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wintersowing in early spring
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Posted by xaroline zone3 (My Page) on Wed, Aug 19, 09 at 9:45
| My experiences lead me to think most wintersowing should be started the first two weeks in March here in Zone3 |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: wintersowing in early spring
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| I agree, that's when my designated potting dirt starts to thaw. This year I planted as dirt became available. |
RE: wintersowing in early spring
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| Do you mean wintersowing annuals or perennials? Don't you start hardy perennials in January/February? |
RE: wintersowing in early spring
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| ontnative In zone 3a, freezing temperatures are common well into April and this year into May. Thus, there is lots of winter left for winter sowing during spring in warmer climes. One of the problems I had as a newbie was not realizing there was an order to ws planting. The bulk of the information suggests you can plant anything anytime. It isn't until going through numerous threads that you find out that you don't start your tender annuals at Christmas time. This year was experimental and characterized by cleaning out my old seeds. Consequently, results were mixed and encouraging. |
RE: wintersowing in early spring
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| Lipother, I guess I'm thinking of those perennials, especially native ones, that need more than 6 weeks of freezing weather and multiple freeze-thaw cycles to break dormancy. |
RE: wintersowing in early spring
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| ontnative, Two months is eight weeks. :) I didn't grow many (any?) perennials. By May I had the freeze cycles cut off by passive water heat. It didn't stay warm but I had enough water to hold the temperature at zero. The tomatoes and other tenders weren't happy; but, only recently sprouted sub arctic plenties died. I had geraniums, tomatoes, and miniature roses that needed to get out of the house well before the last frost. |
RE: wintersowing in early spring
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| Xaroline: To answer your question directly, wintersowing can be started anytime during the winter. Remember, winter sowing is particularly applicable to hardy perennials, and perennials which need 'cold stratification' or periods of freeze and thaw in order to break dormancy. There are some that will just not germinate in warmer temperatures. I grow Canna lilies from seed every year and I start them before Christmas because they have very hard seed coats and need several freeze/thaw periods to soften them up. Then when it get warm enough in spring, the seedlings emerge. Tomatoes cannot be winter sown successfully in our Zones not because they won't grow, but because they will be so late germinating that you won't get any ripe fruit. Other tender annuals will not grow - the embryo will be killed by the cold temperatures. It would be to your advantage to go to the site Wintersown.org and consult the databases listed there. They will tell you what can be safely winter sown in your zone. Also, read Trudi's ideas about deciding which seeds to winter sow: by name, origin, etc. That information is also there. Any annual (like coreopsis, poppies) that re-seeds itself can be winter sown successfully. The great thing about winter sowing is you just sow the seeds, put them outside, and forget about them. No fussing over them, you just wait and mother nature will allow the seedlings to sprout when the time is right. Two annuals which I have winter sown successfully are petunias, and nasturtiums. On the other hand, zinnias must be sown in the spring. Winter sowing cannot be fully understood unless you read the information on the site. Once you have put your garden to bed, it will be worth the investment in time to read it. Good luck!! |
RE: wintersowing in early spring
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If I have seeds I like to experiment. I did get one ripe tomatoe from wintersown plants. Expensive seeds like wave petunias would not be wintersown.
But if I have lots of collected seeds then I would try winter sowing.
Wintersown petunias flower too late here for me. The neat thing is the seedlings from winter sowing are already hardened off. |
RE: wintersowing
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My start on winter sowing this fall are Sweet Cicely, caraway, perennial candytuft and lovage.
I bought natural almonds and natural filberts and will try winter sowing those as a fall project.
Caroline zone 3 Calgary |
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