Winter sowing is a seed-starting method that sounds a little bit wild the first time you hear it but makes sense if you think about it from a horticultural standpoint. Basically you are sowing seeds in recycled containers like milk jugs and placing them outside in the winter as a very hands-off way of starting your spring garden.
If you’ve ever:
• Run out of space under grow lights
• Been frustrated by leggy indoor seedlings
• Or just felt like you don’t have the time or money or inclination for a full seed-starting setup
…winter sowing might be your new favorite technique.
Let's dig in!
References and Resources:
University of Missouri Extension. Winter Sowing Seeds (YM105), 2021. https://extension.missouri.edu/publications/ym105
Rutgers NJAES Cooperative Extension. “Winter Seed Sowing Handout.” 2023. https://ocean.njaes.rutgers.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Winter-Seed-Sowing-Handout-Final.pdf
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Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/18YgHveF5P/
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00:00:00
So I had someone reach out a few weeks ago asking for an update
00:00:04
on my winter sewing adventures from two seasons ago, and I
00:00:07
realized I had never given an update on my success or my
00:00:11
failure with that method. If you're not sure what I'm
00:00:14
talking about, winter sowing is a seed starting method.
00:00:18
That sounds a little bit wild the first time you hear it, but
00:00:20
it absolutely makes sense if you think about it from a
00:00:24
horticultural standpoint. Basically, you are sowing seeds
00:00:28
in a recycled container like a milk jug and then placing them
00:00:32
outside in the winter as a very hands off way of starting your
00:00:36
spring garden. So if you've ever run out of
00:00:39
space under your grow lights, or you've been frustrated by leggy
00:00:42
indoor seedlings, or maybe you just feel like you don't have
00:00:46
the time or the money or the inclination for a full seed
00:00:50
starting setup, then winter sowing might just be your new
00:00:54
favorite technique. So today on Just Grow Something,
00:00:56
we're going to walk through what winter sowing actually is, how
00:01:00
it works, and the science behind it.
00:01:02
Which veggies, herbs and flowers are good candidates?
00:01:05
When to winter sow Depending in your climate and exactly how to
00:01:10
set up your little mini greenhouses and how to care for
00:01:12
them throughout the winter, By the end, you'll be able to grab
00:01:16
a handful of recycled containers, a bag of potting
00:01:19
mix, a packet of seeds, and confidently start part of your
00:01:22
spring garden outdoors in the middle of the winter.
00:01:26
Let's dig in. Hey, I'm Karen and what started
00:01:28
as a small backyard garden 20 years ago turned into a lifelong
00:01:32
passion for growing food. Now as a market farmer and
00:01:35
horticulturist, I want to help you do the same.
00:01:38
On this podcast, I am your friend in the garden teaching
00:01:41
evidence based techniques to help you grow your favorites and
00:01:44
build confidence in your own garden space.
00:01:46
So grab your garden journal and a cup of coffee and get ready to
00:01:49
just grow something. So what exactly is winter
00:01:57
sowing? In simple terms, winter sowing
00:01:59
is the process of sowing seeds outdoors in covered containers
00:02:04
during the cold months and then leaving them outside to
00:02:07
experience the natural winter conditions until they germinate
00:02:11
as the weather warms. So the containers act like
00:02:15
little mini greenhouses. They protect the seeds and the
00:02:18
seedlings from like wind and critters, they let in rain and
00:02:22
snow for moisture, and they trap enough warmth and humidity as
00:02:26
spring approaches to encourage germination.
00:02:29
So instead of us trying to mimic spring indoors with lights and
00:02:35
heat mats and very careful watering, we're basically
00:02:38
letting nature handle the timing.
00:02:40
So this is a low maintenance way to start Hardy seeds outdoors in
00:02:47
the winter for transplanting in the spring.
00:02:49
And we're taking advantage of the natural cold and the day
00:02:53
length queues. So traditionally, you know,
00:02:57
winter sewing, you're using translucent gallon milk jugs or
00:03:01
clear juice or water jugs, clear plastic tubs with lids on them.
