Anything Yet?

I have yet to figure out how to germinate Datura. Do you need a heat mat for those?
I really should give it another GO ... last years WS attempt, yielded nothing.

Maybe it's just a zone thing, or the fact that we've had some unseasonably warm days. I planted them out with the first wave of wintersown things back at the end of November and left them (and prayed...and hovered). Still waiting on the white metel ones that were planted later. Of course they are a loooong way from blooming so no telling what will happen with them, but I am just over the moon that they did anything.
I have a couple of seeds from my noid lt blue dat if you'd like to try again.
Bev

thanks Bev.... but i still have some Whites and i think Purple & White?? that were given to me.

Good luck with them...Hope springs eternal:-)

tcs;
I have a double purple datura, it continues to put out scattered flower(s) for me as of now. (in my basement gh). I planted 3 plants in a wide pot. Some of the seedpods broke open, and spilled the seeds - from there they germinated. I've so many seedlings since Oct. Which I'll just transplant them out when the temp. warms up. That prompted me to think, they don't even need to be burried in soil. For they came up on their own....
Kim

thanks Kim.... I'll see if i cant get something going... just whing it and see what happens.

Terese

I went out to check the 2 milk jugs I have had outside for about a week. Nope. Nothing yet. I have 100 more jugs ready to get going as soon as WS seeds come,but I AM TOO AFRAID to try more out there. This is my first time too!

One is True Lavender and I forgot what the other one is.

I just found two tiny sprouts coming up from my hosta 'Red Hot Flash' x op. How exciting!

Posyblossom: In northern Pa. you most likely won't see a sprout for months, from anything. Only the southerners will see them so early. Us northerners must wait a looong time. I'm in Cincinnati, SW Ohio and it will be a while. This is good, because we have to worry about early seedlings when freezing weather returns.

It's hard to be patient when others are getting sprouts. But, now in my 3rd year of wintersowing, I pray for NO early sprouts. It increases the survival rate of seedlings a lot. Many (most?) hardy perennials would be fine if they germinate early, but most of them take a long time to sprout. Hardy annuals like poppies, bachelor buttons, and larkspur will do well too. But anything more sensitive to the cold would be doomed.

Our time will come, just later.

Karen

Thanks Karen.

That is reassuring. It is exactly what I needed to hear to keep ws moving forward. I found myself afraid they would sprout,then disappointed when they didn't.

The other container has 4th of July Rose seed in it. That is a long shot too as is the Lavender. They both have a long germination period,but I felt panic just the same.

I am going to put Poppies out today then. I just keep delaying as it still seems strange to me to have seeds out in their sheltered spot,in containers, and the weather won't kill the seeds off. I love the concept and will probably drive myself to distraction with this whole process till I get the hang of it,not to mention bothering everyone here☺

LU

Lu: We all have the same doubts the first year. Poppies are a good choice. They can germinate fast, at low temperatures. They'll probably be very early sprouters for you, giving you some needed assurance. After germinating they'll tolerate the cold, in fact, they seem to prefer it to heat.

In my first year mine sprouted early and I planted them out into beds around early April I think. My last frost date is Mid May.

This picture is from 2 years ago, March 3.

I can't wait to see if mine do that Karen. I just popped those Poppie seeds outside for ws.

Our last frost danger is late May,the local nursery always will say "don't plant till after Mother's Day....he would be so upset when folks would plant too early and then blame him when the plants failed.

Thanks again. I feel much more confident now. It was so fun to put out that container just now☺

LU

Lu: Another flower that will act the same is bachelor buttons. They'll also germinate early, at low temperatures, and not be bothered by the cold. Another fun one in your first year.

Heck they're always fun. I sowed some last night :-)

Karen

kqcrna, Lu; you two share alot of helpful lessons for us gardeners in the the South. Cool-loving annual/perennials such as Larkspur, poppies and other do well being wintersowed. Down South, if we don't get those out in early Fall. The heat wave hits us about April, and all could be a lost crop. Thanks for sharing.
Kim

Wow Kim! All this help to understand how to do it better,well,it doesn't get any better than this. I have learned more here than the sites I've visited and trying to get it right on my own has lead to many a disaster.I have never been this aware of the Zone differences before either and what it really means. Thanks for all the sharing from everyone and not just the seeds☺

Todays sneak peek shows lots of red poppies, 3 tiger tomato and 2 baby beefsteak seedlings.

