I've put my containers under the back porch the last couple of years because of wind, too. Now, when I say under - the porch is about 15 feet off the ground. So they get plenty of light, just no rain or snow to speak of. I do pay attention and water them when it's warmer out. But I also use the Miracle Gro Moisture Control potting soil to help them stay moist longer. That might also be helpful in a very dry desert climate.

I use it in my porch pots in summer for the same reason - I'd be watering twice a day otherwise, in our heat!

Hello,

I'm new to WS and had winter sown some containers in Jan. I'm in Clackamas, OR and while its been cold the last few days it has not really rained. I noticed today that the condensation has gone down (losing the condensation). Should I put them in plastic shopping bags or tape some of the vent holes? I did add some water to the containers (and noticed my chamomile have sprouted!!)

Misty

Misty, I wouldn't close the ventilation holes up more, and especially not on anything that has germinated like your chamomile - I've got tops off my containers. Those of us in PNW have to be careful not to have our containers too tight and encourage mold or mildew with only slight temp changes between overnight and afternoon - and that means you are going to have to watch the water if it isn't raining.

Do you have many containers? You can sit them in a pan to bottom water, mist with a hose, or if just a few put some water in a pump spray bottle and make your own rain....I'd be happy to send you some of mine, I put on hip boots this morning just so I could get down in my beds without getting wet legs.

How'd you get away with no rain, we're just on our second consecutive dry day here, it stopped yesterday morning :)

Thank you for your reply Morz8. I have horrible memory (get it from my mother). I know that yesterday was cold and dry as was today. Before yesterday I really cannot remember there being rain. Last week there were a lot of days that were super foggy until noon and then just cloudy or small sprinkles.

I only have 12 containers so far. So I should not worry too much about the vent holes or the drainage holes? It would be safe for me to take the lids off the containers? Winter sowing makes a lot of sense (from what I have read) but I am nervous that I will make a lot of mistakes. Plus it sounds like each area/zone is different from when to WS certain seeds. To be safe I did mostly perennials for Jan. I'm not too worried about the chamomile because I know it self sows easily here.

Misty, you do need adequate vent and drainage holes, I wouldn't cut back on either - it's hard to correct soggy seeds, water you can add if they seem on the dry side. My Mom is in Longview, my brother Raleigh Hills PDX so I know you get less drizzle and rain than I do and I hesitate to tell you to completely remove covers, but I'd be opening farther or venting more on those containers that have germinated. Those that have not may need the condensation, too wet and I think you would have been seeing 'fuzzies' or algae by now if you sowed last month.

No rain in the forecast that I can determine before about Friday so add water if needed - 12 containers shouldn't be too much extra work.

When you've seen how things do for you this first year, you'll know how to tweak for your own micro climate - when my sis was in Oregon City, she had a lot of cement around her and was not in an area that took longer to become dry!
I can have my feet in salt water in less than 20 min and have all the ocean influence here :)

Don't be nervous, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. There's another poster here close to you but I haven't seen him active lately - his WS very successful and productive. You were on the right course with perennials first, that's all I've done so far and will get to those few things that don't require a chill in the next couple of weeks or so.

Scratchits, I wouldn't see what it would hurt to go without the lids in your zone, that is my opinion though. I am close to taking them off myself and I am zone 6. Give me a few weeks and I will be saying adios lid!! Though when I take off my lid that is when rain is something you have to watch. I am still undecided about the rain, one part of me says that it will push my seeds in the soil more which may be good. Then the other side of me says it may wash out my dirt. Ugh, decisions!! Maybe under the eave, hmmm, oh well I have a few weeks to decide for myself!!

I guess I need to remember last year, I sowed with no lid at all and I got germination. Though I started in march!!

everyone i've talked to has told me to keep lids off and to cut more ventilation holes later, when i have sprouts in the spring. i'm nervous, too, scratchits-- my first year too. everyone here is so positive and optimistic that i'm trying to keep the faith!

except for the daylilies. still fretting about what to do with the daylily seeds, having read sooooo many mixed reviews of every single technique i have read about. would appreciate more reassurance on that one, experienced folk, please! :D

rose, by 'lids' I meant any tops of any kind, my pots are uncovered and there is nothing to vent, they are open - I just don't want to confuse Misty. It works in coastal Washington, other areas of PNW and while I've spent time in Clackamas I'm not sure if her air is enough more dry in the afternoons that she would have trouble keeping seeds moist enough to germinate in February. It isn't something I would recommend to anyone outside Z8 Pacific Northwest or England.

