Hi -- I just found this great forum this morning. I have never had much luck with my indoor sowing so I gave up years ago. I also have never heard of winter sowing so wonder if you can direct me to the basic directions for it. I live in Maryland (zone 4). Is it possible to winter sow there?
I also have seen some info on seed exchanges. How would I participate in that?
Thanks so much. This looks like a great forum and site.

Welcome Burry!

Here is a link that might be useful: The Best Place To Get Started

HI-I used to have lots of problems with alpine strawberries. I think the pots I was using (9 sectioned plant pacs), and the time of year I was sowing (spring) were the culprits. The pacs seemed to retain too much water or perhaps they were too deep. The seedlings are really slow growers, and I had trouble keeping them alive during the hot summer months. I switched to 2.5"square pots, I sow in late summer, water with a capillary mat and overwinter in the shed. Works great! Good luck.

I just packed Burry a newbie seed pack. Anyone else need seed? I have envelopes and stamps from donors and can pop them in the mail in minutes.

Oh, I know nothing about alpine strawberries, but I thought it was a very interesting topic. Sorry for the hijack!

Dancinglemons
it is never a good idea to put your seeds in the freezer. Cold stratification can be done in the fridge but not freezer IMHO.
There very few plants which will welcome temps so low.

I don't know about Alpine Strawberries, but I know they do self-sow! My neighbors has them and next thing I know a bird planted one for me last year. Picked my first berries this year :D :D
This was taken Nov. 20th....

{{gwi:453366}}

Cold stratification requires that the seed be first sown into a moist medium, then chilled or frozen.

Placing dry seeds in the fridge or freezer is only cold storage and will not effect germination.

"Alpine" is on the list of Temperate Climate location names to suggest plants for Winter Sowing. At the link below you will find some links with plants names or leading to more information about temperate climates and the plants that grow in them. To advance in the FAQs hit the "Next" button.

Here is a link that might be useful: WSEO FAQ Temperate Names

Thanks Trudi!! I did not know this information but I put the seeds into moist potting medium and then put them in the freezer. I also put some in MPM and put them in the bottom of the fridge -- gotta see which set does best when they are finally let out of cold storage. Should be interesting. Thought about direct sowing (WS) some in an Earthbox outside but have not done that yet.

Wow!! This WS is fascinating. I am SO glad I found this forum.

DL

I winter sowed alpine strawberries last year (the variety 'Ruegen,' from the Pinetree Garden Seeds catalog). I got a handful of nice healthy plants. (I would have had many more if the squirrels hadn't dug into my larger WS container when I uncovered it. Next year I'll know to protect them with wire mesh until they're firmly established. The ones I abused by leaving in the milk jugs waaay too long were just fine and thrived when I planted them out.) I plan on winter sowing more this year. The seedlings were TINY, and stayed that way for quite a while (several weeks) before having a serious growth spurt.

Laurel

Thanks for that squirrel info laurelin !! I will surely put some wire mesh over the planter when I open it up. Looks like I need to purchase a large roll of wire mesh and some good wire snips for 2008. I did not have too much trouble with the 'yard rats' in 2007 but we have a gazillion of them in my neighborhood and I know first hand how much trouble they can cause.

I have some of these growing! I sowed them almost 4 years ago now, before i knew about winter sowing, germination wasnt great, but i did get 2 plants growing! they dont send out runners, and make nice clumps, and the berries are sooo sweet. personally i think they are much better than normal strawberries, and have a completely different taste. they produce like crazy in spring, then a small crop in the fall too. they take the winter here just fine and im sure they could easily be winter sown!