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brandon7_gw

Winter Sowing

brandon7 TN_zone7
17 years ago

Has anyone else started planting seeds? I have 3 wooden pallets covered with pots on the back deck already. Most are different types of trees and shrubs. I also stuck two Illicium parviflorum (Anise Shrub) cuttings. I'm hoping they will root OK this time of year.

I also wonder when the best time to plant Datura seeds is. Do some of you Brug/Datura-aholics have any secrets about how to best start them?

Comments (15)

  • farmerbell
    17 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Brandon, I started my winter sowing today--23 pots. About 100 more to go. Of course I only planted perennials today. Last year I winter sowed double yellow and purple datura on 2/28. The purple germinated on 3/18 and the yellow on 4/16. I potted them up in April to attain some growth before planting in the ground. I certainly had blooms earlier than if they had been planted directly in the soil.

    Winter sowing is the answer for a gardener who is having withdrawal from being outside in the garden. Last year was my first year and I had great success. I had tomatoes seedlings survive a couple of 15 degree nights. I did put them in coolers for those 2 nights. When I removed them from the coolers, the soil was totally frozen, but the tomatoes survived and I had ripe tomatoes by the 4th of July. Good luck.

    Ann

  • krikit
    17 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I have not done this before, I think I may try some this weekend. Do you have a particular soil mix that you use?

    Frances

  • brandon7 TN_zone7
    Original Author
    17 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Ann, I have a bunch of Datura seeds left from last year, but there is no way I can afford the room to start them inside now. Maybe I can sacrifice some room in very early spring. If only I had a greenhouse....

    Frances, Soil type depends on what you're planting. If any changes in usual soil type are necessary, because of winter sowing, it would be better drainage. Most of the stuff I planted the other day were planted in 60% Walmart soilless potting mix with 40% sand. If you use sand, don't use builder's sand or any sand that isn't pH neutral! I use swimming pool filter sand from Home Depot. I am assuming it is "real" sand and pH neutral.

  • TnShadyLady
    17 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Brandon,
    Datura grow very quickly. So, you could start them later - - perhaps by letting them germinate in a warm, sunny location and then moving them outside to a protected area. I start seedlings inside plastic drink bottles which act as mini greenhouses (split the bottle but leave the top attached in one small spot to act as a hinge).

  • farmerbell
    17 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Brandon, the dates I gave you for planting the datura last year were the dates that I WINTER SOWED the seeds. They sat on my deck in the cold weather, germinated, grew, and bloomed much earlier than if I had waited until warm weather to sow them. This was my first experience winter sowing them and I will always do that from now on. Much easier and also earlier germination.

    Ann

  • brandon7 TN_zone7
    Original Author
    17 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    So you didn't have to bring them in after they sprouted in mid March? I can't remember what the last freeze date is for Knoxville, but I thought it was probably a little later than that, or did you use something to protect them from any freezes? I noticed many Daturas are only hardy to zone 9 or 10.

  • farmerbell
    17 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Brandon, I never brought any of my winter sown plants inside. That would defeat the purpose of winter sowing. Last year was my first year and when we were going to have temps in the mid-teens after my tomatoes had germinated, I did leave them outdoors, but inside coolers. After the temps warmed up I took the tomatoes out of the coolers and the soil in the containers was frozen solid, but the tomatoes survived!! I had ripe tomatoes from these plants by July 4. They were planted 2/28 and I had germination by mid March. It still astounds me how hardy some of the winter sown plants really are. I guess I am now a believer.

    Ann

  • ginintn
    17 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    HI EVERYONE! NEW TO FORUM. What other things can be winter sowed in ground/pots?

  • brandon7 TN_zone7
    Original Author
    17 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Seeds are naturally winter sown when, not collected by humans and put into those little seed envelopes, so anything that will grow on it's own in a particular area can be winter sown. Also, with a little extra help (something like a milkjug in partial shade, used as a terrarium, and good draining potting soil), most any kind of plant that you want to grow outside can be wintersown. There are lots of advantages to doing this. Discussions on this subject can be found in the winter sowing forum.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Winter Sowing Forum

  • bigorangevol
    17 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I can't kill these Datura with Round-up! I only get THOUSANDS each year. I end up pulling them like weeds. Anybody that wants some is welcome to all you want. You can come over to the house in spring and take as many as possible. I know I had to have brought dozens to the spring MTPS last year.