With a good quality potting soil that has been settled into a pot, rain does not force the seeds down in too deep or force the soil out. The soil has a saturation point and can only get so wet, any excess water after that point runs out the drainage holes. I barely have days without rain in a normal year and Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan all had above average rain this year, we're getting a little taste of sun this week.

Morz8, countrycarolyn, and Rosemctier,

Thank you for the encouragement!

morz8, I will go with your advise and after a couple of days will take the lid off of the container that has sprouted (if the air does not seem too dry).

Misty

morz8, it never occurred to me until WSing that there were so many ways to interpret the word "lid" LOL.

now i'm all worried! i never expected torrential downpours this early in the season-- i do hope my drainage holes are adequate. hopefully the rain will melt the chunks of icy snow covering them enough that i can check on them tomorrow and make sure they're not flooding along with everything else around here-- there is a river coursing through our driveway.

Kinda late getting to this topic, but thought I would share what I have done so far:

I'm a WS newbie in Portland, and we got so much rain that I started to get "the fuzzies" in my containers. I posted about that here, and was advised to take the tops off for air. I did so, and the fuzzies went away.

We havent had much rain for the last few days, so I added some water a couple of days ago. Last night's temps were at the freezing mark, so I covered my containers back up. We expect freezing temps tonight as well, so I have just kept the covers on, and added more water due to lack of rain.

The weather report calls for rain no sooner than this friday, so I am just making sure that the babies are staying moist. Keeping their tops on is going to help with that I guess, so I am not too concerned until the freezing weather passes and I have to take the tops off again.

My main concern has been the wind. Over here, its been pretty gusty, and I lost one container already this season from the wind. I also WS'ed a hanging basket which got the fuzzies when it sprouted, so I removed the garbage bag that was on it and hung it up. When we got the freezing overnight temps, I put another garbage sack on it, but I guess not securely enough because it blew away. The seedlings *look* ok, but I wonder if the damage is done and they will eventually wither away.

Anyway, yeah. Thanks to the advise of everyone here, I have been successful, for the most part, in tweaking my methods to our soggy climate. I know for me it helps when someone from the same area chimes in with their experiences/successes/failures!

Steff :)

Steff, it sounds like you are doing everything right, especially for walking that fine line between dryness and enclosed too tight in our climate - much more mild than most of the country including other Z8s.

Your basket may be OK. Usually if a freeze is going to take out seedlings, you know it as soon as the temps warm up above freezing again and those tiny leaves thaw - you would probably be able to see damage this afternoon if there was going to be any.

We've got basically the same forecast here, rain Friday. Not quite as cold overnight, it was just 30 on my deck this morning. Beautiful afternoon though, I moved my car out of the way of the lawnmower - DH got the hint when he got home and is mowing as I type :)

Hi everyone. You are all so helpful. I asked this question before but can't find the answer (or my question). In some pictures I see the tops off, then tops on with snow, then tops off. After I get sprouts and take the tops off, if bad weather strikes, do I need to put the tops back on?

Yes Linda, sometimes Ma Nature presents us with conditions that has the seedlings needing our help after they've sprouted, like most gardeners you'll be keeping an eye on the forecast. If something is looming that makes you concerned, cover again. One of our more damaging freezes a few years ago came the last week of February after about three weeks of much more mild...that one bit the new growth on established roses even. I had seedling pots covered with both plastic and old tablecloths and they were fine.

Hello. I'm in zone 7, the NC Sandhills. I did my roses last month and I'm pretty confident about them. But I'm looking for some handholding on tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, marigolds, tomatillos, poppies, and, if anyone's ever tried them, pepino melons (yet another nightshade relative).

I'm still learning about gardening in this ridiculously sandy, excessively well-drained soil but so far its seems that I want to put in fairly good-sized transplants that have enough roots and resources to survive a whole day between waterings. Over the past few years I've lost a number of cabbages and brussels sprouts to the fact that they just weren't big enough to reach the moisture below the surface dryness. So I was planning on using the styrofoam cups for most things.

