I know what you mean. I was wondering the other day if it was too cold too. But right now all my containers are pretty well frozen in and buried under snow so there really isn't anything I can do about it.

Right - but I think if you have a lot of snow over them, they are probably okay. I just cringe thinking of putting newly sowed, warm from the house, containers out into this cold and windy conditions today. I did go out and start shoveling an area to put them. I'm thinking that I can't leave the containers that have seeds sown in them and have been watered, in the 70 degree temperatures inside without allowing them to start germinating either. I could wait for Sunday, when it warms up but I think 3 days in the warm house is probably a bad idea, so I will probably put them out today and just cover them with a good layer of snow. Which should be no trouble with all the snow out there. [g]

Put them out! They're not going to do anything in this cold - it's not like they will sprout and then freeze, lol. But if you leave them in much longer they might get stimulated by the warmth. If you are worried about all the rain that is forecast, at the very least put them in some kind of unheated outbuilding - shed, detached garage, etc., till the rains pass. Maybe even a box of some kind, if it will help keep all the water off them - but you don't want a box that is tight enough that it will warm up. Or put them under a table, (if there is even a clear spot to with all this snow, lol!) where they will stay cold but drier.

If you feel better digging out a spot and then covering with snow, you can, but that sounds like an awful lot of work to me. :) The cold is not a concern; I might be a bit concerned because it does sound like they are forecasting a LOT of rain, but as long as your containers are well-closed (i.e. tops won't come off and let rains wash away soil) and have adequate drainage, I think you'll be good!

Dee

Thanks Dee, I did put them out this afternoon and dug out a little spot and covered them back up with snow. I don't have tops on them, I didn't remember I was supposed to. lol I kept the tops, I can put them on. That's what happens when you take a few year's off. I'm going to have to get back in the habit of doing it every year, even if it's only a small number of containers.

Really funny trying to find a place for these containers. lol When I dug out a little spot to put them, after I put them on the ground, I realized it's like they are in a canyon with three foot walls around them. It was at the end of a pathway, so they were open to the sun to the South, but, they are in shade most of the time there. If we would just get a week of thaw!

Good idea about keeping them covered outside from the rain on Sunday. I have a place to put them, so that will work temporarily.

My seed order came in the mail today! Yay - now I can finish.

Cold here Put them out! You will be amazed.

PM2, I should have been more clear! Sorry. But... now, I'm a bit confused - you must have SOME kind of top or cover on the container, no??!! They're not just containers of soil with nothing covering them, right? THAT is what I meant by tops - the lids, the top part of the jug/bottle, plastic wrap, etc. What I was referring to was the cover, that as long as that was secure and would keep out the majority of the rains, and not allow soil to wash out, that you would be fine.

Did you by any chance use milk jugs? If so, when you say " ...I don't have tops on them, I didn't remember I was supposed to. lol I kept the tops, I can put them on..." are you referring to the CAPS? If you are, then you done good, lol - you should not put the caps on. Sorry if I confused you, but I did not mean caps, but the actual top or cover of the container.

Hope this post didn't just confuse you more... maybe I should just bow out of this conversation before I confuse everyone, lol! :)

Dee, they are milk jugs that are one piece with a flap cut to put the soil and seeds in, but no bottle caps! Exactly! lol Thank you for clearing that up. Now I think I may leave them where they are, add more jugs this morning, and then put a good thick layer of snow over them, that should be okay with the rain. I listened to the forecast this morning and we are going to get another 3-6 inches of snow with some rain over that to make it icy. Next week is March! It can't come soon enough.

I have appreciated your input Dee and 'no harm, no foul' lol Since I keep the milk jugs in one piece, I guess I just don't think of the 'top' of the jug as a top.

Thank you! And thank you Daisy for the confirmation to put them out. :-)

Ah, yes, I always forget that people use the "flap method" with their milk jugs. Of course, if one does it that way, one would think of the "caps" as the "tops". Phew, who ever knew milk jugs could cause so much confusion, lol? Yeah, then, I think your containers will be just fine.

Yes, I almost wish it wouldn't warm up tomorrow. I think I'd actually rather have more snow. Now, it seems, we will get lots of rain, which will melt the existing snow and make even MORE water, so I have to worry about my basement being flooded, and then it is supposed to get very cold, which will turn everything into a lovely layer of ice.

Like you said, March can't come soon enough! Let's hope spring comes on time this year!

I'm crossing my fingers, we get more snow than rain, but the forecast is not looking good. I'm hoping spring will be on time too. Although I've been wondering if winter and spring are not on a different schedule now. Winter starts later and so has spring the past few years. But -- it could just be a fluke. We'll see.

Still pretty cold here in Kansas City. We're about to have one of the coldest nights this year, down to around 4 degrees or so. We look to be well below normal next week, too.

So far I've been pretty happy about this since I've got a number of 30- to 60-day cold strat wildflower seeds that I didn't WS until the beginning of this month. Pretty soon though I am going to want to see some sprouts!

In like a lion...

I'm new to the whole wintersowing thingie, so I'm just trolling around looking to see what people are saying about setting containers out in this cold. Looks like it will be OK?
I'd started 14 containers back last month, but, of course they're under snow and I won't have a clue as to how successful they may be for quite a while yet.
However, I just received some dynamite seeds in the mail from a GW friend - many of which need cold treatment. My normal method in the past would have been to stick them in the fridge for a month or so and then sow under lights, but now I'm thinking maybe I should wintersow these as well. Things like different kinds of asclepias, penstemons, and larkspur.
No rain in our forecast, prairiemoon, just more snow and maybe some more minus temps, though hopefully we're past the minus 20's now. Whew!
Any words of wisdom to add, anyone?
- Alex

You ought to be fine with at least the Asclepias and Penstemon. I WSed A. tuberosa one zone south of you right around this date last year and it was one of my more successful sowings. I couldn't say about the larkspur -- that might need a longer cold period.

Hi Alex, I haven’t winter sown in about 3 years, but I did have a lot of fun doing it for 3 years before that. Lots of success too. I am rusty though, and I don’t normally put containers out this late and where I live it is not normally this cold so consistently. That’s why I’ve been asking questions of the more experienced winter sowers.

I am putting out seed that needs cold treatment so I hope we have enough cold weather left to provide that. I just put Asclepias out last week and I have Larkspur that I was still considering putting out too. So I hope you get a response from the more experienced winter sowers.

Almost anything can go out now. My tomatoes, marigolds and petunias are always out by the end of February and do just fine. So go ahead and do the larkspur and asclepias and penstemon. BTW, the larkspur has a tendency to reseed prolifically and not necessarily where you want it.

Thanks, all, for the input. I did sow the aclepias, penstemon, larkspur and a number of others. Hoping I have germination so prolific that I'm wondering what to do with all the seedlings. :)

- Alex