How To Sow Flowers Before Winter? Pros And Cons Of Winter Sowing. Photo

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How To Sow Flowers Before Winter? Pros And Cons Of Winter Sowing. Photo
How To Sow Flowers Before Winter? Pros And Cons Of Winter Sowing. Photo

Video: How To Sow Flowers Before Winter? Pros And Cons Of Winter Sowing. Photo

Video: How To Sow Flowers Before Winter? Pros And Cons Of Winter Sowing. Photo
Video: How to transplant winter sown seedlings 2024, March
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Inexperienced summer residents, as a rule, strive to end the summer season as early as possible, harvesting the entire harvest and saying goodbye to the beds and flower beds until spring. At the same time, an experienced gardener knows that there is still a lot to do in the fall. You can now plan your work so that you can relieve the very hot spring time. Sowing before winter also belongs to such autumn work. It is in late autumn that you can sow not only vegetable seeds, but also perennial and annual flowers. Such crops have significant advantages, in addition to saving time. They allow you to get quality hardened seedlings with minimal effort. How to sow flowers right before winter, we will tell in this publication.

How to sow flowers before winter?
How to sow flowers before winter?

Content:

  • Why is it worth sowing flowers before winter?
  • Cons of winter sowing of flowers
  • Dates of sowing flowers before winter
  • How to choose a place and prepare a bed for sowing?
  • How to sow flower seeds correctly before winter?
  • How to care for winter crops in spring?
  • What flowers can be sown before winter?

Why is it worth sowing flowers before winter?

Sowing seeds before winter has several important advantages.

Saving time and space for plants in spring

Growing seedlings of flowers and vegetables is quite a tedious task, especially when there are a lot of seedlings. Having sown some of the plants before winter, you can allocate more space on the windowsill for heat-loving plants and pay more attention to these seedlings. For someone, another important factor in this case will be the fact that the seedlings do not need to be transported, they will already be at the landing site.

Plant hardening

Another very important point is the hardening of plants. Seeds sown in autumn will give stronger and more hardy shoots. Such seedlings will be more resistant to spring frosts, pests and pathogens. For example, quite often inexperienced gardeners cannot grow an annual aster - it is often affected by fungal diseases. Sowing in winter asters allows you to get stronger seedlings, resistant to diseases.

Flowers sown for the winter bloom earlier

Another factor is that flowers sown before winter bloom two weeks earlier. And if in the spring the beds with crops are covered with arches with covering material, then the plants will bloom even faster!

Winter sowing - natural seed stratification

For many perennial flowers, sowing before winter is not only possible, but even necessary. The fact is that, falling into winter conditions, the seeds of perennials go through a stage of natural stratification, without which they simply may not sprout.

For the seeds of these plants to germinate, it is important to stay at low temperatures for some time. On bags with such seeds, manufacturers usually write that during spring sowing they need to be kept in the refrigerator (each has its own stratification time).

If the expiration date of the seeds is running out

Another factor worth mentioning is that in the fall it is better to sow those seeds that are running out of shelf life. Sowing in winter allows you to make sure that seeds are viable or not much earlier. In the absence of seedlings, there will still be time to sow new seeds. Of course, only cold-resistant plants can be sown.

In the fall, it is better to sow those flower seeds that are running out of shelf life
In the fall, it is better to sow those flower seeds that are running out of shelf life

Cons of winter sowing of flowers

Like any other technology, sowing seeds before winter has negative aspects that must also be taken into account.

First, unpredictability and sudden changes in weather can lead to the death of seedlings. Persistent frosts can be replaced by a thaw, seeds can begin to germinate, and after the next change of weather, they can die.

It is because of such drastic changes in weather that it can be difficult to determine the exact time of sowing seeds. In any case, any technology has its pros and cons, knowing about the negative aspects of winter sowing, you can hedge yourself: sow only part of the seeds. If a variety is valuable or rare, some seeds can be left in the spring.

Another point that must be taken into account when sowing before winter is that if the site is very heavily clogged with weed seeds, in the spring they will sprout simultaneously with cultivated plants. And the garden bed will definitely need to be weeded, which is not so easy while the seedlings are small. In this case, it is better to abandon any crops before winter.

Dates of sowing flowers before winter

The optimal time for sowing before winter is the establishment of consistently low, but not yet subzero temperatures. In many regions, this time occurs in late October – mid November.

It is important not to rush to sowing, otherwise the seedlings may appear prematurely and then die. More precisely, the time can be determined by a stable drop in air temperature to zero degrees. At this time, the soil was already sufficiently frozen, but not yet covered with a layer of snow. If forecasters do not promise warming, you can start sowing.

