No not this early.

I'm clearly tempted but if I do, I will surely kill my seedlings. Too many things could go wrong if I start this early. A. my plants will grow too leggy since my grow lights aren't that strong. B. they will surely succumb to either overcrowding or disease such as mold.

I will however start my wintersowing. At least I know these seeds have a good chance to survive.

I am dealing with my urge to see greenery by plotting out new garden plans, ordering seeds and watching as many garden shows as I can.

Ianna

Hi Heidi:

I normally garden year round but we have had snow on the ground for over a month and everything has come to a standstill. The best I could do at this time was to order some Orienpet lilies from Veseys ;-)

Cheers,
MG

Here is a link that might be useful: Our website

I have started wintersowing this week and it really does satisfy that 'gardening urge' :)
I do start some things in the house, but not much, just some tropicals and some tomatoes.
gg

Morning everyone! Boy, it's cold out there, -20C. Pity those people in Toronto that lost there hydro.
Last fall I brought all my planters into the sunroom for the winter. They are still going strong. I sprinkled the gazania seeds back into the planter and now have lots growing. I watered them with No Damp just to be on the safe side. I also started some purple ones I received from Santa. I have Hibiscus rooting and started coleus from cuttings but they always get mold and I lost them. We are off grid, so no grow lights. I found last winter that a lot of my plants grew well without the lights, perhaps because the sunroom windows provide enough light? The one problem I have with the plants is the mold. Surprisingly, it's mostly the coleus that gets it. I have already started wintersowing some things and plan to do more soon. Right now all I plan to do is stay warm! Marg

I have a challenge for those so inclined to garden at this time of the year. Go to your supermarket and pick up fruits or other things and see if you can grow these into full plants.

You can do this with pomegranate seeds, mango, avocado, lemon, papaya, any fully ripened tropical fruits with large seeds, for example - lemon. You can also do this with lemongrass (chop off hte green part and root in water, change water frequently).You can also do this by rooting the top of a pineapple. I've also managed to grow hot peppers from thai chili which had dried out in the fridge!

... Let's see if you can grow these seeds into a plant by spring. I've done this with my meyer lemon which is now 6 years old. I think it will fruit when it gets to 10 years -

Hey Ianna! I have an 'eddoe' growing right now. I bought it for something like 42 cents or something like that and soaked it for a while and then planted it--it had already started to send out a tiny pink sprout after I soaked it. It kind of stalled for a few weeks after I planted it in soil, but it is now starting again and has a sprout about an inch and a half long....still pink though.
I had never heard of 'eddoes' before and learned that they grow into a type of elephant ear.....but a bit smaller I think.
Lots of groacery store herbs are sold with the roots attached so could be potted up and put on a sunny windowsill, for cutting and using when you want.
gg

Got both woodstove going full tilt this morning and I hope to do at least a couple of winter sowing containers but I'll be putting them in our 5C beasement until the temps warm-up outside. From 18C inside the house to -20C outside is too much of a hit for even a sleepy seed eh?

I brought in some Asclepias Curassavicas from my gardens in the fall. Six small plants in total. Just wanted to see if I could overwinter them in the house. Until about 2 weeks ago they were in our cool basement, but then I decided to bring them upstairs and place them on a windowsill after repotting in good new soil. One of them, the most mature, is bursting out with new leaves from the old stem, but the others are all just staying put. They were all smaller plants.

Our season isn't hot enough for them to flower from seed the first year, so thought I'd try it. I have no houseplants so it's nice to have something inside the house. :O)

Eddoes have edible leaves if I believe.

What else can you grow from your supermarket... ginger and galangal...

Tiffy, I recall while visiting Mountain Equipment Coop that there were these gel packs which when mixed, emit heat for at least 6 hours. There were several sizes avail. From small ones that fit gloves and shoes to larger ones the size that can be placed on ones lap. A simple gel mushing and it gives out heat. After the gel pack turns to crystal (cools) it can be returned to it's orginal state by boiling the pack and once again you only need to mush it for it to give out heat. I do wonder if that can be used to keep plants/seed to warmup without the need to tap on electricity.

Bought three 'taro' roots at Fortino's, and have potted them up in hopes of getting some Elephant Ears. ($1.49 for three at the grocery store vs 6.95 for one at the nursery). Pulled my amaryllis up from the cold cellar last month, and I have a flower bud coming up (yeah..fourth year bloomer..blooms now, and again outside in the summer).
My orchid is sending up a new flower shoot, and I've wintersown 24 containers of perennial seeds..(holding off on the hardy annuals til March).
Here's a reminder of summer..
{{gwi:352265}}
I caved and bought a mixed pot of hyacinths that are just staring to throw off a scent. (but I only paid 2.99).
Just trying to bring a little spring in, without breaking the budget.
I'll be bringing in some forsythia branches to force before long.
Hang in there guys!

This is a lovely picture and it hurts to just look at that. Spring is still so far away - we know it wont get warm till atleast May. But what can you do. I am so tempted to start early this year - but dont want to do too much damage. I might start some herbs indoors like basil etc. and also may just grow some flowers for the heck of it to get some colour and to get that nice warm summer feeling.

Hang in there - it cant be cold forever.

I have been doing some winter sowing too. I have about 10 containers done now and will probably do some more this month.

I start veggies on the windowsill early, but not this early. I don't use supplemental lighting so I wait until late April for that. I atart tomatoes, peppers, luffahs, cantaloupe and other things on the windowsill. I'm going to use newspaper pots this year, I think.

Wendy2shoes...lovely picture. This Taro that you bough, was it a big size or just a wee one? The price you quote there is a good one, which Fortino was that from as they don't all carry such thing

Yep!! Been Bitten!
I held off on forcing my Paperwhites until after the glitter of Christmas festivities were over this year. Successive plantings have been filling the cold days of January & February with greenery, flowers & fragrance.
I miss mowing the lawn so much that I planted containers of 'cat grass'!! Only this time our cat's doing the mowing!! Everyone's happy!!