00:03:05
So think the giant, the salad containers that you get from
00:03:10
like Costco or even like storage containers or basically any
00:03:14
other recycled plastic container that can hold at least three to
00:03:19
four inches of soil with room for the plant to grow above that
00:03:23
and can admit light. So we're going to focus mostly
00:03:26
on milk jugs because they're usually pretty easy to find and
00:03:29
they're easy to carry. And that curved top just
00:03:33
naturally sheds the snow and the rain while still letting the
00:03:36
light in. But first, let's talk about why
00:03:39
this works because it can feel kind of counterintuitive when
00:03:44
we've been told, you know, oh, don't plant outside until, you
00:03:48
know, after your your last frost date in the spring or relative
00:03:52
to the last frost date in your spring.
00:03:54
A lot of plants, especially perennial flowers or native
00:03:59
plants and some of the cool season crops have seeds that are
00:04:03
programmed to delay germination until after they they've
00:04:07
experienced a period of cold and moisture.
00:04:09
We call this cold stratification.
00:04:13
So if we think about what happens in nature, seeds are
00:04:16
going to drop from the plant in the late summer or the fall and
00:04:18
they're going to land on the soil and just sort of sit there
00:04:21
or work their way down into the soil from, you know, rain and
00:04:25
freeze thaw cycles, OK. Throughout the winter, they
00:04:28
experience cold temperatures and moisture, and that continued
00:04:32
freeze thaw cycle O overtime, that combination of all of those
00:04:39
changes actually breaks down the chemical inhibitors on that seed
00:04:45
and it softens the seed coat. So when the temperatures start
00:04:49
to warm and the days lengthen in the spring, the seed is finally
00:04:55
ready to sprout. Essentially, this is like a
00:04:59
survival strategy. It prevents the seeds from
00:05:02
germinating during some random warm spell in the fall or even
00:05:07
in the middle of the winter, only to be killed by the actual
00:05:11
winter arriving, right? And so this keeps them from
00:05:15
premature germination. So what we do with winter sowing
00:05:19
is we basically package that natural process into containers.
00:05:23
The jugs sit outside and experience the same winter
00:05:26
conditions as the seeds would in the soil.
00:05:30
And so the seeds go through like the cold and the moisture, just
00:05:33
like they would if they were in the ground.
00:05:35
And as spring approaches, the sun warms the air and the soil
00:05:39
side the jug. And then when the seed
00:05:41
conditions are right or the temperature conditions are
00:05:44
right, then the seeds we're going to sprout basically on
00:05:47
their own schedule because all of this happens outside.
00:05:51
The seedlings get natural light from day one.
00:05:54
So this means sturdier, stockier growth compared to seedlings
00:05:59
that might be under our indoor lights.
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It doesn't require that attention from us to make sure
00:06:04
that the light level is strong enough or that we've got the
00:06:07
lights close enough to the seedlings, right?
00:06:09
They're getting that full spectrum light because they are
00:06:11
outside. This also kind of gives us a
00:06:14
bonus too in terms of hardening off.
00:06:16
Seedlings that germinate in those outdoor containers are
00:06:21
already used to the cooler temperatures and the fluctuating
00:06:25
conditions. So when it's time to transplant,
00:06:28
hardening off is usually much easier and faster.
00:06:31
Really all we have to do at that point is get them used to like
00:06:34
the wind conditions because obviously they've been in a
00:06:37
little protected container prior to that, right?
00:06:39
So instead of like fighting the plant biology with artificial
00:06:44
conditions, the winter sowing is working with that biology.
00:06:49
I think it's important to note that not every seed is a good
00:06:53
candidate for winter sowing, but a surprising number R And if
00:06:57
you, if you want, you know a lot of good details about this, you
00:07:01
can actually go if you're a Facebook person, there are
00:07:04
several winter sowing groups on Facebook where you can go and
00:07:08
you can get the the straight scoop.
00:07:10
I am also going to link to my original winter sewing episode
00:07:15
in the show notes that talks about how it was started, who
00:07:17
started it, and all those types of things.
