If a plant will reseed with no protection, then wouldn't it work with our containers??

My question here is do we really need lids for our containers?? Or is that so that no other seedlings will blow in the pot?? That is how that tickseed busted that one pot, it was totally out in the open no cover at all.

What do you guys think??

I may try it with some seeds that aren't so expensive and extremely common. I am thinking natives would actually do good like this.

Just one of my many thoughts running through my head!!

Karen

Becky

I am sure someone else will have some input also. I am eager to see what other problems I may face.

The covers really do serve an important purpose.

1. They provide a mini greenhouse for the seeds that helps to germinate the seeds more quickly because the soil will be warmer with a cover.

2. It keeps those pesky critters from getting the seeds, especially the birds

3. It keeps the soil moist/wet, but usually not flooding. But even if the seeds end up in a pool of water because of too much rain, the seeds stay in the container instead of traveling to where ever the water will take them.

4. Same as above with a snow cover as it melts

5. Keeps the wind from being able to blow anything into the container, especially those weed seeds.

6. by attempting to keep everything out of the container except for the soil, seeds planted in it and moisture/rain/snow melt, you have better control of the growth in the container and it's easier to just take the container and HOS the seedlings.

One never knows what the weather will be from one year to the next, except that if mother nature can toss it at us, she will do it.

So far the only thing missing that I've experienced seems to be a tornado, a hurricane and the kitchen sink.

I've had containers floating in 2 -3 feet of water twice, both germinated seeds and containers with just seeds in them. The first time I figured that was the end of all of them, but low and behold, everything was fine and all those seeds germinated.

At the same time, I wouldn't want to even think about where my seeds would have been had they been in pots with no covers, or direct sown for that matter.

What I can tell you is that the pots that where left outside all winter had water pouring out of them as if they where a waterfall, and had their been any seeds in them, they wouldn't have been there after all the spring rains we had 2 different times.

The reseeds of things like cosmos and marigolds, found their way to the cracks between the slabs in the front walk and even out in the street. All the garden beds where under water.

Not one seed that was WS in their covered containers left in the back of my house found their way to any location other than their containers.

Oops, not quite true. hubby did take "NO SHOW CONTAINERS" and dumped them in a spot that was dug up by a critter, right in the middle of the lawn in the back yard.
Didn't know he did it until I got a surprise about a month later. Right in the middle of the back fenced in yard where blooming morning glories trailing along the ground, one lonely petunia, and a couple of marigolds.

BUT they didn't get their on their own.

Those covers really do serve a purpose and really work better than having the containers uncovered.

Fran

It was a thought maybe not a well thought about thought but it was an idea anyway.

So, don't feel bad if an idea you had that sounded good, doesn't work out to be so good. In a perfect world of perfect weather conditions, it would work. We just don't have that.

Just keep tossing out your ideas, odds are someone that has been WS for several years can provide feedback about the idea.

The only reason I know that this your idea has potential problems with rain and flooding is because of experience in year 3 and then last spring, year 7.

It's amazing what you can learn when you get 14 inches of rainfall in less than weeks.

And if I did not WS seeds before those 2 years, or never had all that rainfall, I would have thought that your idea just might not be a bad one.

What works for one person with WS won't always work or be liked by someone else.

Trial and error is also part of WS too.

Also remember that people can live in the same weather zone in different parts of the country, yet their growing season and weather can be as different as day and night.

So keep the ideas and questions coming. Someone will pop on and answer them, maybe tweak the idea, give you pros and cons, or like I did, tell you about experience with snow, heavy rain, flooding and what may happen with seeds that are not covered.

Fran

Life in general is a trial and error, for me lol. Even upon good sound advice sometimes I just have to try something on my own and find out first hand. I am stubborn, and I admit it.

I won't lie I do have intentions of using my pot within a pot method for some Ratibida columnifera (mexican hat). I will still sow a container also, for that just in case factor. I have like way to many of those seeds and then I ended up buying some on top of what I already had. I do things like that sometimes but not on purpose.

I wouldn't of even thought about the idea seriously if it hadn't happen to me by accident. I seriously just gave up on those seeds. Then I went out to my little area that next spring and I had such an awesome surprise in that pot. Twice as many germinated over winter than what had that previous spring. So believe me I am a true believer on this winter sowing.

I am extremely excited about all of it. I have found out that I am in need of way more containers than what I had saved. I have my mom, dad, sister, nephew, husband and kids all saving me containers. LOL and I have already warned the neighbors on what to expect during the winter. They just laughed and said that is pretty neat that I knew how to do that. I was thinking in the back of my head I can only hope I am doing this right. LOL

Anywho thank you again for the ideas, I am sure as I journey down this road for the first time officially I may have more ideas or questions. Thank you!!

Is that a feasible idea?? Or am I just wishful thinking again??

When I started winters sowing those things that require cold treatment - many perennials, trees, shrubs - many, many years ago and before I even had a computer, I got the suggestion from an English gardening magazine article. My climate is just about a mirror image of England, winter temps will almost average (day/night) that of my refrigerator that I'd been using, and I started out sowing as done by English gardeners, pots topped with grit or even fine aquarium gravel, no covers. I still do it that way (but don't WS annuals or vegetables).

There is no possibility my pots will dry out over winter, I've never watered one yet....coastal Washington. The grit keeps gully washer rains from dislodging seed. Potting soil with adequate drainage prevents water logged pots...and I do sow in nursery pots. The only issue I've had are with sparrows sometimes disturbing the pots, and one year a chipmunk surprised me by planting sunflower seeds for me - a length of chicken wire across the top of groups of pots discourages both.

If you lived someplace along the I5 corridor between Seattle and Portland or west of there to the ocean, I might suggest you try the method for hardy plants - but clearly you do not :)

Paula

Sometimes our spring weather is really wet, but it tends to come as monsoon rain rather than constant drizzle as in Washington. Our wind up here on this hill is so drying, last year it blew my bins, each with 6 or more jugs, from my patio. Those bins were heavy!

I had a brick in the bins with 16 oz cups of tomato seeds. That bin was blown over, brick and all

Now we haven't had any real rain in months. I can't keep pots moist enough to prevent wilting.

I'll stick to lids.

Karen

Ghoghunter, you give me hope on my second thought. Some of my seeds have a long germination period so I will just have to wait and see what happens. Some I am for sure will be duds and I will probably just toss those.

Let me mention that I also used four kiddie pools. These were used the summer before as container gardens ~ lots of soil and lots of big slits for drainage. I simply direct sowed these and left them uncovered. They got snowed on, the snow melted, it rained while the base of the kiddie pools were still frozen and the rain didn't drain. They all were frozen with ice at least an inch thick.......aarrgghh, panic, Panic, PANIC....I couldn't do anything about it. When warmer weather finally came the pools thawed and drained and the seeds came up! YEAH!

You can do a WS open sow in a container as long as it is large enough and deep enough to hold a sufficient amount of soil that will retain its moisture for several months throughout winter and then into spring, and the wetted soil should be heavy enough that it holds the container in place when strong winds blow.

Kiddie pool containers are very large--they hold a lot of soil. They have a large surface area which you can divide into sections to sow several types of seed. I've marked the sections with pieces of bamboo stakes laid across the soil.

T