Hi Steve, you do bottom water winter sown containers, would probably get pretty dense and muddy. I did see the way one woman wintersows, she cuts the bottom out of the jug entirely and uses a couple of stakes to hold the jug in place like a mini-greenhouse over direct sown seeds. She claimed it worked really well. Might be an option.

Cloches go way back in history. Winter sowing is a practice that has been around for centuries. They used to use these glass domes to cover the seeds planted directly in the ground so yes, you can winter sow directly in soil, but not in a plastic jug with a bottom, I wouldn't do that in any pot or container.

This post was edited by GreatPlains1 on Fri, Jan 10, 14 at 2:53

I am considering sowing poppies this way, directly in the ground with a milk jug cloche over the top since they don't transplant well. We shall see!

Katy, I'm a wet, mild Z8b and I direct sow poppies, no coverings, literally toss the seeds. I do have to make sure I've baited for slugs in that general area. I don't do much with annuals, but nigella and poppies are two things I like to see in the garden and direct sow over winter sowing in containers.

Haven't sown any here yet but in my former garden just a few blocks away, I would toss the seeds where I wanted the poppy color in late Fall, Winter, again later winter for a longer succession of bloom. Those seedlings were pretty tough, those that germinated early would even make through a few brief days of snow years when we had snow - and we don't every year.

Esteban, garden soil in a container of any kind is not a good idea. The container mixes are formulated for drainage and aeration in an enclosed space and even the best of soil isn't going to compare to that - there won't be the kind of root development on tiny seedlings you'll want to see.

My BIL a few years ago was given many large containers by someone around the time he had a load of top soil delivered for his beds, he used that top soil, pots, to create a potted vegetable garden that year. He told me after the fact what he'd sown in....total failure, stunted plants and low to no yield .

I'm sowing some this way too. No transplant shock, less hassle.

WOW! What great responses and quick too. I will pick up a bag of Miracle Grow this afternoon and continue with my first WS project.
Stay close to your computers folks, I am sure I will have many more questions for you all.
Steve

Well, I got 54 tomato seed planted into my 6 milk jugs half full of Miracle-Grow and all sealed up. Now, I must wait for 3 months or so.
I really enjoyed this project. Gardening is cheaper than therapy, and one may get food too.
Steve

Well, I got 54 tomato seed planted into my 6 milk jugs half full of Miracle-Grow and all sealed up. Now, I must wait for 3 months or so.
I really enjoyed this project. Gardening is cheaper than therapy, and one may get food too.
Steve

I apologize for the double post, I am not too good with a computer.
Steve

Those double posts aren't necessarily operator error, they pop up for lots of us and on all the forums.

And the reverse, it must be a GardenWeb thing....because I know I answered a couple of people yesterday and clicked submit, nothing from me showing today ;) Now if I'd typed them over and submitted again, I'm sure they would be there twice :)

I tried this and it didn't work. The soil doesn't drain very well. Soil became rock, fungus etc.