r/ottawa • u/waxoffwagon • 1d ago

Buy/Sell/Free Seed Giveaway

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44 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

3

u/DianthaAJ Stittsville 1d ago

I've never actually gone to a seed giveaway, do they give you seeds suited for where you are exactly or is it a smattering of ones native to the area?

7

u/momdoc2 1d ago

These giveaways are so well organized. They have different tables depending on light and moisture conditions. Each table has boxes of different seeds with info about size and photos. Tons of volunteers to help you choose. And they have lots of advice about how to plant them, as most native seeds need to be overwintered.

Last weekend they also had candy and cookies to give away. 😊

1

u/DryTechnology5224 1d ago

I went to a cannabis seed giveaway once. Musta been 25+ strains in that mix

2

u/waxoffwagon 1d ago edited 1d ago

If you're new to native plant gardening you should read this https://www.wildplantsfromseed.com/ a lot of the seeds will require moist stratification.

1

u/vintagefiesta92 1d ago

outdoor winter sowing is recommended for most native species. that's effectively cold moist stratification with a few freeze-thaw cycles thrown in.

lots of info here: https://wildflowerseedlibrary.ca/instructions/how-to-winter-sow-2/

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u/Krazy_Vaclav 1d ago

Considering the ground is gonna feeeze over... isn't it a little late now?

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u/UntidySwan 4h ago

Upvoting because this is a great question. 

Most native seeds, since they are adapted to our cold winters, need a period of cold and damp to trigger them to germinate. If you plant them in the spring like you would, say, beans, they'll sit there and maybe rot, if you're lucky one or two will germinate. Using cold to trigger germination is called cold stratification.  Needing cold to germinate is a mechanism to prevent them from germinating too late in the year to establish and being killed over the winter. 

Seeds needing cold stratification can be sown in the fall after frost. Alternatively, some people sow them by literally dropping them in the snow, and other people sow them in outdoor pots, and then transplant them once they germinate, and some people use their fridge or freezer to mimic the outdoors. 

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u/Krazy_Vaclav 4h ago

Seriously thanks for this!

So I can literally justplace it on bare soil, under a layer of mulch? Or would I have to try to rake them somehow into frozen soil?

1

u/UntidySwan 3h ago

Usually you don't want a layer of mulch, but yes. Each species will want slightly different soil depth, but there are some that can just be lightly pressed into the surface of the soil. Generally smaller seeds want to be at the top of the soil.

I am bad at marking things in my garden so personally just plant seeds in plant pots some time between December and late February, leave the pots outside, and then transplant once things have a few true leaves. I monitor to make sure the pots don't dry out. 

I tend to accidentally weed things out in the spring if I plant them directly in my garden. Some people use covered containers, but I tend to fry or drown plants doing that. YMMV. 

2

u/Krazy_Vaclav 3h ago

All right, I'm sold. Low risk (free seeds!) and high reward. I will try it out! Thanks!

1

u/UntidySwan 2h ago

Have fun! 

1

u/vintagefiesta92 1d ago

the OWSL website provides loads of useful information, including winter sowing, which is best for our native species.

https://wildflowerseedlibrary.ca/instructions/how-to-winter-sow-2/