00:07:19
But if you go by like university extension services and master
00:07:22
gardener groups, they generally recommend plants starting with
00:07:27
plants that are naturally cold Hardy and or plants that are
00:07:33
known to benefit or that actually require cold
00:07:35
stratification. So we can split this into a few
00:07:37
different groups. The first one would be like our
00:07:39
cool season vegetables. These are great choices for
00:07:43
winter sowing. So think about all of your
00:07:45
brassicas, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Brussels
00:07:49
sprouts, kohlrabi, collards. All of these are really good for
00:07:53
winter sowing your leafy greens. So a lot of your lettuces mesh
00:07:59
or corn salad, mustard green, tatsoy, bok choy, any of your
00:08:03
Asian greens. Spinach could technically fall
00:08:05
into this category, although I tend to see that spinach doesn't
00:08:10
love being transplanted as much. But it can work if you kind of
00:08:14
do it in a mass planting and you're doing it for baby
00:08:16
spinach, so you can throw spinach in there too.
00:08:18
And then any of your alliums, you know, bunching onions,
00:08:21
leeks, chives, all of your cold Hardy greens and brassic heads
00:08:25
are well documented as tolerating frosts and even some
00:08:28
freezing temperatures. And a lot of them actually
00:08:31
improve in flavor when they're grown in those cooler
00:08:33
conditions. They don't mind cold soil.
00:08:36
They will happily germinate on the early side as the jug starts
00:08:40
to warm up in the late winter. So these are great candidates
00:08:43
for starting out with winter sowing.
00:08:46
There are also some herbs that do well with winter sowing,
00:08:49
especially those that are naturally perennial or biennial
00:08:53
or they are Hardy in cooler climates.
00:08:55
So parsley, chives, oregano, thyme, some of the mints if you
00:09:00
really want to plant mints right, Cilantro is another
00:09:03
option in some climates. It prefers cooler weather and it
00:09:07
often self so sows outdoors anyway and it can handle those
00:09:11
frosts too. So it just depends on you know,
00:09:13
how adventurous you want to be. I think I might try cilantro
00:09:16
this year. I haven't done it before but I
00:09:18
intend to this year. And then we also have like
00:09:21
perennial flowers and natives. So this is where winter sowing
00:09:24
really shines. If you are trying to get more
00:09:27
flowers into your garden, like I have said all season that I am
00:09:31
trying to do, then this is where winter sowing can really come in
00:09:35
clutch. A lot of native perennials and
00:09:38
ornamental perennials need that cold stratification or can at
00:09:43
least benefit from it. So echinacea or cone flowers,
00:09:47
rudbeckia or Black Eyed susans, milkweeds, bee balm, coreopsis,
00:09:52
lupines, a lot of the woodland and the Prairie species.
00:09:55
So a lot of times when you're growing these, you're told to
00:09:59
like bag them up and put them in the fridge for several weeks
00:10:02
before you plant them outside. You can actually skip that step
00:10:07
if you are using winter sowing. You can let them stratify
00:10:09
naturally in those winter sowing containers.
00:10:13
Now, there are some seeds that generally aren't going to do as
00:10:17
well with winter sowing, especially in colder climates.
00:10:20
And really this is all of our tender, warm season crops that
00:10:25
do not do well in cold soil and they do not perform well in low
00:10:28
temperatures. So think things like your
00:10:31
tomatoes, Peppers, eggplant, basil, cucumbers, squashes,
00:10:34
melons, all of our summer stuff and then any of those really
00:10:37
fast warm loving annuals in terms of our flowers that
00:10:41
germinate best in like a warm soil.
00:10:43
Now this doesn't mean that you can't do these things.
00:10:46
And you know, somebody who is experienced in doing winter
00:10:49
showing absolutely could still use this method for tomatoes and
00:10:53
similar crops by sewing them late in the winter.
00:10:56
So maybe closer to spring. The timing is key on that 1.
00:11:00
So it's a little bit less hands off, I think, than trying to do
00:11:04
this with some of your cooler weather crops.
00:11:06
Because with these warm weather ones, you don't want them to
00:11:09
spend as long in the deep cold. And they you really don't want
00:11:14
them to germinate too early during an unexpected warm spell
00:11:18
when you're nowhere near your last frost date.
00:11:21
And then you can lose all of those little seedlings.
00:11:23
They are not as good at that whole, you know, they don't need
00:11:28
any cold stratification basically.
00:11:29
So they don't have that protective coating on them that
00:11:31
tells them, hey, it's too early for you to sprout.
00:11:34
So as a beginner, you're likely going to get the best results by
00:11:38
sticking to the hearty vegetables and herbs and
00:11:41
perennials first. And then once we get the hang of
00:11:43
it and you've been successful a couple of times and you figure
00:11:46
out, oh, you can look at the calendar or you can look at your
00:11:49
weather conditions and then figure out when you might want
00:11:52
to try to experiment with those tender warm season crops.
