Don't throw them away! - if you can, set them in a pan of water and let them soak up whatever water they need. Then try using duct tape to to hold the cut-off halves together.

PV

Ditto what pvick said! With the tape around the cut part, it will reduce the amount of air flow into the jug and therefor they will not dry out as quickly!

It's easier to tape if you've left a little hinge under the handle so suggest to put a small piece of tape there and then try to tape around from there with a fresh piece.

I'm using packing tape this year, hope it holds up until time to pull it off, twice around but may not be necessary. I don't cut the tops off in the spring and leave the hinge, bend it back and peg it open with a piece of bamboo stake in the ground but that takes more room.

Come to think of it, I might have an easier time getting them to match up again even with the hinge if I put a small piece of tape at each corner and or in those indented circles, then start working around. The jugs with the indented circles on two sides are a pain. Some don't have those.

Anybody have a trick to get them to match up more easily or does everybody just struggle with it? I like to reuse the jugs so I don't have to burn more holes and am sowing a lot more jugs than usual anyway this year, soon as I have an empty one, use it but don't go scrounging for them.

The 2 liter bottles are even faster, just cut all the way around 5" up like somebody demonstrated, then an inverted V and shove them together, no taping. But jugs hold more seeds, depends on your preference or what's on hand.

Thanks guys. Thats so simple. I didn't think of it. I don't know if I can set them in water. Its quite frozen here and the thaw is not soon. I will try and water them somehow and then use tape.

This shows I'm still confused about watering and wintersowing when it's still cold. If it's frozen, how can you really tell that the jugs are dry? And, if it's frozen, even if you started out with nice wet soil, having some water dry out when you're nowhere close to a thaw isn't a bad thing, is it? I'm up here on the 5/4 border, definitely frozen, but we have VERY LITTLE snow up here to insulate anything, so I'm getting lots of airflow into jugs that should be under snow. Even though I started with wet soil I'm sure some of them are much drier now with the wind and lack of snow. Why is all the snow going to Virginia when we need it up here?!?!?!

Anyway, can you help me further with understanding why having soil that looks a little dry at this point is bad? I know monkey665 is farther south than me, but if everything is still frozen why can't you wait till things begin to warm just a bit and do some watering from underneath?

IMO if the soil is frozen, you are just fine. Sometimes when it is frozen it looks like it is dry. There is a weight difference between a frozen jug and a dry jug so that can be a way to tell if it is frozen or dry. Before seeds sprouts, it is important to not let the jugs go completely dry because if they are in the middle of germination, they might not make it (I think). Does that make sense to anyone outside of my head?

The gallon containers that I used I cut the fourth side last spring when I was taking the tops off. So now instead of having the top and bottom close together there is a space. More air gets into the container and you don't get as much condensation to keep the soil moist. with the potting soil that i used you can see the color change from dark brown to light brown. I am going to wait until the snow goes away a bit (40 degrees - I think) and water the containers and then duck tape all around. This will cause the water to seep into the soil and then the condensation will keep it nice and moist. If its winter and raining you don't see puddles all over the ground. The grass etc absorbs the water. I also use soda bottles and the only opening there is is where the cover was and you get a hot house effect. When it gets warmer I will stress over if the jugs are getting too hot and then I hope to be able to move them from full sun to morning sun and afternoon shade. Gardenluv is correct that now its not crutial if they are a bit dry but once the weather starts to warm up you don't want the soil to be dry. Last year the earliest germination I had was 3/18. I guess it varies from year to year depending on what mother nature does. I hope I explained this so that you understand. I don't have much snow either only about 3 inches. Only about 23 of my jugs are gallons. All the others are 2 liters and I am not worried about those at the moment.

I've been winter sowing for 6 winters now. I used to think I had to close the seam (between top and bottom)air tight but I sure don't anymore. I cut my jugs leaving a hinge, then either punch a hole on opposite side on top and bottom and twist tie them shut or a small piece of duct tape there only. My seams don't match completely, especially the next winter, and I don't worry about it. The seam lets moisture in (snow, rain) and helps evaporate it as it should. I've not noticed any difference on how fast they dry out to when I used to use a ton of duct tape sealing everything. I get just as good condensation when not sealing tight. Your containers will look dry when they're frozen, but don't worry about them, let them sit and enjoy their winter slumber. When it begins to warm up you then need to check them daily, if not twice a day, and moisten them as needed; then slowly raise the lid....... It's when it starts to warm up is the hardest part for me, keeping 200+ jugs watered. The long extended wand waterer on the end of the hose is great way to water jugs in mass.

My preference is milkjugs, keeps moist longest for me.