Start date for many is the solstice - December 21st. For others, including me - We're busy then, and most of my winter sowing is done in January when the holidays are behind me.

You'll want enough drainage holes in the bottom of your containers that they will drain freely. Pre moistened, additional water should be running out the bottom as fast as is introduced through the top so it doesn't stay soggy or the seeds don't end up floating. If this is your first year wintersowing, you may find some mistakes when the containers thaw, and can punch or cut more if needed then to let out excess water if you find it.

Im to busy in December as well. I start in January too.
just think how your holes are in your house plants pot's. or the containers on your porch plants. lol thats what i thought of when first wintersowing ;)
Good luck

If you want to add your WS containers to your zone's count in the Zone Wars, they have to be winter sown between the solstice on December 21 & no later than May 1. Otherwise, it's according to your own schedule & agenda.

There should be sufficient holes to allow rain/snow melt to drain out of the container so seeds don't rot. The soil should be able to retain sufficient water to allow the seeds to germinate.

Each person has his or her own style of winter sowing but the basics apply to everyone--adequate ventilation allows warm air to escape, sufficient drainage allows excess moisture to flow away & access to hydrating rain and/or snow assures a supply of moisture to the seeds as they prepare to germinate.

In other words, you want to have this:

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do this:
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So it sounds like too few holes is a problem, but too many isn't so much.

I'm assuming that there's no real beneficial significance to starting on Dec. 21, other than it's a convenient date every year?

@Garden_weed, thanks for the visual. Great job!

What did you use in the milk container to id the plant? Last year, I used sections of cutup yogurt containers and by the begining of summer, some faded.

...and one more question, what did you use to punch such neat holes? Great job!

Thanks msirie!! I find a picture speaks louder than words for many things. I use 6" plant markers from DP Industries. They're not cheap but it's a U.S. company located in Maine so I like giving them my business. I use paint pen from the craft store to write on the labels as well as the outside of the jug. It never fades the way markers do. I use an ice pick to make the holes in the milk jugs. If I remember correctly, it says on trudi's wintersown.org website you needs holes, not slits, for good drainage.

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December 21st is the first day of winter soltice. In other words first day of winter. It is important to start later than earlier especially for ones in zones like mine. One day here can be cold and miserable then like today it is suppose to be in the 70's. Pretty much after december 21st we do not have the warm spells that are warm enough to germinate seeds. Till spring or a few weeks prior. So the main reason for starting on or after december 21st is to keep the seeds from germinating to early due to warm snaps late in the year, then losing the seedlings due to a freeze. :)

Then, there are a few of those seeds that need the warmth, then cold, then warmth again. There aren't many, some natives are like that. I've had to sow a few types already that need that type of stratification to germinate, and still, it may take a couple years yet. And, some need to be planted right away because they do not keep in dry storage.

Karen

I forgot that part, Karen lol.

Gardenweed, your display of milk jugs and your plant markers are written so neatly and uniformly. Are you a neat freak?
How do you manage to write on top of jugs so neatly? Do you write the name of the seeds on the jug before you put your soil/seeds in and do you taping or after? Great tuitorial too! Thanks for sharing!

I flunked penmanship in the 5th grade. That always really annoyed me because I thought I wrote very neatly. When I print labels & on the jugs, I want to be sure I can read them weeks, even months later so I take the time to make them legible.

I'm not a neat freak and most of the time things are pretty messy & sloppy around here. It was my first time winter sowing and from the pictures I saw on the forum while reading old threads it made me extra careful how I labeled the jugs. I write the seed names on the jugs after I tape them shut so the order is:

1. Punch holes in jug bottom
2. Cut jug open
3. Fill jug bottom with growers mix
4. Moisten growing medium in jug bottom until water drains out through holes
5. Place or sprinkle seeds over moistened growing medium
6. Insert label
7. Close jug with 4" piece of duct tape
8. Write seed name on outside of jug
9. Set jug outside

I almost forgot step #10 - note on winter sowing log what seed type sown & the date.

My compliments on a extremely neat job of penmanship as well as organization. I'm going to throw another question out to you..once your seedlings are ready for your flowerbeds, what do you do with the plant markets that you have made up inside the milk jug? Do you save it and reuse it the next year or are you able to place it in front of your seedling out in the flowerbeds? I buy the standard size metal/zinc plant markers for my flowerbeds, and if I need to reuse that marker, I will spray painted across the original writing or if I can't turn it around and reuse the other side, I've found that the foil tape I use for closing my milk jugs works fine.