00:11:56
So one of the biggest questions with winter sewing is when do I
00:11:59
actually put these jugs outside? OK.
00:12:01
So if we look at like the extension resources, they tend
00:12:04
to give a range rather than a single date because it really
00:12:08
does depend on your climates. The key to this is that the
00:12:12
containers should experience a meaningful period of cold before
00:12:16
spring. And what I've seen in a lot of
00:12:19
the winter sewing groups is the recommendation that you start on
00:12:22
or after the winter solstice, which is what I have done.
00:12:26
So, you know, the, the general timing really would be if you're
00:12:30
in colder climates, you can start, you know, as early as
00:12:33
late December through anytime in mid February if you're in a
00:12:37
moderate climate. So like zone 6 and seven, you
00:12:39
might start in January or February.
00:12:41
And then in milder climates, if you're in zones 8 or warmer, you
00:12:46
might need to adjust, you might need to sew later in the winter
00:12:49
and choose only like the most cold tolerant species so that
00:12:53
they don't germinate too soon since your soil temperatures
00:12:57
don't tend to stay that cold, right?
00:12:59
You know, again, you can make it.
00:13:01
You know, I'll do it on the winter solstice.
00:13:03
But really anytime in mid to late winter, as long as the
00:13:06
nights are still consistently cold is a good idea.
00:13:09
And so, you know, in order of operation, basically you would
00:13:13
want to start with your perennials and the natives that
00:13:17
actually need that cold stratification first.
00:13:20
Those are the ones that should go out first during the coldest
00:13:22
part of your winter. So they get those conditions
00:13:24
that they need to actually sprout.
00:13:27
Following that, then you would do like your hearty annuals and
00:13:31
your cool season veggies. And then if there's anything
00:13:33
that's borderline hearty or you're wanting to try those
00:13:37
warmer loving plants, then do those last and do those closer
00:13:41
to spring. So you might actually find that
00:13:42
you are sowing these seeds maybe 3 times and putting them out in
00:13:47
stages, right? So if you're listening to this
00:13:49
like in December or January, you are likely right on time to
00:13:53
start planning or even start sewing depending on your zone.
00:13:57
Again, I generally wait until after the winter solstice and I
00:14:01
start going from there. So let's talk about what you
00:14:04
actually need to winter. So in milk jugs, the first thing
00:14:09
is translucent plastic containers of some sort.
00:14:12
So again, gallon milk jugs or water jugs are your classic.
00:14:15
You could also use like a clear juice jug or any type of a
00:14:17
similar container. Just keep in mind that opaque or
00:14:21
solid color containers are not going to allow enough light.
00:14:24
So you know, those gallon milk jugs that are just sort of hazy
00:14:28
are OK. Anything clearer than that is
00:14:31
fine. The only concern that you ever
00:14:33
have about them being totally clear is if you have them in the
00:14:36
full sun and it getting too hot. We will talk about that here in
00:14:39
our troubleshooting section in a minute.
00:14:41
But you know, you don't want anything more blocking more of
00:14:44
the light than that. The next thing you need is a
00:14:47
sharp tool for cutting and poking holes.
00:14:49
So a utility knife, a pair of heavy scissors, even a garden
00:14:52
knife is fine. Something like a screwdriver or
00:14:55
a drill for doing the drainage holes.
00:14:57
Depending on what you're using as your plastic, you're going to
00:14:59
want some seed starting or high quality potting mix.
00:15:02
Something that is loosely textured, well draining, you
00:15:06
know, peat or core based is fine.
00:15:08
We are not. Once again, we are not using
00:15:10
heavy garden soil. OK, Anytime we are working with
00:15:12
containers, we are not using garden soil.
00:15:14
It's going to compact and is going to drain poorly.
00:15:18
Next, pick your seeds, you know, your Hardy veggies, your herbs,
00:15:20
your perennials. Like we talked about, make sure
00:15:22
that they are within their viability window.
00:15:24
So if you have any question about their fertility, go ahead
00:15:27
and do a test and then make sure that you've got labels and a
00:15:31
permanent marker. We want something here that's
00:15:33
going to be weatherproof in terms of our plant tags.
