Of course, you're zone 3. But to me, March is spring...so you're late trying this..but with your zone...how long have you got to chill them?

A full 2 months!

Question- are the lids on your containers supposed to be off to collect moisture? I genuinely don't know, as this is also my first year winter sowing and I am using an open container method that uses a wire grate for protection, but I thought I had seen milk jugs without lids when I was researching (before I decided that I would never find enough milk jugs for that method). I hope you get lots of flowers! I put some seeds in the fridge for cold stratification today - I didn't winter sow them with my first batch back in January because milkweed doesn't like to be moved, and I already lost a bunch of seedlings trying to transplant them in a previous year, so I am going to direct sow them once it stops snowing. I know what you mean about antsy! I'm glad I moved south to a somewhat warmer 6b before I got into gardening. We have weeks, not months, before we start to see green.

Hi Jenn, I was told to put the lids on, but make cuts at the top for venting. What did you sow?

Milk jugs: I could not find milk jugs anywhere, so I used what was available (juice and soda containers).

You're supposed to leave the tops off. The soil won't get drenched through those little holes. I would take care of the drainage issue asap. I also put more holes around the upper portion of the milkjugs. Slits won't let in enough moisture.

I keep the lids on...just as long as you keep them out of direct sun (so they don't become ovens). I worry about moisture as needed, usually putting the pot/jug in a container with shallow water and letting it wick up from underneath.

But when lazy, I leave things a bit loose on the sides and allow water to directly enter. The bad thing with that is sometimes the drainage may clog and it may all float :(

Leaving off the top eliminates the need to soak them from the bottom, which is very inconvenient, especially when wintersowing LARGE numbers of seeds! :)

https://www.agardenforthehouse.com/2012/11/winter-sowing-101-6/

I like to pay personal attention to my plants. I inspect them frequently, so this isn't a problem for me.

I'm not a wholesale nursery.

If I did open a wholesale nursery I wouldn't charge you a penny Barron.

the water just stays around them

==>>> i dont understand this part ... around?? .. outside.. on the table????

i would probably get them off the table.. so the wind wont launch them ala dorothy and toto ...

just shove them in a snow bank for now ...

and i would probably keep them in full bright shade .... else i suspect they will get to HOT ... not warm.. hot.. being clear plastic and small top holes ...

uhm .... apparently you arent a milk freak like i am ... lol .. else.. you would know where to get milk jugs ...

all that aside.. just have fun ... whatever success you may have or not.. i am sure you got a good gardening buzz going.. with all that snow around.. so you win ...

ken

My milk jugs are directly on the deck against the north wall of the house. No caps on and the sides are only held shut by 1 piece of tape. I sealed the entire cut in the bottle with tape last year and it was really difficult to open the jugs. I have another container that was a tub of dog treats with a large round opening, I covered that with an old piece of aluminum screen held on with a bungy cord. That has holly berries in it and those will probably take 2 years to germinate, I figured I should just leave that in an out of the way place.

Then I have lots of seeded plug trays sitting on the ground in a low tunnel. I covered the hoops in cloth insect screen, then covered the top of that in .55oz row cover fabric. The ends of the tunnel are insect screen only to allow air circulation. I put down cardboard on the ground first to block any weeds from coming up from the soil underneath.

Next year after I open up the wholesale nursery Ill switch to a plastic cover and come up with a system for bottom watering (lol).