Thank you! The plant markers go in the soil where the plant is set in the flowerbed. I try to plant three perennials together (when I remember), so any extra markers go in a shoebox to be reused. I pick a day when it's too miserable to be out in the garden, sit at a small table inside my garage and sort them alphabetically by either common or botanical name to make it easier to use them the following year. Belamcanda/blackberry lily, lupine & astilbe are easy because both begin with the same letter. Things like penstemon and trollius are trickier because their common names are "beardtongue" & "globeflower" so if I'm looking for either of those, I check both the P's & the B's or the T's & the G's. I will occasionally write the cultivar name on the back of the label. While I try to always use the botanical names on the labels, gardening teaches me patience because things have a rhythmn and pace over which I have no power to rush them along faster just to suit my own agenda.

I winter sowed ornamental dwarf fountain grass seeds because there didn't seem to be a definitive answer as to whether or not the seeds were viable. I only WS one container as an experiment. I wished I'd WS a dozen because every seed germinated. I've got a half dozen Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Hameln' seedlings that grew nice and full, to about 6" tall. They'll grow to mature plants in a few years but I wished I'd sowed lots more seeds so I'd have lots more seedlings a year old instead of starting from seed again. Like I said, patience. Live... garden... & learn.

Gardenweed, great pics and organization of your jugs! Wow that's alot, you must have gotten a zillion seedlings.

PVmis, my 2 cents on when you put out your jugs. The only seeds that need to go out as early as December (or earlier) are those that require a long cold stratification period of 3+ months or are hydrophilic (need to stay moist) and should be sown immediately upon collection in the fall. These would be some perennials, and most trees & shrubs.

Otherwise, I start my sowing in February, with seeds that require 30 or 60 days of cold stratification. Seeds that don't require any cold stratification can be sowed in March or April (spring-sowing).

It may not hurt to put most seeds out this early, because of course they overwinter on the ground in Ma nature, but it is not usually necessary, and could actually hurt some seeds that will rot sitting in the container that long. For example, I sowed Lacinato Kale twice, one year in winter - zero germination. Next year I tried again, sowed them in April, and got tons of seedlings! :)

Thank you all for the answers to my questions! All the seeds I have are native perennials, so I'm not too concerned overall. I'm going to keep an eye on the weather, and if it looks like it'll be freezing consistently before the solstice, I'll put them out earlier. I can't even explain how excited I am for this, and how much more excited I'll be when I get new plants next spring!

I start on the solstice too and try and get a few done every other evening or so. Then about the end of January, I realize I have a pile of seeds still waiting to done. I start push over the next three weeks with a goal of having all but the tenderest annuals that don't like cold weather out (like impatiens and basil) before February 22. I usually end up having to do a marathon over President's Day weekend.

This is the first year, I've held onto containers from last winter to take through another winter on plants that may take a long time to germinate. But I took all the covers off during the heat of summer. Should I recover the containers this winter?

I'm a newbie too with a few questions. I'm excited to get started.

I just LOVE how organized gardenweeds containers are!

Here's my questions:
1. Does the color of the container matter much? I have some clear 2L soda bottles, some green soda bottles, are milk jugs are white (not the frosted type like gardenweeds). Have those of you with experience notice much difference?

2. In the photo of the Blue sage seedlings, how much bigger will you let them get before you thin them out? Would you repot those, or just let them get larger without a cover and move them to the garden?

3. Should the containers go to a sunny location once outside or partial?

4. Any suggestions on how to stop them from blowing away? We don't get much snow here (north carolina) to anchor them, mostly cold temp and wind and ice.

thanks! I'm getting excited to try this year. I have collected cosmos, clematis, zinnia, marigold-not sure of the type- coreopsis, columbine. Those were the only items in my yard that I could figure out how to get the seed.

Mom2, I hope you have fun with this, we're always happy to hear from someone new.

The color of the container counts towards letting needed light in for your seedlings. Rule of thumb ;) "If you are using a container made with tinted plastic it is easy to tell if the plastic is too dark and will not let in sufficient light. Can you see your thumb through the plastic? If you can see your thumb then the plastic will let in enough light and won't shade seeds or seedlings."

Maybe gardenweed will tell you whats been done with the blue sage seedlings - they look developed enough to plant out in her photo to me, but it can depend on your own climate and soil type. My soil is clay based and not always friendliest to small roots so I'll often pot up perennials/trees/shrubs and let those grow on a bit.

My containers will be on my north facing deck which is all shade in winter. As it gets more Spring-like and the angle of the sun changes (and things have germinated), I'll move shade lovers closer to the house, leave the sun lovers in brighter light.

