Please advise

Thank you
Jackie

Anyways Jackie, yes, wintersowing is done after the winter solstice for a variety of reasons.

You might want to reread how and the why under the wintersowing forum FAQ's or frenquently asked questions. Trudi is reposting those in the wintersowing forum as well.

But unless you have the space to bring your plants inside some place with light, they will not survive the winter.

Silverkelt

Then you can get some more seeds to try wintersowing the correct way, and you'll have twice as many plants!

i figured that out in the "nature" they drop now so i "dropped them" right into planters. lol. what if i put them under my deck, where no snow will get to them? i'll have to go back to wintersowing and see if they will send me more seeds then RE READ and PRINT out the instructions. i was so excited when i saw the seedlings coming up too. hehehe well a lesson learned. i just figured if it happened in nature why not in a planter........

thank you

jackie

ps i hate winter and this is going to make dec/jan a whole lot better. now to see about some more seeds to try..

thanks

You may want to post this on the winter sowing forums. There are a lot of individuals over there who have been winter sowing for years and can share their experience with you. I myself am reatively new to winter sowing so I really cannot say if the seeds will survive or not. If you want I may be able to send you some replacement seeds for a SASE. Just send me an email.

-StLGirl

It's true, many plants drop their seeds right now, I can see how you thought they'd be fine to sow right now.

However, many plants we call annuals are actually perennials for a hot climate, so they'd probably be fine germinating in fall--in Hawaii! They'd normally have a nice warm winter--but they won't get it in your yard. Mother nature didn't anticipate us growing tropical plants up in zone 5, so there's nothing to stop that seed from germinating during a warm October.

Also, just the chaff around a seed can help stop it from germinating for awhile, because it keeps the seed from contacting the soil and getting moistened. The seed won't germinate for months, until the chaff or seed capsule has broken down and it's gotten good soil contact. Of course, with our nice clean commercial seeds (or even the chaff we leave in sometimes) we don't have that, so your seeds got moist immediately.

I agree with what suecirish said about the perennials--they have a good chance of making it. Some perennials and even some hardy annuals like larkspur will sprout now and then live through the winter. Other perennials do better if they sprout in spring. I think your perennial sprouts are more likely to make it if you don't move them out of the container, because in my own yard I've lost a lot of little seedlings by planting them out this late--but if I left them in the container and stuck the container in the ground or the cold frame, they were ok. Again, that's my yard, you may experience something better. You should add your zone and state to your info, it will help us a lot in giving advice :)

It doesn't matter if you put the containers where there will be no snow, because it will be just as cold. And without snow, they will dry out. A cold frame or the garage is one zone warmer than the rest of your yard, so if the "annual" is hardy in zone 8 and you live in zone 5, they won't make it.

Definitely come on over to the wintersowing forum, it's a nice place to hang out! And there are a few people who offer newbie seed packs, not just Wintersown.org. And if you keep your eyes open for free seed offers on this exchange, you can replace your seeds even if you can't get them from Wintersown.

What zone are you in? That could change things regarding any perennials you sowed. If you're in a warmer zone, you might have plenty of time for them to get large enough to plant out.

Keep the faith - gardening of any kind is a learning experience and we all have successes and failures. Just don't let the failures beat you down.

Feel free to email me privately if you'd like to chat - I'm happy to offer advice and may be able to offer your some replacement seeds if those you started don't make it. My email is on my member page.

Diana :)

Someone just pointed out this post to me. Don't feel bad, life is a learning experience. You're welcome to send for more seeds.

T