00:15:36
So, you know, old plastic blinds are fine, nursery labels are
00:15:40
good, but you need to make sure that you have a marker that
00:15:42
resists the sun and the moisture as much as possible.
00:15:45
So we are not going to want to use, you know, wooden tongue
00:15:49
depressors and a, you know, a pencil or something to mark this
00:15:54
with, right? We want a permanent marker or
00:15:56
something that is weatherproof. Often times I will use the duct
00:16:01
tape and I will tape it onto the outside of the jug and then I
00:16:04
will also use a plant take on the inside of the jug just to
00:16:08
make sure that, you know, if one gets wiped away for some reason,
00:16:11
then I still have the other one as backup.
00:16:14
Speaking of tape, that's another thing that you need.
00:16:15
You need duct tape or packing tape because we're going to
00:16:18
reseal these jugs after we've cut them open.
00:16:21
And then you're going to need a water source of some sort just
00:16:23
for your initial moisture. So just a watering can or a
00:16:26
gentle hose spray or I don't know, even some snow if that's
00:16:29
that's what's happening in your area right now, right?
00:16:31
Nothing fancy. Most of this is either already
00:16:34
in your house or it's easy to grab at any given time.
00:16:38
So step by step, basically to prepare the containers, you just
00:16:42
want to make sure that they're clean and you remove any of the
00:16:46
extra labels and stuff if possible so that you can get
00:16:48
more light into these containers.
00:16:50
And then we want to leave the cap off.
00:16:52
This is going to be your air vent and it's also going to
00:16:55
allow for some moisture to exchange.
00:16:57
Then you just take your knife or your heavy scissors and you are
00:17:01
going to cut horizontally across the jug, starting on one side
00:17:04
and going almost all the way around about 3 to 4 inches up
00:17:09
from the bottom. So we want enough room in the
00:17:11
bottom of the container to hold our 3 to 4 inches of soil and
00:17:15
then allow for the plants to sprout above that cut line so
00:17:20
they're easy to get out when it's time to transplant.
00:17:23
Basically, you are leaving a small hinge of plastic attached
00:17:27
under the handle so the top and the bottom stay connected like a
00:17:30
clamshell. So you should now be able to
00:17:33
open the jug like a little door on the top.
00:17:36
Okay. And then next you make the
00:17:38
drainage hole. So poke several holes in the
00:17:40
bottom. For a gallon jug, you probably
00:17:42
want about four to six of these holes.
00:17:45
If you live somewhere where your winter season is very wet, maybe
00:17:49
that's your rainy season, Then you might also want to add a few
00:17:53
holes just above the soil line on the sides for extra drainage.
00:17:58
Good drainage here is actually pretty crucial because we don't
00:18:01
want the seeds to just sit in a waterlogged mix because then
00:18:05
they're going to rot instead of sprouting, right?
00:18:08
Once you have this kind of cut and set up, then you want to
00:18:11
fill the bottom part of your jug with about 3 to 4 inches of that
00:18:14
moistened seed starting mix. The mix should be damp like a
00:18:18
rung out sponge, not dripping wet.
00:18:20
And if it's dry when you take it out of the bag, then put it in a
00:18:23
different container and pre moisten it all together in that
00:18:27
larger container and then add it to the jugs because that way
00:18:30
we're sure that we're getting that consistent moisture
00:18:33
throughout the soil. And it's not like really wet in
00:18:35
some spots and dry in others. OK, Next thing is just to sow
00:18:39
your seeds. So put them on the surface
00:18:42
basically according to whatever the general depth is on the
00:18:45
packet. So for really tiny seeds,
00:18:46
usually just have to kind of press them into the surface or
00:18:49
cover them with a very light dusting of the mix.
00:18:52
You got medium sized seeds. They're usually about two to
00:18:54
three times as deep as they as the seed is wide.
00:18:57
And then if you've got, you know, larger seeds, you
00:19:00
obviously are going to plant them a little bit deeper.
00:19:02
Just make sure you're following, you know, whatever the
00:19:04
instructions say on the packet for depth.
