I have so many questions.....

15 years ago

This winter sowing is so intriguing to me. I have to try it. Everybody here in northern Michigan says it can't work. I need to prove them wrong, just for spite. I don't like being told I can't do something.

Where do you put the containers once they are planted? In a sheltered place or out in the snow? I have snow everywhere until April or later. Are they put on the porch? Help me understand this more.

gmom

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Comments (11)

katmatney
15 years ago
Gmom
I live in upstate ny adirondack mountain range zone 5 where we also get a lot of snow and cold temps. Our snow does not usually disappear until April also. I wintersowed last year and had great success. I placed my bottles outside in the snow in a sunny place. They need the changing temps, thawing, freezing, moisture, etc to germinate. They can be buried completely by the snow. Be patient though you will not see green for a while after the thaw. But what you don't see is more important, the roots are already developing and becoming strong. So, you can do and and dig in it's a blast and the rewards are great.
Kathy
brandymulvaine
15 years ago
Greetings from Traverse City!!
Gmom, last year was my first year wintersowning and yes it can and does work! Here are the pictures to prove it:
Jugs in the snow-I learned later to remove the lids!
{{gwi:360283}}
ws sweet annie,hollyhock,parsley,maltese cross...
{{gwi:436587}}
ws poppies
{{gwi:339374}}
ws hollyhocks,batch buttons,candula,milkweed....
{{gwi:436588}}
ws jugs and cups in spring

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stuff on right is wintersown
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ws lupine
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ws pansies
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ws milkweed
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ws poppies and fennel(I think it's fennel!)
{{gwi:361035}}
-B
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This is my first year WS as well and I was worried about the tops on/off thing too. Once a majority of one jug had sprouted I took the top off. If it was going to get cold that night I would put the top back on. Once the the night temps started staying above freezing I took the top off for good. I'm a complete newbie though so I probably made more work for myself than I needed to. Most of the perennial babies are tough, next year I wont worry so much about them. I also seeded my containers really thick. Most of my beds arent ready yet so I potted up the overcrowded sprouts using the HOS method. I ended up with 10 4 inch pots of Nicotiana and 12 yogurt cups of Snapdragons (I sowed them in one liter bottles). There were a few sprout casualties using the HOS method but it's nowhere near as painful as ripping sprouts out of a pot and throwing them on the ground to die. :p Listen to Bakemom and Karen! The best WS advice so far has been that putting seedlings directly in the ground once they have some true leaves is the sane way to deal with all those clumps. Potting them up was a pain. If you're worried about planting them out so small, save yourself a few plants in pots as backup. It makes them easier to give away too. What were some of your non-sprouters? I WS some plants in Feb that never sprouted so I re-seeded some of them in early April had some luck. The ones that I re-seeded were Love Lies Bleeding, Cosmos and Gaillardia. The Lupine I WS in Feb was very sporadic to germinate. Liatris first started to sprout in late March and at first there were only 3-4 babies. All of a sudden in the past few weeks the container has taken off and there are new sprouts everyday. WS is so much fun huh? Congratulations on your 1st year germination. :) Next year you'll be a pro! -Lysie
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Hi Dave, I'm a one-off deck builder like yourself. I think the Deck Pros are just having some fun with ya. Your back porch has ventilation. Your front porch seems pretty low to the ground, but maybe it is dry. Probably alot depends on soil. Looks sandy. I would test the front by putting some scrap IPE under it for a month or two. See what happens. If you have to get two deliveries of materials, so be it (they charge by weight anyway). Frankly, before you buy, ask for two scraps of Ipe from any supplier you are considering. They should provide free. East teak does. I used hidden clips on my deck (Tiger Claw G). A lot of hoots and hollers here about that. But, it's my deck. The clips work OK for me. If not that, I would just face screw it. Plugging and sanding is not for me. Construction adhesive is OK. Deck will squeak less. But it can be messy. How neat are you when you work? Brand name probably doesn't matter much. To use hidden clips you have to use 5/4" (actually 4/4 finish milled). But if you face screw it, and you have 16" centers, you can use 4/4 (3/4" milled). I think this is correct. I don't know about T&G for outside. Probably not good. Want drainage. If you get ice in the T&G joint, definite bad news. Not a concensus about waxing the end grain. I did. Can't hurt. Use a carbide blade, wide kerf. You could do it with a hand circular saw, but better is a chop saw, 10" or 12". Avoid breathing the sawdust. Some folks can get an alergic reaction. You have to lay the deck perpendicular to the floor joists. I can't tell from the pics which way that is. Cut all butt joints as you go, centered on the joists. Except for the first, against the house, let what hangs over the sides "run wild". When done, snap a chalk line on the perimeters, then trim with a hand circular saw. Straight lines. Good luck! My deck project from last year.
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duane456
15 years ago
Great illustration brandymulvaine !!!
PVick
15 years ago
nothing tells the story better than a bunch of gorgeous pics! you did fantastic this year, brandy! not everyone in Michigan says it can't be done!

so, gmom, are you ready to go at it? you will luuuuvvv it! and prove all the naysayers wrong.

PV
nancy_drew
15 years ago
You know, when you think about it, how can it NOT work? It's the most natural way in the world to grow a seed, well other than sowing seeds out where all the predators are... like bugs, birds, fungus....

When all these nasty things working against a seed, are taken away... and without the problems of "hardening off" of an indoor sown seedling, the result is an enormously healthy plant.
gmom2-6boys
Original Author
15 years ago
Brandy-Thanks for the pictures. They were needed to get things straight in my mind. Pictures are werth a thousand words. I'm a hands on and picture person.
Brandy-I'm about 150 miles east and north of you in Ocqueoc on Lake Huron.
PV-Yes!!!!! I'm ready to jump right in.
Thanks to all
gmom
squirrel_girl
15 years ago
Gmom,
Welcome to WSing. I'm in Southern Michigan and have had a blast with the trading and WSing. If you e-mail me, I'll send you some of my favorite WS seeds. Penstemon-Rocky Mountain Blue was the first to germinate for me and was wonderfully successful in the cold. Brandy's photos are a wonderful example of what we can do. The hardest part of WSing up north is waiting for the green wave to get here come spring. I'm like a kid watching the germination dates/locations getting closer to home.
brandymulvaine
15 years ago
Yeah, Squirrel Girl, Amen!
Thats the bad thing about being this far north, people in the south are planting out and we're just getting our first spouts!! No fair!!
-B
nancy_drew
15 years ago
Sounds like you have a little "Climate Zone Envy"? That gets really bad for me about the first week of March!
velsgarden
15 years ago
I have gotten so excited looking at your pics.This will be my first year to ws and I cant hardly wait...velvet
brandymulvaine
15 years ago
Glad to be your enabaler, Vevet!
And yes I suffer from CZE!!LOL!!
Hey Squirrel Girl, can I trade for some of that penstemon? I'm working on my trade list right now-
I want to do a purple/blue border along the driveway, so anything that will grow in @%$&&* soil and @%&&* weather I'll be looking for :-)
-B

I have so many questions.....

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