Have you wintersown here before? How did it work for you? This is my first time. We live near Savannah. I've put out 13 containers so far. I'm really curious how it works in this warm weather. I envy those people with pics of a little snow covering their containers.

Katy bug, with temps in the 70s, you will probably start getting lots of sprouts in your containers.

Growsy, we don't have much snow this winter so far, but 2 winters ago there was 3 feet covering my containers. Ugh! That was way too much of a good thing!

@growsy, this is my second year wintersowing. I put out 50 containers last year and things went really well even though it was such a weird winter. I did have early sprouts that needed protection with a late frost. I also didn't grow anything that needed cold stratification. This year I am trying a few varieties that do need cold and they are staying in my extra fridge for a month before I put them out.

@terrene, I don't envy your snow one bit!

This post was edited by katy_bug on Sat, Jan 12, 13 at 10:19

Katy bug you mentioned putting them in your extra fridge. Are you putting the whole container made up with soil & seeds in the fridge or just the seeds themselves first? I'm in TN zone 7 also. I didn't sow much last year since the weather was so weird and I wasn't sure what would happen. I guess you don't find out if you don't try. :-)

@ptp813, yup. The whole container goes in after the seeds have been sown. I am only doing this for 3 containers that are seeds that I really really want to germinate. Everything else is just put out in the yard, even with the crazy weather.

It also helps that I have an extra fridge in the garage so it's not like they are next to the milk or anything.

I am actually in zone 8a, but for some reason my profile keeps saying that I am in 7.

Just hold on a bit. I am on the border between central and north Alabama, the forecast for the 22nd is for bitter cold. But yes, it is a mild winter - so far. The paperwhite daffodils were blooming before Christmas!

I have sown just over 30 containers so far. I saw my first sprouts this morning, in the first container I sowed (my first batch was done 5 days ago). I'm looking forward to seeing more. Kind of wondering if I got my mix a little too wet, but we'll see how it goes. I like your idea of using the fridge, Katy bug, you'll have to let us know how it works out. I have my containers in bright shade, because I don't have a convenient morning sun location right now. I know we may still have some cold weather, madabouteu, but we did hit 80 this week! Feels more like spring than winter here.

BTW, I'm close to Savannah, katy bug - are you nearby?

I am up in Athens. A glorious partly sunny and 72 degree afternoon up here!

NOT a warm winter for us. BRRRR we were lucky to see 15 today. R high temperatures stay in the teens and lows in some places dropping to 30 to 40 degrees below zero!! Guess all there is to do is winter sow!

Although it is cold here now, we still haven't gotten any snow accumulation and I just saw the other day my daffodils are starting to come up... in January... in northern IL! I haven't checked them since the freezing rain and ice we had this weekend. I spent half an hour trying to get into the car on Sunday. Had to chip away ice on the passenger side just to get in and then let the car run with all the defrosters etc on high for quite awhile before I could even make a dent in the ice with a metal scraper on the windshield. Then driving around you could hear all the remaining ice making the most awful noises squeaking and cracking with every vibration. It was freaky.

Haven't even started wintersowing yet. This year I am going to start them in morning sun only just to be safe if it gets really warm again.

So I went out and checked my jugs this morning . . . and I have sprouts. My containers are in the shade and I already have freaking sprouts in half of them. Well, we shall see how they fair. I can't believe the rest of you are so cold!

well Katy_bug and growsy I am halfway between you in Eatonton and I have sprouts so what do I do NOW? I have an unheated greenhouse should they go in there when (IF) the weather turns cold? My first time WSing Are they doomed to a premature death?

I wonder if Athens is going to get the winter storm we are supposed to have today... Gadsden is supposed to have 1 to 3 inches of snow, a really deep snow for here! It will almost be welcome after the 5 inches of rain we've had the last week! Ive put off my sowing this year and now am glad. Groundhog Day is my target this year.

They say we might see flurries but most of the snow will go north of Athens. The low tomorrow night is 28. Part of me want to rush out and protect the sprouts. Another part of me say .... Whatever happen will happen. If they die, I will just sow more!

Hi clipclop! Nice to start to get to know some other Georgians on here. This is my first time wintersowing as well. I also have sprouts in over half my jugs & I'm not done sowing yet. The sprouts should be alright in their jugs at least until they get their first set of true leaves - longer if you sprouted in potting mix instead of seed starting mix. If you used seed starting mix & go longer in the jug, you need to think about giving them a little food. I have small raised bed gardens, so I'm thinking I could cover things if it looks like it will get cold after I've planted out. That'd be hard on a larger scale. I'm also closer to the ocean, so have less chance of extended cold than you - but I'm just going to have to figure it out as I go. Good luck!!

I'm also in GA, in Atlanta. I've been ws since Trudi started this forum!
Last I did sow some perennials and biennials and had some great germination on them but we didn't start until Jan. and for the most part, the plants were totally cold hardy so we never had to worry about a sprout. Since those get kept at church and have less attention than mine at home, I need to be more careful what is sown. Perennials that need more cold to germinate did not germinate since we didn't have cold, or even enough temperature swings.
This year we are going along the same plan, and at home I am only ws/early spring sowing annuals and no perennials. I still have roses and alyssum blooming, crocus are near finished...and I'm simply not going to risk all my new seeds in the weather until a bit later. Normally I start those in Mid-February. A few others I will start earlier (those that take longer to come to a good planting size)and if I get sprouts I will put them in the cold frame on colder nights.

Just had to laugh when I saw this subject line. After a fairly warm early Jan. winter has arrived -- the wind is howling and it's in the teens now and only supposed to warm to about 20 today.

At least I don't have to worry about early germination. :)

Caryl

Weather has been like a yoyo here, warm temps for a few days with intermittent cold spells. It's currently 8 degrees, but on Sunday (3 days ago) the high was 53.

I haven't started wintersowing yet, I'm still at the seed sorting stage. I do have 3 little containers sprouting inside under lights in vermiculite. I'll start wintersowing some perennials within a few days I hope.

Karen

My electric heat bill has enjoyed the warmer temps earlier this winter, but today I woke up to a temp of 2 with wind chills of -20. Most schools have delayed opening for 2 hrs because of the dangerous temperatures for the kids walking and riding on the bus.

It nice to have a few really cold days to kill off the bugs from the previous years.

The warm winter is taking a day off! It's 21 here today, with a wind chill of 8.

-20 wind chills? Brutal!

Karen - I haven't starting sowing yet either. Not sure what to do yet, except for tomatoes later on. Think I might stick to annuals again this year. Just about everything from my terrace has either been given away or died in the last couple years. I'll see what is left after this winter. My garden has been sorely neglected.

PV

It is a balmy 4 degrees here now, supposed to get up to 7! I'm so glad I did some wintersowing on Saturday when it was almost 50 degrees. I did about 20 containers, but had to move them already due to the wicked winds that came with the temperature change. Still no snow though!

Update on my fridge sprouts: took them out and put them with the rest about a week ago and the delphiniums are now sprouting. Still waiting on the milkweeds.

cool, Katy-bug. I am hoping some milk-weed seed is headed my way. I sent off an sase a little while ago, although I can't remember exactly when. I ws-ed delphs without stratifying them. One type sprouted, the other didn't. If I restart the type that didn't sprout, I'll try your method.

I've already planted out some beans & tomatoes because I didn't realize I was starting them early. The plants are small but doing well. I had to cover them three nights in a row last week, but the rest of the time they haven't needed it.