** zone envy **

Oh you lucky,lucky duck , Syrumani! Beefsteak.It takes practically all summer to get those kind of tomatoes in our zone,but oh how I love Brandywine Tomatoes☺

Posy -- i snuck mine out early May last year, and luckily the weather held out... you know how we can get that cold snap in May... but i recall having a few beefsteaks in July. it was great... i may try it again this year too.
but you are right... sniff sniff... our season is so much shorter for tomatoes.

tcs1366, you have my utmost admiration to ever have gotten any kind of beefsteak tomatoes in July in zone 5a, I don't care how lucky you were with the weather☺

I gave up even trying because I have tried everything over the years and couldn't get those beefsteaks in July. In fact, I'm lucky to have any by the end of August some years. Then I start the big battle with the darn slugs. Boy I hate those slimy things,eating round hole in my tomatoes.......sigh and triple sniff...........

Last year we just got lucky and had no cold weather in May... the year before we had a devastating frost - and that year i didnt get my tomatoes out until early june... but one of DH's friends [hes a nitwit] planted out 75, yes 75!! tomato plants and lost them ALL.

I know i started my seeds early... it was the first time i did seeds in the house.... so they were big enough to get them out early May. I was very pleased... so much so, i will attempt it again this year. I do recall a few nights i had to cover them with "spent" WS milk jugs on cooler nights... but they did just fine.

our approx last frost date is mid-may

Hmmm, never thought about the slugs.. i've had tomatoes with holes, and wasn't sure what was doing that .... i'll keep a better eye out for them.... with my ammonia spray bottle in hand.

I didn't know ammonia would work for slugs. Thank You! I will douse them with some too☺HAHA! I have done some nitwit things in the past, but your DH"s friend must hold the record for nitwiting☺☺

yes... i do a 10:1 ratio with water.... works like a charm... ya see them start to shrivel right before your eyes... learned that in the Hosta Forum.

Lily_Love said she has a way to get them too! I wonder if that is what she uses?

I found one on a Brug in my basement,the slimeball. He must have come in with some dirt. I squashed him,but it was disturbing to see that little round hole on some of the new stem growth.

This so great,learning all this know-how from DGers. I love it☺

OH.. if you just did a search on Slugs in here... you'd be amazed on the ways that folks get rid of them.

I will do a search,thanks☺

If you see one, you can just squish it- it just squishes to nothing very easily. But much more effective than catching and killing them singly is to bait them. I start treating all my beds in early spring, as soon as the soil temp is 40 degrees. The trick is to poison and kill a lot of them before they start laying eggs and making more slimy babies.

Sluggo and Escar-go are my good friends. Without them I don't think I'd be left with one seedling. And very little of the product is needed. I usually treat a few times in spring. Once the summer comes and the soil dries (understatement of the year), and seedlings grow a little, they aren't much of a problem.

Karen

I'll get some Karen. I have been getting more and more every year and this past year they really did a job on the tomatoes. I just hate using anything to kill anything,but I was overrun with them last year so thanks again, I'll try some of your good friends☺.

Karen,

how far away do you put your Escar-Go?

my hosta bed is quite narrow, 20" or so ... and I'm not real sure where to sprinkle this stuff. I got the Sluggo last year, and i honestly do not think it made a difference.

I like to salt the suckers, reminds me of the wicked witch of the west, I'm melting, I'm melting!

I had good results with hosta last year. They weren't hole-free, but much better than previous years. If you treat in early spring, when new growth is just starting to emerge, you'll be able to get pretty close without having it touch the foliage. You should be able to treat several times before the leaves are drooping downward enough to be a problem. Start treating when soil temp is 40 degrees, and treat the whole area lightly. It works well.

Last fall I decided those hosta just weren't pretty enough to be worth the problem. They're history now- only one hosta remains. (I hope, time will tell). There are too many flowers out there for those things to tie up my available plant real estate.

So many plants, so little time.

Karen

DS and I went out to do 6 more containers, and I ran out of potting soil! There was enough to do the 4" in each container, but not enough to do the thin layer on top. So I used my african violet soil. I guess that is a sign that there will be no more WS containers for me! 25 containers, and some of them have 2 seed types.

I have calendula coming up like crazy. So exciting...What's next??

**zone envy **

Awww, tcs...Your time will come around:-) We're getting a bit of snow today.

yea... i know, i was talking to DH about that.... here, chicago area... we have NO snow.

I'd take 2' of powder over this frigid temp stuff....

That's crazy...I'd have thought you'd be underneath snow by now. My mil is in the Canton NY area and doesn't have much either.

around here.... [upper mid west] Wisconsin is getting it all.
but then -- a lot of their state was in a drought last year... so they could use it.

We had extreme drought here as well. I'll take the rain anytime! Or snow!

serious zone envy - below freezing for the next week!

now how do I turn off the italics? lol