In the last newsletter, I discussed what happens in my garden during late summer and fall. Here, I would like to discuss the tasks that need to be accomplished during the winter months. What follows, applies to warmer regions, however, these same activities may be carried out in colder areas during early spring or late winter and some of them may be performed in cooler (not freezing) basements or garages.

I left off last time with placing the shelled seeds in the refrigerator wrapped in damp paper towels (dampened by a Captan solution) in ziplock bags labeled with the parentage of the crosses. What happens next?

In order to get the seeds ready for germination, (after they have already been stored in the refrigerator for about 8 to 10 weeks) the bags may be taken out of the refrigerator during the night and put in the attached unheated garage, and then put back into the refrigerator during the daytime. I do this to achieve temperatures out of the refrigerator in the 45 to 50 degree range (for me, if I took them out during the day, the temperatures may get up into the 70's, which is too warm). In colder climates the bags might best be taken out of the refrigerator during the daytime. This process of causing the seeds to be exposed to alternating temperatures can be continued for a week to 10 days. If done for a longer time, you may get too many seeds germinating in the ziplock bags. The goal here is to get the seeds ready to germinate, you don’t want lots of them making a long tangled mess of sprouts in your paper towels.

Next comes the planting. I plant all of my seeds in raised seedling beds, in an unheated greenhouse. The beds (four of them) are 5 feet X 20 feet. The soil mixture is about 8 inches deep. I use the Sunshine mix #3, along with a 1/4" to ½" top dressing of Perlite to cover the seeds after they have been planted.

The seeds are planted in rows, 1" apart. The rows themselves are spaced from 1" to 3" apart, depending on the typical germination rate of the seed parent (for new seed parents, I always plant the seeds in rows 1" apart since many prospective new seed parents have poor germination). To speed up planting, I made a board with about 300 nails pounded through it. The board is pressed onto the smoothed soil surface, and when it is removed, there are small holes that I use as planting guides. With the board moved over to the next area to make holes, it can be used as a table. The seeds are removed from the ziplock bags and then, with great care the damp paper towel is unwrapped so as not to damage any roots that may have sprouted. Any sprouted seeds are carefully planted in the row. Unsprouted seeds are placed in a cup and Captan powder is added. The seeds are "rolled" in the Captan powder to coat them. The white Captan coated seeds are easier to see when planting, and hopefully, the Captan will help prevent dampoff. The seeds are then pressed into the soil with the tip of a finger about 1/4". At the end of the row, a plastic tag is placed to identify the cross. This is done, with each cross. The soil is then smoothed back and carefully pressed flat with my hand. Then the entire seedling bed is carefully top dressed with about 1/4" of Perlite.

Next the seedling bed is lightly watered. Then to finish off, a solution of Subdue is used to drench the seedling beds as a dampoff preventive. No further watering is needed until most of the seeds are actively germinating.

Before I had the greenhouse, the seeds were planted in small plastic flats (using the same soil/perlite approach). However, the seeds were planted very thickly and newly sprouted seedlings would be transplanted to small pots (or flats with square cells). Newly sprouted seedlings are most easily transplanted when they have a single tap root, without any of the fine side branching roots. I would transplant all germinated seedlings every weekend. If I skipped a week, too many of the seedlings would begin developing complex root systems that were more likely to be damaged when they were transplanted.

The other main activity that I do in the wintertime is to plant rootstock. The rootstock will be used next summer when the more desirable seedlings are grafted onto it. I use Dr. Huey, Maneti, Pink Clouds and some of my own seedling rootstock derived from one of Griffith Buck’s rootstocks. I use only rootstock that is virus free, but prefer my own seedling rootstock because it is vigorous, thorn-free, has a good inter-nodal distance, doesn’t mildew and by virtue of it being a seedling, is definitely virus free.

The rootstock sticks are cut into 11" segments. All but the top 2 eyes are removed and for thorny varieties, the thorns are removed. Several shallow trenches are dug, each about 40 feet long. The rootstock sticks are dipped in a rooting hormone (I use Rootone), and then pushed down into the bottom of the trench about 1 ½". Rootstock sticks are spaced 7 inches apart. The rootstock trenches are then watered in well daily, for 3 days, and then weekly, or whenever they need watering. The rootstock sticks will begin to leaf out in the springtime and can be used for grafting on new varieties as early as April or May (although I do most of my budding in June and July). Budding and seedling propagation will be another discussion.

The only thing left to do in the wintertime is to wait for the seedlings to germinate and to imagine the crosses that might be tried for the upcoming springtime. As the seedlings begin to germinate, there is such anticipation. Each new seedling will one of a kind - unique, a brand new creation.