Anyone able to help me with the timing on planting these and offer advice about getting them to the stage where they can survive the transition to the garden?

I already started some broccoli and today I plan to start some brussel sprouts, cabage, yellow onion, and some bunching onion.

Your in a higher zone than me and we only have like 3 more weeks, per average temps, of where are temps will drop at night below freezing. So in other words for me in my zone I plan to maybe start my tomatoes and other things about the end of february first of march.

Hey Folks - I'm so new that I just found you guys - and its starting to warm up (after really, really cold snap). So this looks like winter entertainment for next year.

My suggestion is not WS, but winter setting out. Last year, I started Tomatos way too early inside and they were getting leggy. I set out 4 grape tomatoes on March 10 in zone 6 and they survived snow and ice storms. I was gardening in containers after a hip surgery. I put 2 tomato plants near the bottom of each container and covered them with bottomless milk jugs. Then I put soil over the milk jug with just the very top and and spout showing. As the plants grew to the top, I would lift the milk jug a little higher and add more soil. When the milk jug was finally taken off over a month later, the soil was spread around the stem for strong roots. These grape tomatoes were the first tomatoes to make it to the farmers market.

I know this defeats the WS idea of sprouting seeds in sync with mother nature, but mother nature would not sprout my tomatoes early! Tomatoes cannot come early enough for me, so cheating with just this one plant seems fair.

There's no such thing as cheating with a plant :) Whatever works to get you from seed to fruit is just fine, short of growth hormones or totally unnatural chemicals.

Hope your hip is healed and you have a great gardening season!

Hi everyone,

Just took a peek at the containers I've sown a couple of weeks ago. Some seem a little dry. Frozen, yet dry. Should I water them?

Also, is it too late to wintersow perennials in zone 5?

thanks a million ~ T

Hi gardenunusual,
This is only my 2nd yr ws'ing, but from what I learned last year, I only pay attention to the containers once things have sprouted. If you don't have sprouts yet I wouldn't worry about whether you think they are dry or not. As long as they are somewhere they are going to get more rain or snow they'll be fine.

Once things are sprouted, as long as you can see condensation in the jugs they are generally fine, no condensation then I water.

Also I think you are still fine with perennials, there may be some that need a more prolonged cold strat. that might not work, but many do not.
cheers, weebay

gardenunusual - I'm still WS perennials altho' I tried to get all the ones that need cold stratification done first and am now working on the things that don't need the cold. There will be plenty of nights below freezing between now and April--you should be fine.

Many thanks Weebay and Gardenweed.

It was so neat peering into them today. The hibiscus seed is already expanding and I can see it's working it's magic.

I thought I was beyond the need for hand holding. I've seen things reseed in my yard. I believe whole haertedly in winter sowing. (Thank you, Trudi.) So imagine my chagrin when I walked past my jugs the other day and saw that the tape on the gallon container with my strawberry ice petunias had given way. The jug was open to the elements. Cold air could freely spill inside it and was doing so. Suddenly, I felt my first glimmer of real fear. I so hope those petunias will be okay.

I've been half tempted the past few days to dig out the containers from the front of the house, and see how they're doing. With at least six inches of snow on them with the sun beating down, they must be insulated and warm inside. Maybe there are some sproutlets....? My nose is bothering me! I keep telling myself, let Mother Nature do her thing....

If your containers are still frozen and look dry don't worry. The moisture is just freeze dried and will reappear when it thaws.

I find that I need to watch the moisture before seeds germinate when the temps are warm enough that the mix can dry out. It needs to be moist for the seeds to germinate. For me, that means I need to water if we don't have a wet spring. Out of six springs, last year was the only one that I didn't have to do much watering.

tempusflits, it isn't the cold air that is a concern if the seeds haven't germinated. As long as the seeds weren't blown away, washed away, dried out, or eaten they should be okay when you closed the container again.

trudi, mnwsgal, big sigh of relief here. Thank you.

Just wanted to share my little tutorial slideshow for anyone who's curious. I do most of my sowing in cups and have a lot more to put out this season. Luckily I just bought more labels. : )

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28903418@N00/sets/72157623054085036/show/

Heya all!!! I am new here and I am doing my first winter sow, hopefully I am not starting too late in the year but I just finished all my milk jugs and will be putting them out in the morning but my question is, should I start out with the pink twist on caps on or off of them? I did not poke vetilation holes in the top becasue from what i could tell I should leave it off but I want to be sure ;O)

Thank you everyone!!

