WINTER SOWING

 WHAT IS WINTER SOWING?

Winter sowing is planting seeds outdoors in a protected container during winter. The container remains outdoors until the seedlings emerge in the spring.

There are benefits to winter sowing. When you direct sow in the ground, the seeds are at the mercy of Mother Nature. They can be washed out in downpours; eaten by animals; desiccate in the wind; or rot in the soil. They are more protected in a container and the spring seedlings do not need to be hardened off before planting in the garden. Winter sowing is ideal for those with limited indoor space for seed starting. No special lighting or equipment is required for germination.

The best time to winter sow perennials and annuals is generally December to March depending on the weather conditions in your area. These seeds receive a consistent period of moist, cold temperatures before germination occurs in spring.

You can provide a protected, cold environment in a DIY mini greenhouse for seedlings. This can be a family-friendly activity for parents and children.

INSTRUCTIONS

Clean container — Wash and rinse with mild water/bleach solution (1 Tbsp. per gallon) milk jugs or suitable (material that lets light in) containers. Discard the top. The opening allows rain and melting snow to keep the soil moist.

Cut container — If not using a container with a hinged lid, measure 5” up from the bottom and mark around the sides. Lay it on its side and cut all the way around, leaving about 2” (under the handle, if using a jug with a handle) so that the top hinges open. Children can measure and mark.

Create drainage - Cut 1/8″-1/4″ diameter holes by using a knife, screwdriver or nail to poke 6 to 8 holes and 4 to 6 holes about ½” up from the bottom on the sides. This is important--if you don’t make drainage holes, your seeds will drown! If using a container with a hinged lid, poke a few holes in the top of the lid, too, to let rain and snow in.

Add soil —Use a potting soil mix that's light and drains well. Do not use garden soil or compost and avoid mixes that feature water retention or moisture control properties. Put the soil in a tub and pre-moisten it. Soil should be moist like a damp sponge, light and fluffy and drain well. Fill the container with 2 to 4" of a potting soil mix¹ that's light and drains well.

Sow the seeds — Space them a bit closer than on the packet but at the listed depth. Be sure they are covered. Seedlings can be thinned after germinating in the spring.

Seal the container – Close the hinge, seal the cut edges with duct tape, and leave the top open.

Label the container - Label with the type of seed and date of sowing with a permanent marker.

Set outdoors and leave! – Site the container in an area that receives winter sun. Do not place the container on a covered porch as the seeds require the moisture from the rain and snow. They should experience all the weather conditions they would in nature. Place containers in a milk crate if conditions are windy. Forget about your containers until the spring when the seed germinate.

¹ If you are using toilet roll or paper seed pots, put an inch of soil in the bottom. Fill the pots with soil and set them in container, fitting them in tightly and firmly down on the soil. Fill the soil up to the tops of the tubes. (See eBlog on paper seed pots  )

Spring Care

In spring, once the weather starts to warm up,  check on the moisture inside your mini greenhouses. Check for condensation or lift the containers for weightiness. If some of your containers have condensation but others don't, it is a good bet that those that don't have condensation could use a good drink of water. Also, if some of your containers are lighter in weight when compared to other containers it is a good bet those lighter containers could use a drink, too.

The easiest way to water your containers is to soak them. Put a couple of inches of water in a bucket or large plant saucer and set the container into the bucket of water for approximately 15 to 30 minutes until the container has absorbed as much water as it is going to. Don't worry about over watering, the excess will drain out the bottom holes.

On warm spring days, open the container to keep the seedlings from getting too warm. Close again (no need to re-tape) if evenings are cool. When seedlings are tall enough, or reach the top of the container, and have grown their first few sets of leaves, it’s time to plant them into the garden. They should have a good root system but remove carefully as roots may be tangled together. Some plants will need to wait until after the last frost date (May 12 for Franklin County). Cool weather crops, such as lettuce, can be planted out 4-6 weeks before then.

When seedlings are ready to transplant, be sure to bury the tube in the ground so the edge is below the soil surface. 

