WS in Florida question

I sent off for seeds from wintersown.org and they came Friday. I checked their site as well as this forum till I'm about crosseyed. LOL Living here in the Florida Panhandle (about 30 miles north of Panama City) should I start about the Winter Solstice? sooner? later? I'm really excited to try this...but...would like some idea as to when to get started here. Thanks!

Welcome Ginger!

This is a link to wintersowing in the "hot" zones. http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/wtrsow/2002074212002118.html

You could also sow seeds that don't need a period of colder temps.
http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/wtrsow/2002064114029680.html

http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/wtrsow/2002081525007281.html

Hope this information helps!

Thank you Shirley, I was wondering the same thing.

Thanks for the links and the welcome to WS.

Darius gave me the heads up on winter sowing and suggested I come take a look. It's definately a lot of information to catch up on.

The sticky was somewhat useful, but it seems this method is more geared for people who live in the frozen winterlands.

Ginger, I checked out those links and unless I am blind and missing it, I still didn't see an answer to your original question, when to plant, before or after the winter solstice?

I am also a bit confused as to the purpose of planting them outside. Because we have such warm days and lots of sunshine during the winter, seeds can germinate and start growing and then freeze and die with a short 4 hour low of 17 degrees.

The stratification rules wouldn't be adhered to since we don't have any concurrent days and nights below 40 degrees for more than a couple days a year. It's my understanding that stratification takes much longer than a couple days of consistent cold.

Can this really work for us here in Fla zone 8b and is there some written information geared exclusively for us?

If this can work, it would be great. I only have 2 grow shelves, 10 feet long in my pump house and I have no greenhouse. Just my orchid house/patio.

ANY information would be greatly appreciated.

Molly
:^))))

I did winter sowing in Zone 9 California last year.

Here's my experience: I started one batch of assorted seeds right after Christmas (around Dec. 28th). These didn't work because temperatures were still fairly mild. Some started to come up too soon, but it was chilly enough that they weren't going to thrive.

I then waited until about the third week of January. This batch was really successful. I sowed around 24 different varieties of seeds using the winter sowing method and probably 85% of the varieties germinated and grew into really healthy plants. The whole process was much easier and less messy than trying to sow indoors and then harden things off. Also, I was able to sow a lot more than I would normally have done.

I will definitely be winter sowing again this year, but will be careful not to jump the gun too soon.

P.S. There were one or two things that needed a more significant cold period than we get here. I put these items in the refrigerator and then moved them outside. These worked well too.

Lilystorm,

Thanks for jumping in here with an answer. I am getting a better picture of "Why wintersow?"

I am in zone 8b and our last frost is on the average 3/15. Maybe waiting another week or two?

I'm still learning here. I jumped from 10b to 8b last December so I have more questions than carter has pills.

Molly
:^))))

Molly, since your zone is colder than mine, I wouldn't worry about shifting the time later. Probably anytime from mid-January to mid-February would be a fine time to start. The frost isn't going to hurt anything. The point of winter sowing is that the seeds know when it's the right time to come up. When it's still cold out, they just wait a little while before emerging.

Good luck!

Lily,

Could you please tell us what type of seeds you WS? Were they annuals or perennials?
Were there any that were blooming by May?

Thanks,
Donna

thanks for answering that question about WHEN to do it.

I did both annuals and perennials. I remember looking at a web site that listed some that winter sow easily. I stayed away from seeds from tropical plants, since they don't want the cold period.

Here are some of the seeds that I successfuly winter sowed:

* Borage 'Alba'
* Nicotania
* Nigella
* Larkspur
* Foxglove
* Nepeta
* Centranthus 'snow cloud'
* Lavatera
* Perennial salvia
* Agastache

It's great to see so many new wintersowers from the "hot zones". The links I posted on 9/24 should give you a very good indication of what can be successfully wintersown in your growing areas.

When should you begin wintersowing in the "hot zones"? There will be a lot of fluctuation in temperatures from zones 8-10, not only in locations, but from year to year too. Also, it depends on what you are sowing. Seeds that need stratification will definitely need to be sown before seeds that don't. Annuals, Tropicals and Semi-Tropical plants love the warm weather, so you'll need to decide when your night time temps stay above the high 50's, maybe even 60's, depending on the seed.

Please post your successes and yes, failures. This is a learning experience for everyone and hopefully more gardeners in the "hot zones" will try wintersowing this year.

Good luck!

Good and helpful info....thanks!

Thanks lilystorm for your list of seeds that you tried. I just might try to WS some seeds this year, but I will have to go through my seeds to see what I can use. lol

Donna