Tammy

Yep, we go topless when we winter sow! I'm a newbie too, but everyone's advice on this forum has given me a little confidence. I found my first sprouts today!

hehe..... topless ha ;O) Thank you sweetie I really appreciate your help so much!!! Hopefully this grasshopper is able to share some pretty flowers with you in a couple months!!! Do you have a blog liv? Mine is http://prettypinkcherub.blogspot.com/ if anyone is interested!! I am pretty new all together to gardening, I did real gardening for the first time last year when we bought our house!!! I look forward to learning from everyone!!

Thank you again so very much!!!

pinkcherub - does this help?

{{gwi:215467}}

{{gwi:215469}}

See the feverfew jugs at the bottom of pic #2? Here's what the sprouts looked like:

Hiya hun!! Yes thank you so much, I love to see pictures!! I did put a photo of my milk jugs on my blog "do not see how you upload a picture on here"!! From what I can tell I did it right but we will see in a month or so ;O)

Many BIG hugs!! Looking forward to getting to know you all!!

I'm a first year ws. First many thanks to trudi and bakemom for the free newbie seeds. My DH says he's never seen me so excited to get a package! And thanks to the experienced gardeners for much needed advice and to adamark, cab321, mnwsgal, floodthelast and gardenweed for the fabulous photos. The photos help so much.

I need some hand holding regarding:
I've got little poppy sprouts and a couple of others that are starting to sprout. I"m in Maryland zone 7a. Our last frost is May 1. If we have a hard freeze, will the seedlings be OK in their little mini greenhouses? Or do I need to cover them up with something?

I'm not clear on the uncovering/cover back up of the winter sown seedlings.

Also, gardenweed what kind of marker are you using that is so nice and dark? Your handwriting is so nice you could have your own font (called "Gardenweed"!)

ellicottcitycathy - it's a Deco paint pen & thanks for the compliment. I flunked penmanship in fifth grade and have spent the years since attempting to make up for it!

I could tell you not to worry about your sprouts when the freeze comes but you'll worry anyway so go ahead and cover them if it makes you sleep better. Just be sure to uncover them in the morning. They don't need to be covered but I was a newbie last year and I covered mine because I was worried they'd get frost-nipped. They didn't and it wasn't thanks to the old bed sheet I threw over them. They're tough and can handle the frigid temps.

It was the pictures folks posted last year that helped me believe winter sowing would work so I tried to take as many pictures as possible. Now I'm glad I did but wish I'd taken more.

Wow!! My very own font!! Thanks! (;-p)

I put out my first attempt at WS a couple of weeks ago, only two containers of hardy perennials, so not taking a big risk. However after reading this thread pretty carefully I realized that I should not have used a seed starting mix. Hopefully it wont be a problem.

Yesterday I received some seeds in the mail, plus picked up more in town, so I am planning on getting more out today.

I have a couple of questions - watering - So far the two I have out are frozen solid. Its mostly in the single digits at night and in the 20's during the day. I dont really need to be checking them for water needs at this point do I? We have had lots of snow this year, and I dont shovel the back porch, so I dont realy want to have to go wading out in the snow anymore then necessary. When I put out the containers, I just cracked the door, stuck out my arm and set them down. (It was darn cold that day)

Second question - I have been looking at Trudi's WS web-site (thanks for that !) When I check out the zone 4 listings, there isnt much in the way of dates. In the far left column which is "month germinated", there is either a Y or a N. Can I assume that the Y means yes this can be winter sowed at zone 4? I can't imagine that it could mean anything else but just thought I would check.

Thanks

mandolls - if the growing mix was the consistency of a fudge brownie when you sowed the seeds, your containers shouldn't need watering yet since they're still frozen solid like mine. Also, thanks to heavy, drenching spring rains last year I never needed to water any of my containers. Mine are mostly in the shade which helps.

I believe the Y in the germinated column on wintersown.org means the seeds germinated, not that they're hardy to Z4 or can be WS in Z4. I copied that chart down for my own use last year and replaced the Y and N with the actual dates the seeds germinated in my own containers. It has been valuable information for a lot of folks' questions on this forum to be able to look it up and say what date I WS the seeds and what date they germinated in my zone.

