lessons learned for next year #5

Ok I will try again the last one didn't make it.

This is a continuation from #4

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/779338/#new

I like prepping my containers as part of the whole w/s production. It allows enough time for the water to drain from the soil.

I think I am going to start scrounging milk jugs from the blue recycle boxes early Friday mornings . . . I hope no one phones the cops about the crazy bag lady!

New to gardening, but already obsessed. I hate that we had are first frost today, just means winter is around the corner and my outside gardening will soon be over. I need something to get me through the winter. Read a few post ons winter sowing, do you know a good source for the basic how-tos of winter sowing?

Michael
(West Norriton, PA - Zone 6b)

Seandor, Here it is illegal to take things from the blue recycling boxes. The money the city gets for them helps pay for the pick up. So be careful it is hard to winter sow in a cell.

Right! I don't want to be deported for lifting smelly, used milk jugs! I will have to ask the neighbours if it is okay for me to take them - then maybe I will be off the hook.

Better yet ask them to give them to you before they go out.

Michael ~ visit http://wintersown.org, Trudi's site for wintersowing,process, seed collecting, germination, etc. They will also send you free seeds to get started. Of course, here you can ask questions galore and receive great advice, encouragement and loads of gardening fun!!

Seandor,

I have a small rubbermaid tub I keep in a discreet location in my yard. At Christmas, I always put a little note in with the cards I give my neighbors and friends. I tell them I would be happy to have any plastic milk jugs, and plastic flower pots they want to donate to the bin. We use very little milk, so I never seem to have any gallon jugs. They have hundreds of uses. I always end up with several jugs and flower pots by spring. So ask the neighbors, and let them know what you are collecting. Never hurts to ask, and this is a good way to make friends in the neighborhood.

Thank you garden6!

Michael - I will have tons of seeds I can share with you and other newbies. Give me a bit to get organized, then sometime during the winter, I will post an offer to newbies for seeds. Newbies will have them in lots of time to winter sow.

This is my way of passing a favour forward. Last year good DG members sent me seeds to get started :-)

Seandor -- that would be great. Thanks for the kind offer.

I'll read up on winter sowing. Just one more question: When should I start winter sowing in zone 6b?

Well, I was winter sowing from Decemeber through March :-)

Click on this link

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

then click on Zone 6 germination record - you will get an idea of when people planted stuff and how successful they were :-)

I'm wondering if the soda (pop) cups from fast food places would work if I poke holes in the bottom and keep the thin plastic lids that the straw goes through. With lots of teens in the neighborhood, I'm sure I could get lots of these. Are they too tall? I feel like this will keep me from going nuts this winter!

Cathy, I'm not an expert, but I think that usage of those soda pop cups for WS would depend on having enough depth for your soil (at least 4 inches for proper root development) and enough "clarity" of the material for light to get through to the seeds. Totally opaque cups might not provide this. Also, there needs to be enough height above the soil line for the new seedlings to grow up some before you remove the lid when the weather warms up in the spring.
What are the exact dimensions of the cups?

This message was edited Oct 30, 2007 5:01 AM

I have one sample cup, it is 7 inches tall, almost 3 inches at the bottom and 4 inches at the top. Some light does go through it, but it is not clear. It is white except for some brand marks on the outside.

just make sure light can get in. I know that people use ice cream tubs and aluminum containers. Since the top area is large, enough light gets through - just keep that in mind.

The first time I did winter sowing I tried several types of containers. All that would hold at least 4" of soil. If they weren't tall enough to give the seedlings growing room I put a baggie on them as a dome. I have gotten to the point that this winter I will use only gallon milk jugs. They work best for me.

Here is a good example of how tall they can get. Some are even taller before it is time to put them out.

wow - i got pretty far behind on this thread....

as for milk jugs, i only get about 1 per week, we don't consume a lot - and i only rinse with hot water ... I'll add a bit of soap if it stinks already, but usually i get to it quick enough.

I sometimes cut the jugs with a box cutter, or i use this lil paring knife, that cuts thru like butter. works great. I have yet to find a good way to do the holes in the bottom.... DH does NOT like it when i use his tools.
For a while i was using a "hot poker" thing, heating it on the stove (gas range) and making the holes... but we had that long discussion about toxic fumes, and i stopped.

