The soil should be moistened before planting your seeds. After that, just stick them out in the yard and let nature take its' course. If you have the lids off your containers (you should), then snow and rain will get in and look after everything for you.
In the spring when it is sunny and warmer, and you have sprouts, keep an eye to make sure they don't dry out. They can be set in a container of water to water them from the bottom so the seedlings aren't disturbed.
gg

Thanks, So i'll just leave the lids off all winter and come spring put the lids back on and start watering.

I don't recall seeing 'putting the flats outside exposed' or did I miss that part on the FAQs? From what I remember, we should remove the cover in spring especially when they have already sprouted. However, we should monitor the moisture.

Let's wait for someone to chime in so we can get proper advice.

Good Morning,

Jeremy, thank you for asking this question. I am a newbie, I've w/s 1 year, and I am very nervous. I don't have milk jug like wintersowers who live in U.S (I live in Canada). I use containers like salad, cake trays and previously I made several holes on the lid so water can comes in. From what I read, I am a little confused, should I remove the lids of these containers ? The opening of these containers are the same size as the bottom, basically, it is a rectanglar container ? Anyone w/s in these containers before and what did you do? did your method work? please share.

Thanks

Thanks for all your replies I'm a little bit confused now though. My containers are rectangular plastic take out containers. They have rectangular clear lids. Do I keep the lid on during winter or not? If the lid is kept on then do I water the seeds? I'm not so worried about spring care since i've sprouted many seeds before but having never winter sowed I'm not sure what to do.

Thanks again!

daylilyfanatic4,

Do you have holes punched in the lids so rain and snow can get in?
Holes in the bottoms for drainage?
If you have both of those, leave the lids on and let Ma Nature do her thing.
:)

You don't need to remove the lids comletely until it gets hotter in spring.

I think greylady-gardener's reference to lids being left off were the caps of the 2L's and milk jugs. It gets confusing as the terms lids/covers are used different ways by different people. Some mean lids/caps while others mean lids/covers/tops.

When sowing seeds the mix should either be moist or should be moistened after sowing. I think most moisten the mix before sowing. Others set the container in a pan of water to absorb moisture from the bottom after the seeds have been sown. Some set the dry mix with sown seed outside and wait for the rain/snow to moisten the mix.

All containers should have some type of cover to help keep the moisture in the container until after the seeds germinate yet still allow snow/rain to enter. For 2L/milk jugs just leave the cap off but keep the top half of the 2L/jug (cover) on. The open neck of the 2L/jugs is enough opening until the temps have warmed and one needs to worry about burning sprouts. Then the cover can be opened as much as needed (or more holes added to the cover) to allow more ventilation.

Those of you using flats, ect with lids that have holes poked in them will leave the lids/covers on in the same ways.

Those of us having freezing temps will not have to worry about watering containers until spring unless we have an unusual warm spell. Others need to check for condensation/moisture on the lids/covers. If you have no condensation or the soil is dry and it isn't raining/snowing you will need to water.

Hope this help clear up the confusion.

Thanks for clearing it up mnwsgal. That is what I meant. I answered and then left for work.
Sorry I really didn't mean to confuse anyone. :(
I was thinking of the 2L pop bottles and the milk jugs when I said to leave the tops off....(meaning the little screw on tops).
salad containers etc. should just have holes poked in the top and the lids left on.

sorry again for the confusion....I shouldn't have answered today...I am in a fog because of my cold, and was in a hurry to get ready for work!. :)
gg

Greylady don't feel bad. I was just trying to figure out what to do with my seeds. I think i don't really have much to worry about since most of the time We have freezing temps anyway.

Thanks again for your answers

Thank you for clarifying. No you should write. All teachings are good, and your time is appreciated. I learned alot from reading in these forums.

Thanks