We don't have much in the way of snow cover here either, some years none at all....just tons of rain. You can tape or tie smaller containers together, place then in a larger crate than drains....get creative.

mom2edna - thanks . . . and welcome! Like morz8, I potted up a lot of seedlings to let them get some size on them before planting out. I do have a slug problem and heard enough horror stories of tiny seedlings planted one day that were chomped down to bare dirt the next morning. I just decided to give mine a fighting chance. I also gave away hundreds of plants to family, friends & neighbors...on condition everyone give the pots back!!

As far as the color of the jugs, there are some seeds that require light to germinate. You may want to experiment & see how certain seeds do in the opaque jugs--plant the same seed variety in two types of jugs and keep a record of which had better germination.

The blue sage were very healthy seedlings right from the get go. I potted them up at about the size you see in the photo.

I set my containers on my breezeway which is east/west. It is mostly shaded but like morz8 mentioned, it begins to get more sun as the angle of the sun changes. Shade lovers I kept on the shady side; sun lovers were moved to where they got more sun. Containers in sun need to be checked more often and may need to be watered. None of my 486 containers needed water before potting up/planting out.

Two suggestions for keeping them in place--set gallon jugs around half-gallons/two liter bottles to hold the taller ones with smaller bases. Run a wooden or bamboo stake through the handles and they'll stay together. You can also use bricks or blocks to keep them from blowing around.

Now about seeds - if you'd like some perennial seeds I've got LOTS that are good WS candidates that I don't plan to sow this year. They're yours for postage/SASBE. Feel free to "shop" my trade list & email me!

Ready for some eye candy? ALL of these were WS 2009/10:

Lychnis chalcedonica/Maltese cross

Rudbeckia hirta/gloriosa daisy
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California poppy
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Alcea rosea/dwarf hollyhock
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Alyssum
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Lupine
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Rudbeckia hirta/gloriosa daisy
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Gaura lindheimeri/wandflower
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Platycodon grandiflora/balloon flower
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Alcea rosea/hollyhock
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Agastache rupestris/sunset hyssop
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Rudbeckia hirta/gloriosa daisy
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Gardenweed, those gloriosa daisies look so delicious, I can hardly contain myself! Can. Not. Wait. :P I'm so excited. And thanks so much for the brick idea. I was wondering how I was going to get all these pepsi bottles to stand up wind the winds start blowing!

I haven't decided yet if I'm going to put them all on the front driveway against the garage (east facing) which gets morning sun or put it on the North side of it with the dogs. Maybe there won't be any accidents now that I've got bricks to think about.

That area did collect a nice snow drift last winter with the unexpected winter storms. I sure hope it snows again this year!

Manda, I put the perennials on the east side of the house, which luckily happens to be the back yard - so the mess is hidden from street and neighbors. Annuals and tender plants go up against the foundation on south side for maximum heat. We normally get plenty of snow no matter what side of the house it is and probably have less sunshine in the Spring than you do. YMMV.

I might split them up and try both sides, see what happens. I wonder what my neighbors will think. Hehe. We all have chain link fences so there is no hiding 'em.

Gardenweed, is there a particular type of craft pen you use? I've got a line art pen but I don't think it will work for this purpose.

manda3 - I use a Deco paint pen. You can get them at WM or craft stores. They sell both fine & wide tips. I'm reusing labels from last year--the paint pen just works so well, they never fade.

Thanks!

Welcome mom2edna,

As far as color, my rule of thumb is that the top of the container should be transparent or translucent enough to see the shape of my finger through. That means the opagque white kitty litter containers don't work well (can you imagine me in the PetSmart? No not that kitty litter brand, you can't see through it...oh that one is clear oh goody! People stare.)

But I also use plastic cups set up in catering trays. The cups are solid colors, but the press and seal that I cover them with is translucent, so light gets through.

I stopped putting anything (soil, vermiculite etc) on top of all but my largest seeds (e.g., morning glories, hollyhocks, all spice bush) . The freeze thaw cycle seems to take care of those that want to be covered and the ones that need light to germinate seem to stay uncovered enough to germinate. Another good point to wintersowing.

Great Post and beautiful pictures! I'm a newbie to this.

I've just discovered this forum and want to plan ahead for this Winter! My questions are:
I grow herbs and annuals in about 20 14" planters. Would I be able to wintersow directly in the planters? And rig up a cover to protect them?

Thanking you in advance!

You most certainly can,just make sure to put some holes in your cover,to let rain in and let heat out and make sure you can see your fingers through it.something clear or near clear..Welcome aboard..