Yesterday I started the first wave of seeds for the new year .. here's the list:

Bird of Paradise - Caesalpinia pulcherrima
Chilean Bell Flower - Lapageria rosea
Cigar Flower - Cuphea lanceolata
Corydalis - Corydalis taliensis
Dutchman's Pipe - Gigantia - Aristolochia gigantea
Geranium - Pink Lace - Geranium
Heuchera 'Emperor's Cloak' - Heuchera
Hibiscus - Yellow Mallow - Pavonia praemorsa - Germinated 1-25-13
Jovellana - Jovellana punctata
Milkweed - Blue - Southern Star - Tweedia coerulea
Mimulus Mimulus luteus tigrinus grandiflorus - Germinated 1-25-13
Oxalis - Blue - Shamrock Pea - Parochetus communis - Germinated 1-28-13
Sea Onion - Bowiea volubilis
Shag Spine Pea Shrub - Caragana jubata - Germinated 1-28-13
Star Vine - Schisandra glabra
Sweet Pea - Blue - 'Azureus' - Lathyrus sativus - Germinated 1-25-13 - Green showing 1-28-13

I'm trying something new this year .. in the past I used cell packs which were a pain because of irregular germination - I'd have to be digging out individual seedling to transplant into a pot .. This year I'm using plastic bathroom cups. I'm hoping that I can avoid having to do 2 transplants.

I can fit 15 cups on my tray and as each cup germinates and gets true leaves I can just move the cup out to the greenhouse and stick in a new cup with new seeds. Hopefully I can keep the seedlings in these cups til they are ready to be planted in their final home.

I did some in plastic cups too. Red Sheild Hibiscus, dwarf sunflower Choco Sun, Purple Fountain Grass and Blue Dragon

Those look great! Hoping mine do as well.

I like the paper cups better. Easier to poke drain holes.

I thought about paper cups but vetoed it because after 6 weeks of being wet they tend to tear and fall apart .. what I did with the plastic cup was just take a pair of nail clippers and clipped off a piece at the bottom .. quick and easy and they drain perfectly.

I've used cups too, both inside and for wintersowing. For wintersowing, I use much bigger cups. I start wintersown tomato seeds in 16 oz cups.

Karen

Xeramtheum said: what I did with the plastic cup was just take a pair of nail clippers and clipped off a piece at the bottom .. quick and easy and they drain perfectly.

Great tip! I will go fix my cups now

I had been wracking my brain for the last few months trying to think of a way to downsize everything since this Winter there is precious little room on the greenhouse bench for seedlings because of passiflora cuttings .. if things work out the way I'm hoping they will I won't have to be doing a major rearranging to get room on the bench for seedlings. I go to the thrift shops once a week and buy up all the small plastic children's shelves I can find.

The fan will end up off the bench and on a stool as seedlings start getting moved out there.

Does anyone have any advice about using styrofoam cups to start seeds in?

Styro is ok for starting seeds but the problem with them is that they can crumble after awhile and you end up having little bits of styro tumbling around the yard. With the plastic cups, I can use them over and over again. After I'm done with them I'll just wash them out with soapy water and spritz a little bleach water in them to kill any bacteria.

What kind of advice to you have in mind Do you mean using them under lights or outside?

Under lights only. I wouldn't put them outside because they're not really sturdy enough to cope.

I use them for wintersowing sometimes. They work just fine for me. I just contain them in a bin so they don't blow away.


Karen

What do you cover them with? Individually or the whole container?

The whole container. It had a snap-on lid which has died of old age. It got brittle from years of weather exposure. Holes were drill in lid and bottom. But clear plastic tarp could be taped on, holes punched. Lids is removed after germination and temps are appropriate.

Most of my stuff is wintersown in milk jugs. But sometimes I sow very frost-tender stuff into cups, because most annuals will grow fast when weather warms and I don't want to have to pot up a bunch of seedlings while waiting for no danger of frost.





Karen

Was the snap on lid opaque or clear?

I think that one was clear. But I also use solid color ones. Doesn't matter too much, light enters through the sides...BUT... I don't give it too much importance since often they're totally buried in snow. :shrug:


If it concerns you, you can always flip the bin over and use it upside down.


Karen

Which seeds do you have the most success with. We're in the same zone so I'd like to pattern some things after you if you don;t mind.

I have a copy of a Winter Sown Database compiled for zones 0 -10. It's in MS Excel form which can be opened with Open Office software. It's huge so I broke it up into two files, zones 0 - 5 and 6 - 10. It's list of results of various seeds winter sown .. it's pretty comprehensive for most common plants. Just click on the links and choose save.

Here is a link for zones 0-5

http://www.nerii.org/Ron/Winte...

Here is a link for zones 6 -10

http://www.nerii.org/Ron/Winte...