am able to adjust the flow, so that I am able to give my containers a fine spray of water. I hard spray of water may dislodge some of the seeds.

Our one big snowfall for last Winter (it was gone in a few days). The seeded containers are nestled under a blanket of snow.

Hmmm, we don't usually get snow and very few hard freezes here - but I've only spent one winter here. I'll probably have to water more than the Northerners then. Better check the hose length before I establish the site on the deck...maybe down in the weed patch might be closer to the water source and still get morning sun, afternoon shade.

Just when I think I have it all down....LOL!

~Sunny