winter sowing in flats

15 years ago

A first, I winter sowed some seeds in flats today. Most are old: New Zealand spinach, lobelia, kale, cosmos, nasturtiums, shasta daisy, geranium, alyssum, and anethum. Because the seed was old, I sowed generously. I used flats because, we get deposit refunds on most containers. Milk jugs will be $0.40 in July.

The soil was moist so should I water and should I cover the flat to prevent evaporation in an unheated greenhouse. Temperatures will get over 20C (~70F) during the day.

Also, I had some little potatoes that had 1 to 2 ft sprouts; so I planted them in a 5 gal. container and put it in the basement. I don't think that counts as winter sowing.

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Comments (8)

kqcrna
15 years ago
In my book growing in a greenhouse isn't wintersowing as we speak of it either. But some folks here do have greenhouses and maybe they'll be able to offer help. I'm clueless about greenhouses.

Karen
seedmama
15 years ago
Karen and I must have the same book, because I don't really think of growing in a greenhouse as winter sowing as we speak of it either. I suspect you'll get your best information if you post your question in Conversations. There's a lot a activity there this year, and as Karen mentioned, several people have greenhouses.

Wishing you a successful gardening season,
Seedmama
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"Did you set this grape flat in the middle of nowhere where the snow can fall on plastic and might make plastic touch the soil or you set this under some protection?" ---When I winter sown the seeds, I set them outside without protection when they are in the grape flat. But we don't have much snow here, the snow came few time and melted in couple of days. But tons of rain. And at night always below zero before April. When I saw the sprout came out, I removed them to a shelter area, but still outdoor in the cold. Just because we have so much rain here, almost every day. Every few days I put them out of the shelter area to get some rain. "you mentioned no covers on garbage can containers, are these containers set in some type of protection? " The garbage can container are not under any shelter, and I just transplanted some of the seedlings from the grape flat to the container as the permanent home. And other seedlings transplanted onto the ground. No two time transplanting for the same seedling. Right now in the gabage can container, the veggies might be too crowed. But I always can pull out couple of them and just eat the younger and tender crop. And leave the others to grow bigger. Here is a link that might be useful: Winter Sowing
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You can certainly sow seeds however you want, but Winter Sowing is not direct sowing. It's a superior method because the containers protect the seeds from critters, insects, washouts, desiccation and windblown weed seeds. I would suggest that for comparison, you do try both direct sowing and winter sowing the same amount of seeds and at the end of the growing season you campare the results. Both methods will create hardy seedlings because germination is entirely outdoors, but with WS, because of the protective containers you will have a tremendous amount more of seedlings because more seeds survive the winter. T
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The other advantage to wintersowing, besides being less expensive than buying (what pathetic selection they have available) at the nursery, and also having the space to coddle seedlings all over inside--messing with supplemental lighting, etc., and that your plants will be hardier and already hardened off, is this: your plants will also be hardier through the hotter months, and more resistant to the cold at the end of season. My wintersown tomatillo survived a pretty hearty frost last year, but the indoor-start one (yes, same seed/variety) didn't make it. However, one of the drawbacks is that, for some plants, there won't be enough head start to get big enough to get some harvest. For example, if you have longer-to-ripen tomatoes, they might not be ready to go before the first frost. Also, peppers will have a later start, etc., and something that didn't occur to me until a few days ago, is that my "120-day" okra (it's not really that long to harvest since it's a continual thing) will be so far behind the 8-ball that it might be August before we get our first okra, whereas if I have indoor or nursery starts, they are usually flowering in June. This might be particularly true if your actual growing season is shorter, like Bonnie's. The other thing to remember is that not all things are suitable for true wintersowing--basil and some herbs are a little too intolerant of the cold that if they sprouted then there was a freeze, they might not make it. However, if you're starting now, I think you're good to go on just about anything from the cold-intolerant timetable. That being said, I always start some stuff inside, and try to put it outside for as much natural sun during the day as possible, then bring it in at night until the nights are warmer. I do "backup" starts for the tomatoes that I can't live without (so then, will someone please explain to me how I have over 40 starts? Oh yeah... the SWAP!), and ALL my peppers and herbs--and certainly, the cherished okra. Also, I stupidly started some cipollini onions WAY too late (but I bought the seeds, and they'll be no good next year) inside, so we'll see if those guys turn out. Of course, Trudi D will tell you that she started wintersowing as a great experiment because she was going cabin-crazy in the deep of winter and just wanted to make some mud pies in January... (My husband now wonders, since we move our tomato containers into the garage and harvest until February, if he will ever see his wife's fingernails without any dirt under them... I'm goin' with NO)
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sheltieche
15 years ago
While greenhouse will have higher humidity I would think seed tray still need to be ecnlosed for germination purposes. It also will depends on where your greenhouse is located, how much sun it gets, how much temps are going to raise and how much venting you are going to do. Most seeds germinate well in range 65-75-80 temps of soil. Anything above that liable to stop germination. If you have your greenhouse in direct sun all day and temps are going to be 70 to begin with it means that at some point temps in your greenhouse will be over 100. In such case I would either shade tray or uncover it.
nancy_drew
15 years ago
I don't know about it not being considered winter sowing. How is an unheated greenhouse different from a cold frame?
lynnencfan
15 years ago
I w/sow in flats and put them in a shade house that has the shelves covered in plastic. I keep the plastic domes on the trays. I don't consider it an unheated green house because the table is 1/4" hardware cloth so exposed to plenty of cold weather. I will however take the domes off this week as our temps are going to be consistently about freezing at night and upper 60's during the day. They get a misting almost everyday so the surface doesn't dry out ......

Lynne
token28001
15 years ago
I would cover them only until germination begins. After that, I would leave them uncovered and maybe even sit them outside if it's above freezing especially the colder veggies. Any annuals I would leave in the greenhouse, but use a fan.

I use a glorified cold frame for some things like my annuals. The petunias have been done this way. Whenever the temperature is supposed to reach 60 or higher, I open it up each morning, early. And close it after dark, but before a frost can develop.
ljpother
Original Author
15 years ago
As I mentioned in another thread, an unheated greenhouse is essentially a walk-in container. I don't think the heat management is much different than the small containers. They all need venting on hot days. Although, the heat gain from glass is likely greater than from plastic. 23C for the high today or yesterday, -5-10C outside.
ljpother
Original Author
15 years ago
I watered the flat and planted Scarlet Runners, morning glory, and zucchini in starter kits. Also, I put a plastic bag over the flat. It was dry.

winter sowing in flats

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kqcrna

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winter sowing in flats

Comments (8)

kqcrna

seedmama

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nancy_drew

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token28001

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