Rick, I think people like us are just waaaaay too much into control! And maybe instant gratification. I just LOVE seeds that sprout in a week or (sometimes) less!

>> waaaaay too much into control!

And I like having my seedlings right there in the bedroom with me: yes, I admit it: I sleep with my seedlings. Now I'm out of the closet (oh, if ONLY I had a spare closet, I would turn it into SUCH a growing space!)

And the idea of planting things out separated by 3 mm instead of 12" gives me the willies.

And I won't even think about trying to untangle seedlings that densely spaced.

Of course, i'm sure it would defeat the "hands-off" goal of WS if you open up your jug when they have 4 true leaves, and separate them and pot everything up ... even if you them put those pots back outside under recycled plastic.

I will feel like an idiot if I get WS to work reliably for me, and then DON'T ever use it again. For example, Poppies and Lobellia are two things I wouldn't mind sowing fairly thickly and then "letting Nature take Her course". They seem to thrive on growing densely intertangled.

I did find one empty gallon milk jug at work, and I'll save it for Some Day. Of course, I'll still have to fancy it up with a four-way divider, because I want small numbers but lots of variety ... and I just can't leave "simple" alone.

P.S. Just oncer I read something technical about some difficult seedlings LIKING to start life densely spaced, as if their rootlets "encouraged" each other. But then they needed space or they would compete with each other. I haven;t found that idea again anywhere else since.

Hmmm, Rick, you must be growing a different variety of poppy. Those somniferums do NOT like to be densely crowded....and I have a terrible time bringing myself to thin anything.....I always feel like a murderer!

KyWoods said:Hmm, I was eyeing a big container like that of donuts the other day....good excuse to indulge!

Yummy!

>> Those somniferums do NOT like to be densely crowded

So far the only Popies I've gotten more than 1-2 of were
orange California Poppies,
Eschscholzia californica .

I think I had ONE Opoim Poppy come up,
'Lauren's Grape' Opium Poppy
Papaver somniferum
I believe you that that funny-looking Poppy might not have wanted to snuggle up to it's neighbors. But the Eschscholzia seemed happy in a twinning mass. It wasn't so much that I PLANNED for them to grow thcikly, it was just that all those seeds sprouted and survived, whereas 3 other varieties mostly did not survive to be large enough to see. dried out? Slugs? Old seed?

This was the advice in the seed packet blurb:

California Poppy - Orange
Heirloom, Drought Tolerant, Deer resistant
Annual. (Perennial in USDA zones 7 or warmer) reseeds
keep deadheading

direct sow outside only, 2-6 wks before last frost or
or early to mid-fall for bloom the following spring.
Scatter and rake in lightly. Thinning: Not necessary

Indoor starting not recommended; does not transplant well.
Botanical Interests Item #1032
http://www.botanicalinterests....

I doubt that the problem with the P. somniferum was "old seed." I tested some 10 year old seeds for germination last year and got a pretty good yield. Maybe your area is too moist? It's a lot drier over here on this side of the hill and they do well.....so well that I've had to collect seeds in self-defense! I probably have about 2 quarts of seeds!

>> Maybe your area is too moist?

That might be the case, and yet the only poppies that came up well were in a wetter bed than the ones that were scarce. Birds eating the seeds?

>> I probably have about 2 quarts of seeds!

Nice! Do you bake with them?

I get lots of volunteers. Maybe you're planting them at the wrong time of year? They may need cold stratification to do well?

>> Maybe you're planting them at the wrong time of year? They may need cold stratification to do well?

I do assume most poppies need cold stratification. Two Falls ago, I scattered seeds either late Fall or late Winter. last Fall, I encouraged the few blooms on each surviving plant of two varieties to fall around the first plant. (Now I'm afraid to weed anywhere near there, or lay down compost).

I'm especially hoping for the flame-colored "Mikado" California Poppies to come back. I put them int he front yard, and orange in the back yard, so they wouldn't cross-pollinate much. They are mostly bright red, but seem to have a red-orange patch in the centers of blooms.

The orange California Poppies that thrived, dropped a lot of seeds before I could collect many, and I expect them to come back like gangbusters.

Poppies can be transplanted as long as you do it when they're tiny, like one or two sets of true leaves. I've never tried them under lights, but they wintersow well.

I've done (wintersown) somniferum, shirley, Flanders, and Cali poppies. All fry here as soon as summer heat arrives, except for the Cali poppies. I've only WSown the cali poppies once, but since then I seem to get a few volunteers each year. I guess I should do a jug of them again. I find them pretty resilient. Here are a few volunteers last summer, during incredible heat and drought. I never deadhead, it let them self-sow, but they seem to bloom all summer anyway.



Karen

KyWoods said:Hmm, I was eyeing a big container like that of donuts the other day....good excuse to indulge!

Great idea!! I need some doughnuts, I mean containers.....

Well, how else are you going to get those containers?

Exactly!!!