Spring Watch for winter sowing

Other resource: Penn State Winter Sowing

CKagan, Master Gardener

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Seeds: What’s in the Packet

Seeds: What’s in the Packet

 by Annette MaCoy, Penn State Extension, Franklin County

SEED CATALOGS  are arriving in mailboxes now. Seeds offer an opportunity for gardeners to grow old favorites and try new varieties at a much lower cost than purchased plants. The selection of seeds available from catalogs is extensive; you can find unusual varieties not sold or grown by local nurseries or garden centers. It takes some time and effort to start seeds successfully, but many are very easy for beginning gardeners to grow.

When we order seeds from a catalog, or when we purchase packets of seed in the spring, we are drawn to the colorful flower or vegetable pictured. It is important also to pay attention to the information and instructions provided, which can spell the difference between success and failure.

Seed Packet Info (Photo:B.WIlliams, NC State)

Here is some of the information usually included in catalogs and on seed packets:

• Description – includes common and scientific name, plant height at maturity, days to harvest or bloom, growth habit (for instance, vining), life cycle (annual or perennial), and suggested uses for the plant.

• HARDINESS ZONE – for perennials, this designation indicates how well the plant will survive average minimum low winter temperatures. The United States is divided into bands, or zones, with lower numbers indicating colder areas. Franklin County is in Zone 6, so perennials or woody plants that you select should be listed as “hardy to zone 6” or colder.

• Hybrid or Open Pollinated – these terms refer to how these seeds were bred or created. Hybrid seeds, often called F1  hybrids, are the result of a specific cross between two carefully maintained parent plants to create a variety with hybrid characteristics and vigor. Open pollinated plants, on the other hand, are varieties that are pollinated naturally; these are often called “heirloom” or “antique” varieties and exhibit characteristics that are usually stable from year to year. They may be less vigorous or less disease resistant than F1hybrids but have other attributes, such as flavor or fragrance, that make them worth growing.

• Weight - either a weight or number of seeds is noted; this is useful in determining how much seed or how many packets you will need for the area you are planning to plant.

• Date – the year for which the seeds were packaged, e.g., “Packed for 2021” and a sell-by date, as well as the country of origin, are included. It’s important to know this date, because as seeds age, their germination rate declines. If you sow seeds from several years ago, you may get fewer seeds sprouting as their viability decreases.

• Planting Directions – when to plant, planting depth, spacing, light exposure requirements, days to emergence, whether the seeds should be started indoors or can be planted directly outdoors; all this information will help you to grow a successful crop.

Although we often don’t think much about it, a seed is an extraordinary thing. Seeds come in myriad shapes and sizes, and plants have evolved ingenious methods to disperse seed. A seed is basically a container that is generally small, easily stored, and able to withstand conditions that would kill its parent plant. No matter how small the seed, contained within that seed coat is a dormant plant, complete with root, stem, and leaves, most of the time with a food source – either seed leaves or endosperm – to provide nourishment to the embryo seedling. A seed survives cold, drought, heat, sometimes for hundreds of years, just waiting for the right conditions of moisture and light to germinate.

Here are a few interesting facts about seeds:

• Seeds provide more food for human beings than any other plant or animal – think of rice, corn, wheat, barley, oats, peanuts, and nuts. The second largest of all known seeds is the familiar coconut. It can float, sometimes thousands of miles, on the ocean because of its hollow cavity and fibrous coat.
• Some seeds, such as those of orchids and begonias, are as fine as dust. The seed capsule of one orchid flower contained over 3 million seeds.
• Many common weed seeds, such as lambs’ quarters, ragweed, and foxtail, can survive up to 40 years buried in the soil

Seed Vault Items (Photo Courtesy of Svalbard)

• The Norwegian government has built a SEED VAULT at Svalbard, 390 feet inside a sandstone mountain on the island of Spitsbergen, to collect and preserve the genetic diversity of over 4.5 million samples of different seeds.

Editor's note: Keep your seed packets after sowing to save seeds and for reference on future care and harvesting. 

At the end of the season you may want to SAVE SEEDS FROM YOUR GARDEN. Here's some tips from Penn State.

Also remember, when saving seeds, that germination rates will decline over time. You may want to test the viability of any saved, or shared, seeds. Check out TEST YOUR SEEDS FOR VIABILTY on this blog. 

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