Although sowing can be done much later - before the permanent snow cover falls. As a rule, the topsoil already freezes at this time. This will not affect the seeds in any way, the main thing is to prepare the garden in advance. On the very day of sowing, this is unlikely to work - the ground will already be frozen. In this case, you need to fill up the seeds with dry, not frozen soil. It will need to be prepared in advance, closing it from moisture and freezing.

How to choose a place and prepare a bed for sowing?

For winter sowing, it is very important to prepare the beds in advance and make grooves so that at the right time you just have to sow the seeds and cover them with dry soil.

A place for sowing must be chosen protected from the winds, preferably in an elevated place, so that there is no stagnation of water, otherwise the seeds may rot. The ideal option is a raised bed with sides so that the seeds are not washed off the bed with precipitation. The height of the optimal bed is 15-20 cm. In the spring there will be no excess moisture on such a bed, it will quickly warm up, which means that the seeds will begin to sprout much earlier.

Before sowing, it is advisable to familiarize yourself with the growing conditions of each selected plant. There are cultures that can easily tolerate transplants. And there are those that take root with difficulty during transplantation, they must be sown immediately to a permanent place.

The place for the garden must be freed from weeds and dug up. Especially carefully you need to remove the roots of perennial weeds. Otherwise, in the spring they will quickly sprout and clog the seedlings of flowers.

For digging, you can add humus of 4-6 kg per 1 sq. m. If the earth is dense, heavy, then you need a baking powder, for example, river sand. From mineral fertilizers, you can scatter phosphorus-potassium (15-20 g per 1 sq. M.) Or special autumn fertilizers.

The place for podzimny sowing of flowers must be carefully cleared of perennial weeds, otherwise in the spring they will "clog" tender shoots
The place for podzimny sowing of flowers must be carefully cleared of perennial weeds, otherwise in the spring they will "clog" tender shoots

How to sow flower seeds correctly before winter?

The winter sowing of seeds has its own characteristics. It is very important to carry out work in dry weather. Seeds should not be soaked and germinated - sowing can only be carried out with dry seeds, so as not to provoke their premature germination.

Due to the possible death of some of the seedlings, the seeding rate is usually increased by 25–50%.

During the winter, the soil layer is compacted. So that the seeds can break through to the surface in spring, it is recommended to sow them at a shallower depth compared to sowing in spring. That is why it is advisable to sprinkle the seeds sown before winter with a small layer of humus, peat or a mixture of peat, sand and humus.

The soil must be prepared in advance so that it is dry and free-flowing. After sowing, the garden is not watered so that the seeds do not germinate prematurely. To protect against severe frosts, the garden bed can be covered with fallen leaves, spruce branches.

How to care for winter crops in spring?

In the spring, as soon as the snow melts, the mulching material must be removed. At first, the crops do not need watering, they have enough moisture from the melted snow. It is advisable to install arcs with a covering material on the garden bed. This will save moisture, protect crops from temperature extremes.

If the seedlings sprout very densely, they must be thinned or transplanted. Later, as the plants grow, they can be planted in a permanent place.

So, as you can see, there are no special difficulties and a large number of manipulations when sowing flowers before winter. The main thing is to prepare the bed in advance, the soil for sprinkling the crops and sow the plants on time.

What flowers can be sown before winter?

During the winter, you can sow both annual and biennial, and perennial flowers.

Letniki

Cold-resistant annuals with a short period of development from germination to flowering are sown before winter.

They can be sown both on the seedling bed, and immediately on a permanent place. In this case, you need to choose a place for sowing in accordance with the preferences of the plants and carefully prepare the soil. For plants with tap root systems, planting in a permanent place is preferable, since they do not tolerate transplanting well. These plants include delphinium, poppy, escholzia.

If you wish, you can sow the seeds directly into containers or pots. But they will have to be buried in the ground for the winter; before sowing, a drainage layer must be placed on the bottom of the pots to avoid stagnant water in them.

Before winter, you can sow annuals, biennial and perennial flowers
Before winter, you can sow annuals, biennial and perennial flowers

Perennial and biennial flowers

Among perennial plants, there are those that necessarily need cold stratification for germination. Among them: aquilegia, gentian, delphinium, lavender, primrose. If you are unable to grow seedlings of these flowers, be sure to try sowing them before winter.

And there are perennials that can be sown either before winter or in spring. But, as practice shows, the seedlings obtained from podzimny crops will grow more amicably and will develop much better.

Such plants include: arabis, gailardia, viola, carnation, doronicum, peach and Carpathian bells, lychnis, lupine, small petals, chamomile, obrieta, yarrow, etc.

For a list of summer plants, biennials and perennial flowers that can and should be sown before winter (with a brief description of the features of sowing for each crop), read our article "20+ flowers that can be sown before winter".

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