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sassybutterfly_2008

A Southern Question...

Hey ya'll! :P (I just HAD to...)

So here in GA, we generally have fairly mild winters. Snow is rare, but if we get it it's generally not til as late as Feb - March. It's usually gone within a few days... Sometimes we don't even reach freezing temps til then. My first year I didn't find out about WS'ing until March. That has tended to be my usual practice ever since - to sow everything in late Feb to March.

My question is.. if I start things as early as December and the ones NOT needing cold stratification go ahead and sprout... I know they will because it's just not your usual COLD winter temps yet... will the tiny sprouts make it thru the colder days that come later in Feb-March? Or should I stick w/ the usual and just wait til Feb-March to sow everything?

I know we see all the posts in early spring of the newbies worrying over their babies... and I've been one of those right there to console them with you... But I'm feeling right back in the newbie stage with the concept of starting them a few months earlier in our crazy weather patterns. There's been days in November/December we break out the shorts and t-shirts again.. and then there's days for a warm jacket.. it's just so up and down! THAT is my main concern. Because I know the seeds will think, oh! it's Spring already.. and stick their lil heads up out of the ground only to get frozen the following week... then we might heat up again.. you get the idea..lol That's why I have stuck w/ the original plan of waiting til Feb/March for the majority of the WS jugs to go out. Do you think they will survive if I plant them earlier? Or should I just wait and do what has always worked? And to throw a whole new wrench into the pot... what if I go ahead and start some jugs NOW? We're in the 70's mostly this week, 50's at night, but then 80's/60's again next week but who knows.. I know lots will germinate if I do it now.. will they be able to handle wintering over thru the colder months later?

I know you will all steer me in the right direction... I have a tendency to over-think these things. I should, perhaps, just toss the seeds, close the jugs and let Ma Nature do her thing! :)

Thanks!

~Wendy

Comments (4)

  • gardenweed_z6a
    12 years ago

    Unlike ya'll , here in the Frozen North the cold weather will be upon us before the cat can lick her ear and it will stay with us until April. Last year I was still wearing multiple layers of polar fleece in May. I winter sow on the solstice and continue on through the frigid months. I sow those seeds first that require a cold, moist period in order to germinate then move on to those that don't once I've got the others tucked out in the snow. If your cold period doesn't happen in December-January-February, I'd conduct an experiment to see if it makes a difference waiting to sow those seeds until the cold settles in for at least 4 consecutive weeks. Keep notes of what works so you have that information when the next winter sowing season rolls around. If you have excess seeds you're willing to risk in an experiment, I'd say go for it.

    That being said, if what you're already doing works and gives satisfactory results, why monkey around with the method? "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" comes to mind.

  • morz8 - Washington Coast
    12 years ago

    So, my zone 8 is quite different than yours, we don't get much heat :) We may or may not have freezing temps (colder than frost) between now and the end of the year.
    You say shorts and tees in Nov and Dec, what about Jan and Feb, or after the solstice on Dec 21 (not that I sow that week, marking the beginning of winter, too darned busy).

    "I know lots will germinate if I do it now.. will they be able to handle wintering over thru the colder months later? " Only maybe, I've had that happen and lost some seedlings to a sudden cold freezing storm - however usually there are more seeds in the container that will germinate later.

    I lean towards sowing those things that need a chill to germinate (often after the holidays), then will sow those things that will germinate without a chill a couple of months later. If something freaky shows up in the weather forecast, I have less to move or protect. The only seeds I'm sowing now are those things that do best with a sequence of warm moist, then a cold chill, then warming again before they germinate. Sowing now is Fall sowing, not Winter sowing :)

  • sassybutterfly_2008
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thanks to the both of you. Both great points too.

    And yea, NOW would technically be fall sowing.. I just would like to get started on the more hardy plants like the Echinacea, Rudbeckias, Daisies, anything that seems to withstand the elements regardless here... I even thought of preparing some of the containers DRY and waiting to moisten the containers when it's closer to my usual time frame of sowing in Feb/March. I'm just trying to streamline the process and spread it out so that I have more time since doing it all in Feb/March is quite daunting... I can't seem to lessen my seed lists to sow..lol There's always 'just one more I've got to try!' :)

    Morz ~ what you said about having some sprout then freeze is exactly what concerns me. We don't seem to have regular winter patterns (at least ones that make sense!) and it's very hard to know what to expect from one month to the next!

    Gardenweed ~ all that COLD... brrrrrr!!!! I agree w/ you as well.. it's time for some experiments! I'll let ya know how it goes. :)

    Thanks! I guess I'm just going to dive in and do it all sorts of ways this year and see how it all turns out.

    ~Wendy

  • gardenweed_z6a
    12 years ago

    I guess it's easier for those of us up here in the Klondike zones to follow the winter sowing creed and sow seeds starting on the solstice. My biggest challenge is keeping adequate notes to reference in subsequent years. If you can carve out time to document (+ photograph) what/when/how you do things, it's great information the next time winter sowing pops up on your To Do list.

    Everything I documented Year One was helpful when it came time to start WS in Year Two. Now that Year Two is behind me, I have an even clearer picture in my head of where I want to go with my garden as well as how I can get there. Before winter sowing, it was all just a huge and intimidating puzzle. My little green acre has started to actually LOOK like something the past couple of years thanks to WS. Year Three is going to be amazingly, incredibly, astoundingly terrific (if [whispering] we don't have a drought )!

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