Hope that helps!

Also keep in mind that when N is used though it did not germinate in the containers reported to the site it could still germinate in your container. Who knows how many people tried to germinate that seed or the conditions? Your results might be different so if you want something, try it.

Also keep in mind that when N is used though it did not germinate in the containers reported to the site it could still germinate in your container. Who knows how many people tried to germinate that seed or the conditions? Your results might be different so if you want something, try it.

Thanks To you both - I will just have to experiment and find out - I guess thats what its all about anyway !

Hiya all!!! Well it has been 22 days since I started my first winter sow project "listed earlier in this thread" and out of 20 jugs I only have one with green sprouts coming up and that is the Primula. I am wondering if you all think this is a good or bad thing? I was thinking I might see more green by now :O( The weather has been so strange here in Minnesota, all our snow had melted last week but this week we got several inches of it again and it is cold again if this makes any difference. would love to hear what you gals/pals think? Thank you everyone!!! Tammy

It is still rather early for sprouts here in MN. Over the years most of my seeds have sprouted in April and early May with only a few in March.

I've only got lupine & lettuce sprouts so far and they're not even green yet--just white squiggly things visible on the soil surface. Most of my containers sprouted towards the end of March/beginning of April last year with a few holding off until May. Be patient. Give them more time. Mother Nature and the seeds know what they're doing.

Oh THANK YOU SOOOOOOOO MUCH girls!!!!! You made my day!!!! Hugs Hugs!!!! I was feeling a bit blue thinking I must have used bad soil or .. who knows with me ;O) So glad I found this forum, you all are so wonderful!!!

Hi all!

I'm a newbie to winter sowing as well and am super excited about the prospect after learning about it a few weeks back. It was, I think, kind of late starting in the season but I put out 6 jugs anyways to see how it goes.

My question is about sunlight...should I have the jugs in sun or shade or what's a good combo? A couple of hours of sun, 6 hours? Obviously I'm just looking for a ballpark figure, as I have no clue :)

Winter here has been so crazy with some days getting up to around 15C/60F, then later that evening dipping down to -15C/5F so it's all over the place.

Thanks for any advice...I am so excited about this winter sowing thing I stayed up until 3am (way passed my bedtime!) the night I came across this genius method.

Thanks Trudi, your website is so helpful!!

WS works in all types of light situations. Most of mine are in half day sun as they are on my back patio which gets east sun in the a.m. and west sun in the p.m. Some people put the containers in more shaded areas. The things to consider are more shade means later germination and slower growth. In full sun both will be faster and containers will need more watching to keep from drying out or from frying the sprouts. Some place them in the sun to germinate then move them to shaded areas to grow a bit. Experiment and see what works for you.

We'r supposed to get rain tonight and all day tomorrow. I have taken the top half of jugs off perennial seedlings and they are pretty wet already. Should I cover them in the cold rain (40)or just let them drain? So protective of my little seedlings, don't want to lose them now...

They're sprouting! I've been checking my containers haphazardly for a while now and noticed a possible sprout here or there. But I was stunned when I looked after not checking for a few days and found containers full of poppy sproutlings. Yay!

I'm over half-way finished prepping the big new bed and have been picking up more seed packets everytime I set foot in a store. I can't wait to see my yard in August.

Bumping this for newbies.

Greetings fellow dirt lovers. I have the opposite of a green thumb. Orange? Black? Not sure but, I was lucky enough to grow up on Hawaii where the gardens simply grew all around me. I never put a thought into how they got or stayed there.
I moved to the mainland when I was 17 so never had my own garden. Now, as an adult, living in northern California (I think it's zone 9? Not sure...Humboldt County), I have NO idea how to grow anything with gusto. Well, I may have gusto, but, my poor flowers usually only make it a few months at their best.
I am lucky, lucky, lucky enough to have inherited a beautiful garden with the home we bought last summer. Roses in the front walk, Lillys, tulips, daisy's, and....ummm....many others that I have no idea the name of. I have many questions, but, my first begins with::::::WEEDS. When we bought the house, it was pristine, of course. Now, fall has fallen, winter has frozen, and spring has sprung. The lilly's and roses and flowering vines are SO beautiful. And surrounded with weeds. How can I deal with a full acre of this without breaking my back?