Michael -- I too have a lot of seeds. I need to update my "haves" list. Want any morning glories?? LOL... i have hundreds of GrandPa Ott. (purple flowers)

Terese

lol re long discussion...i have had some of those too but it usually was along the line of cutting a limb off (one of mine or even an innocent bystander) :-)

Terese -- Thank you for the offer. I think I'll pass on the morning glories. I will however check out your "haves" list. I am new to gardening and don't usually grow anything from seed -- but I'd like to start. Buying plants from nurseries can get expensive. I don't have any seeds to trade at this time -- I don't even know how to "harvest" them properly. Boy do I have a lot to learn.

Zen, your picture sure helped me decide, I'll go looking for the 2 liter bottles and big juice jars. How exciting to get plants that size without paying the nursery!

New question: can I put in the dirt and put them in place outside now, without the seeds?

Michael.... I'll try to get to my "haves" list a bit later today... and last year was my first year WS'ing, and due to the total generosity of the good folks willing to send seeds - I now have plants i'd never even heard of before. (though some do not bloom the first year)

I did purchase a few seed packets, but probably 70% came from good folks.

as for harvesting... once you know what to look for, with the seeds -- it's pretty easy.

I go on walks snatching dead flower heads so i can get seeds... my Dh thinks I'm nuts... but heck, seeds are seeds.

I'm with you tcs1368. Many, many of my plants this year came from very generous DG members - some even came from Ireland!

So now I collect seeds, and expect to share them with others.

my farthest location was Spain.

>>So now I collect seeds, and expect to share them with others.

same here. always willing to share with new comers. spread the wealth kinda thing.

tcs1366,

Get yourself a good icepick. It does the job of poking holes in the bottom of milk jugs.

Cathy

I don't know why you couldn't do that, but it would mean bringing them in and warming them up before you used them so you could work with them.

Like Terese said it really is nice to have some gardening to do in the middle of winter.

The only place I have to work inside is at the kitchen sink, I was trying to have a way to not drag potting soil into the house, I'm a messy potter (weak hands), I end up with as much on the counter, floor and me as what ends up in the pots. Maybe I'll experiment and do both ways. Thanks for the help.

cathy -- I too work at the kitchen sink.

now that i think about it, it would be easier to take out all my containers, bags of soil, some water (or use the hose) and do it all on the back patio that can be hosed down afterwards. .... hmmm, guess you wouldn't need the water until you add the seeds.

tcs, I have a couple of those plastic small size folding end tables that I use during nice weather outside on our patio since I work in a chair, would love a potting bench but it would have to be on wheels, shade in the summer (delicate skin), sunny in the winter. Does anyone know if I put the potting soil bags in a black trash can in the sun and protected from the wind, if it wouldn't freeze? We have a lot of warm/cold cycles here most winters. If it's freezing, I wouldn't be out there anyway, lol.

It seems that if there is no moisture in it there wouldn't be anything to freeze. I store flour in the freezer and it just gets cold not hard.

I'm going to throw in the monkey wrench. I always wet my potting mix well, stirring and mixing in a big container, then fill the jugs. Wetting them when full could be hard with some potting mixes, especially those with lots of peat which resists wetting. And if put outside wet, they'll freeze. If left inside wet, they can mold.

I use mostly ProMix and get great results, but it is hard to wet initially. I wouldn't do it this far in advance, but that's just my way.

Karen

cathy4,
Regarding your question about using soda cups for containers...

Check out the method that one of DG's members, Pameliap used...she used cups but put them in a large clear plastic sterlite container. Genius, I think ...

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=3299960

Joanne

Joanne, thank you so much, perfect for me.

That would really be a nice way to protect them from being tipped over by the wind.

Yes, I agree. Did she punch drainage holes in the bottom or sides and vent holes in the lid? I'm thinking seriously about getting some of those containers to hold my orange juice cartons.

i like that idea too & want to do that with my daylily seeds

I read her whole thing. They drilled holes in the tops and bottoms and she has them on a bit of a slope so the water drains to the holes in the bottom. I like that it looks neater, and it should keep the dog from wandering through. I'm so excited, guess where I'm headed today, haha.

Is my understanding correct that if you use a large enough container to start you don't have to transplant them until they are ready for the ground?

That's correct. The wintersown container is really no different than a nursery pot. I just recently planted (3 weeks ago) some blackberry lilies that I had winter sown last winter. I still have some daylily seedlings in their winter sown container that I'll plant out within the week.