    Gin you can WS just about anything! There have been years that we had several hundred containers on the patio growing everything imaginable. Just take a shot and see what works.

  • mechele211
    17 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Brandon, this is a totally new idea for me too. Reading these messages makes me want to try it and I certainly have enough seeds to spare if my first attempt doesn't work out. I found some photos by googling. Take a look at these. Such a cool (no pun intended) easy idea.

    Here is a link that might be useful: winter sowing pics

  • hermitonthehill
    17 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    What type of Daturas do you have coming up by the thousands?

    Brandon, what type of Datura(s) are you looking to sow/grow?

    Datura is easily my "first love"... hook, nook, or crook, I MAKE space for them indoors LOL I got my hands on a "new" variety for 2006. It had one bloom (that was more beautiful than a rose) before it took damage from kids/critters and subsequently looked like it would die off completely. But alas, the variety appears not so unlike D. inoxia (aka D. innoxia, D. meteloides) in that it returned from its rootstock. It definitely prefers a cooler growing environment. I moved the looked-dead pair to a larger pot and have them in the master bathroom under a CFL that I have in the ceiling light's socket (I'm gradually changing all of the lightbulbs in our place to CFLs, it wasn't just for the plants, but energy saving and longer life of a bulb). Both of them are coming back stronger than ever from the rootstock and relishing the cold/cool environment. They were pitiful looking growing in the high heat of last summer - truly. I just hope they can avoid kid/critter damage this second go-around to not only bloom, but produce viable seed. The variety is Datura nanakai. The one bloom (they're a double) was a watercolour-like yellow (I don't generally like the colour "yellow" but for this, I definitely made an exception), a "washed" colouration - not even as intense as a pastel. And while a tactile inspection revealed strong petals, visually they appear incredibly delicate, like tissue paper. The scent was light but floral, the slightest hint of a rose-like fragrance. Absolutely wonderful! *IF* I can get viable seed (my original seed #s was limited so I'm hoarding that supply), I want to try WS this variety in the future. Out of the multiple varieties of Datura that I grew in 2006, it was the D. nanakai that truly thrived when we moved into the cooler weather and even took the frosts -- there was foliar damage, but it didn't deter them from growing new foliage so long as it wasn't freezing.

    At any rate, while I don't know of any that could withstand the freezes post-germination without protection, I will say that just about any Datura can be sown en masse in a pot, brought up indoors in a cool room with adequate "winter light", while one waits for things to warm outside, and grown there until an appropriate time/weather to transplant out individually. Datura seem less persnickety about any "crowding" - very tolerant of it in fact - as long as they are in a good mix and allowed to develop a strong root system. They handle the "trauma" of being disentangled from one another when they are larger and coming out of a pot from indoors, to go outdoors.

    So, if you have space to fit in say a 10" pot to sow multiple seeds and fair light, most Daturas will grow even with lower temperatures indoors and wait for the warmer weather. They won't necessarily "bolt", but my experience has been (even right beside a sliding glass door with a direct draft from freezing temps outside and north light) that those started in a cooler situation really early on, become very hardy starter plants to be put out later. I trialed all of my varieties in 2006 with full-full sun - no shade all day long - and every single one of them balked (were smaller/shorter, not as happy as others in different positions, etc.). Most of them were fast to throw out blooms and get on with producing seedpods and seeds - and then rapidly die off. So for my area, I dispelled the "full sun" preference that is often cited for them. It created inferior plants. The same plants did an abrupt change when I moved them to a spot where they got only afternoon-sun...

    Anyway... what Daturas are you all "doing"?

  • brandon7 TN_zone7
    Original Author
    17 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I have D. inoxia seed from last year and a couple of other Datura seed types from trades that I haven't grown yet and so don't know their type. I'll probably wait until spring to start mine because I have zero room inside for them and don't want the trouble of bringing them in and sitting them in the hall or something if it does freeze once they start growing.

  • piaff
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi!
    I would like to sow some daturas, but havnt any to trade with, EXEPT Tatulas...a ton or soo
    I also have a lot of papavervarities, for example Drana Queen..
    Please let me know what you would like to have and I will see if I can fix it.

  • brandon7 TN_zone7
    Original Author
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I doubt I will be growing any brugs/daturas this year. I have a bunch of neat/simi-rare tree, shrub, and perennial seeds that I am thinking about planting this year, so I won't have time for anything else. In fact, I am worried about getting all the stuff planted I have already. Thanks though!

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