A year ago, almost to the day, I wrote a blog about Winter Sowing. It does not surprise me that I crafted that article, because I love this method of starting seeds. Stroll down several blogs to see last years detailed blog). There were just a few changes, I made this year and I feel they will enhance the process. So I am expecting excellent results.
Listed below are the problems that required attention with the solutions I made to my traditional Winter Sowing method.
#1. Over the past couple years, I have occasionally had an issue with the drainage holes. In some incidences, I did not have enough holes so the plants were not able to enjoy the natural rainfall. Also the lack of good drainage holes caused the existing ones to clog up. Which in a few of the containers resulted in mold on the soil.
**SOLUTION
Upon listening to my A Way To Garden Club Ken Druse explained how he heated up the tip of a large nail by using his gas stove. Resulting in an easy tool to go right thru the plastic jugs. Well, I don't have a gas range, but my husband suggested his soldering gun. (Last year he hand drilled each jug for me) Much to his delight it worked perfectly and he did not have to help me at all.
#2. Labeling is always an issue. Although I have gotten much better, I doubled down and labeled two. places and made a chart. Last year I thought I was good but my cat, visiting squirresl and even annoying raccoons decided to pull out the tags and actually knocked over the lighter weight containers. Causing chaos and confusion on IDing some of the seedlings.
**SOLUTION
This year I double labeled each container. I did not use the lighter weight salad containers and will try to redirect marauding critters. My dog Maggie spends more time on the porch and loves nothing better than to chase and bark at anything that moves.
#3 Some of my containers were under the eve of the house. I had them up against the house because it can get very windy on the deck where they were growing. Consequently, they did not get adequate water. This resulted in a couple of the containers having low germination rates.
**SOLUTION
I moved the shelving system closer to the railing and spread them out, thus allowing all the jugs to have equal opportunity to enjoy natural rainfall. As I mentioned, having my dog Maggie out on the porch with me is a great deterrent for critters domestic or wild. Plus I intend to be more alert to such shenanigans
"WILD SEED PROJECT"
Having listened to many webinars and podcast on sowing native seeds. I decided to give it a try. There are many great sources online for obtaining Native Seeds. Prairie Moon Seed Company, American Meadows and Eden Seeds are a few of the many great catalogues.
I particularly enjoy the website wildseedproject.net They have excellent information and clear directions thru videos and text. Although Maine is not local to Indiana, they have a reasonable selection of natives that I am very familiar with in Indiana.
Upon arrival of the seeds, I placed them in the refrigerator, as advised, until I was ready to sow. Yesterday I pulled out all my supplies and set to work.
Using four inch recycled plastic pots, I filled them with a good organic potting soil and then snuggled them into a plant tray. Then I lightly sowed the seeds making sure as directed to cover them with a light layer of sand. Labeled each pot and then water them carefully.
In both the podcast I watched on A Way To Garden garden club and the written directions, it was emphasized the importance of critter and bird protection. So I again followed Ken Druse's suggestion and took another plant tray(which had a hole of holes in it) and secured it on top.
The tray rests very comfortable and safe on my Winter Sowing station. I am very excited for the masses of all these amazing plants this method will provide.
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