What to winter sow

3 years ago

Hey guys!

So I've run out of room in my indoor greenhouse for indoor seeds, and while I plan on doing a 2nd round in the greenhouse once I get some stuff moved out I was thinking of trying winter sowing some seeds as well. I live in zone 6a in rochester ny. My last predicted frost is April 16th to 29th. . I have a few questions.

Is it too late to be starting snapdragons, strawberries and petunias?

I also have cosmos, dahlias, zinnias, marigolds, coreopsis, dianthus, fushia, nasturtium, bachelor's button and tall white sweet alyssum. Are any of these good candidates for winter sowing in the time I have left? I read that I should wait until April for zinnias, marigolds and cosmos. Does that sound about right?

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Comments (5)

diggerdee zone 6 CT
3 years ago
Amanda I'm in 6b in CT, and I've already wintersown all my cosmos, marigolds and zinnias. In the past I've sown everything on your list except strawberries and fuschia. I don't have my records with timelines, but I've also found that as the years go by, and especially as I'm sowing fewer perennials (sow them once and you've got 'em, lol) that I am doing my annuals sooner and sooner, still with good results. You are, of course, colder than I am but I think you would be okay with sowing most of those.

I sow only a few containers at a time, so my wintersowing stretches from January to April, and I do my veggies last, probably end of March into April. I would say at the very least, start with the snaps, alyssum, and bachelor's buttons. And I think marigolds would be fine too - they are pretty darn hardy and self sow. If you are the type of person who does all their sowing at once, I think most of those would be fine sowing now. Except, again, for the strawberries and fuschia - and those may be okay too, I just can't advise on those.

Good luck! Sounds like you are going to have an explosion of flowers this year, if your greenhouse is already full and you are going for a second round AND wintersowing!

:)
Dee
Amanda Wilcox
Original Author
3 years ago
Dee

Yes I am going for an explosion of flowers! I'm working on renewing overgrown gardens and a lot of that has been tearing out undesirable plants so I have a lot of room. There are 8 gardens on the property and after ripping out the stuff that isnt wanted there is a LOT of empty space. Honestly I'm considering expanding or creating a new garden if I run into space issues.

I'm worried I wont have enough plants! I am definitely leaning towards doing mostly annuals this year though since I wanna play with the gardens year to year.

I'm glad to hear that because I've started with the snapdragons, petunias and some bachelors buttons. I was worried about sowing zinnias, marigolds, cosmos and dahlias early so I'm glad to hear you have experience sowing most of that early.

Should I be worried that I dont have enough time?
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RJ: I wintersow in OK and we rarely have snow!!! I mostly use seed trays with the clear plastic lids for my containers. I do start giving the trays extra ventilation as soon as I see green sprouts. Because I reuse my containers, I have a few holes for ventilation and moisture, but when I need to start increasing the ventilation I start moving the lids sideways....with a weight holding down the lids so they don't fly off...chicken wire is a wonderful invention! When I get really good germination, I take my lids off all together. In the South we do get warm even in the dead of winter. It was 71 degrees yesterday...and 30 degrees today. Watch your moisture levels once you take off your lids, mine dry out pretty quickly between the heat and the ever-present Oklahoma wind. Lisa
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i haven't started any of my annuals or veggies yet either. i will probably be starting those sometime this week. with a frost date in late may, i thinks it's just too soon, especially with this weird weather we've been having this spring. i bet you're safe on those. as for the things that need cold stratification, i'm too new at this myself to have any clue. how long will your cold weather last? i'm not sure, but people who put their seeds in the fridge for stratification have their seeds at 38-40, so i would think if you are guaranteed temps at night like that for the next 3-4 weeks, you'd be okay? that's just a guess. i took a weird leap of faith last week and sowed a few things that wanted stratification and crossed my fingers that the nights would be cold LOL good luck!
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We got a live one, ya'll! He's already got a cold frame! Wade, You'll want to start with the FAQs at the top of the page or at this link. We sow seeds in the winter using a variety of containers, recycled/purchased/repurposed. Perennials are started now while it's cold. Once the weather warms up and the last of the frosts are close, we sow annuals and veggies. If there's a seed for it, we can almost certainly grow it. You just have to know when to sow it. Many recommend Miracle Grow potting MIX, not soil for their containers. Another one is ProMix. Me, I use anything I can get my hands on that's light, fluffy, and has good drainage without packing down. I have a cold frame too. Tomorrow, I'll be sowing a bunch of containers to put in there. They'll germinate quickly and get planted out as soon as they have their second set of leaves. Perennials can handle the cold, and our soil never truly freezes except on the north side of the house. It's gardening all year long.
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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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diggerdee zone 6 CT
3 years ago
I think you have plenty of time! I sow well into April, some years up to the end of it. And for some things (lettuce, other greens, some cutting flowers) I use the container method for successive sowings. Obviously you have to watch more carefully due to the higher temps of spring and summer, but I do sow things through the summer. But even without those successive sowings, you have another full month to six weeks to get things sown, so you should be good!

Good luck with your new and improved gardens!
:)
Dee
deanna in ME Barely zone 6a, more like 5b
3 years ago
Amanda, many annuals can be sown very early, even in February. The issue with some of the ones above, like zinnias, is that they germinated SO QUICKLY. If a tender annual takes 10-14 days to germinate, I sow early. if it's like zinnias, and they germinate in 1-5 days, or even up to 7 days, I'll often wait. I've had fast-germinating seeds sprout in February during an unusual warm spell. Now I look at how long they take to germinate and plan for quick ones to be wintersown later. Don't know if that helps, but thought I'd mention.
Amanda Wilcox
Original Author
3 years ago
Okay good to know!! I'm going to be sowing most everything this week if I have time. Sowed somenstuff about two weeks ago. Got tiny little bachelors button sprouts but no petunias or snapdragons just yet.

What to winter sow

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diggerdee zone 6 CT

Amanda Wilcox
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diggerdee zone 6 CT

deanna in ME Barely zone 6a, more like 5b

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What to winter sow

Comments (5)

diggerdee zone 6 CT

Amanda WilcoxOriginal Author

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diggerdee zone 6 CT

deanna in ME Barely zone 6a, more like 5b

Amanda WilcoxOriginal Author

COMPANY

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Amanda Wilcox
Original Author

Amanda Wilcox
Original Author