00:19:06
You do not need to space these as carefully as you would for
00:19:12
direct sewing out into a garden bed or even when you're doing
00:19:16
like indoor seeds starting. We don't want to dump the whole
00:19:19
packet into one tiny space. But being in like small clusters
00:19:25
or just kind of reasonably even spacing throughout the surface
00:19:29
is great because we're going to separate these seedlings later.
00:19:34
So you know you're going to tease them apart.
00:19:36
But this is again, another way that this type of seed starting
00:19:40
is very space saving because we can do a whole bunch of plants
00:19:44
in one little spot. So once you get them planted,
00:19:48
just miss them or gently water the surface to settle, settle
00:19:50
everything in place. And then make sure that you
00:19:53
label these. OK again, you know, winter
00:19:56
weather fading ink, having multiple jugs, this can make
00:20:00
things really confusing. So again, a label on the inside
00:20:02
of the jug pushed down into the soil so it's kind of protected
00:20:05
from the sun. And then a label on the outside
00:20:07
of the jug, preferably written with something that is, you
00:20:11
know, UV resistance, some sort of UV resistant marker if you
00:20:14
can. Right, the crop and the variety
00:20:17
and the date that you did this sewing so that you have an idea
00:20:21
of what it is that you're working for.
00:20:22
We're working with you. Trust me.
00:20:24
You're not going to recognize all of these when they start to
00:20:26
sprout. So make sure that you are doing
00:20:27
labeling. I I have screwed this up, trust
00:20:30
me. Then once you've got this all
00:20:32
done, you're going to close and tape the jug.
00:20:35
So you close the top of the jug back over the bottom and you use
00:20:38
duct tape or that packing tape to secure that cut seam all the
00:20:42
way around. But remember to leave the cap
00:20:44
off of the jug. We always want that open vent at
00:20:48
the top. This is very important.
00:20:49
It's going to let moisture in from rain or snow or whatever
00:20:52
you're getting. It also is going to help prevent
00:20:55
that jug from overheating on a sunny day.
00:20:59
That's it. That's all you have to do.
00:21:00
Now, you're going to take your finished jugs and you're going
00:21:02
to put them outside and you're put them in a spot where they'll
00:21:04
get, you know, at least a half a day of sun, preferably full sun
00:21:08
in the winter months because again, the days are shorter.
00:21:11
You also want to put them where they are not likely to blow
00:21:14
over. So if you can put them up
00:21:16
against a fence or a wall or someplace fairly protected,
00:21:19
that's great. And you want it to be someplace
00:21:21
convenient so that you can check on them periodically.
00:21:24
This is a mistake that I have made, Yes.
00:21:27
If you have a S facing location for that early season warmth,
00:21:32
that's great. And then if you can move them
00:21:36
later on, so as spring starts to kind of kick in and you're
00:21:40
getting more and more sunlight, you might be able to move them
00:21:42
to an east or West exposure. So you should prevent
00:21:44
overheating. This really depends on where you
00:21:47
are and what you're doing. If you live in a really windy
00:21:51
location, you can cluster these jugs together, like in a crate
00:21:54
or something. Or you can, you know, wedge them
00:21:56
between bricks or boards or even, I mean, if you've got
00:21:59
snowfall, you can kind of push them slightly into a snow bank.
00:22:01
Just something that gives them some stability, right?
00:22:05
And that's it, You're done. You're done planting.
00:22:07
At this point your main job is just to walk away and let winter
00:22:09
do its thing. So once the jugs are outside,
00:22:13
the question is do you have to do anything?
00:22:16
The answer is not much, but a little bit of monitoring does
00:22:19
help. So during the winter time, the
00:22:20
snow and the rain is usually going to provide enough moisture
00:22:23
through that open top and any of the vent holes.
00:22:26
But if you are in a region with a very dry winters or really
00:22:30
long stretches without precipitation, you may need to
00:22:32
water. So on days when it's above
00:22:35
freezing, you can go and open the jug if you need to and kind
00:22:38
of poke a finger into the mix. If it feels totally dry well
00:22:42
below the surface, then you can give it a gentle watering and
00:22:44
then close it up again. Do not over water, OK?
00:22:48
Evaporation is slower during colder conditions, so it's very
00:22:52
easy to over water if you do this too frequently.
00:22:54
So you shouldn't have to do it that frequently.
00:22:57
Just check when you've had a really long dry stretch,
00:23:00
stretch. The second thing would be
00:23:03
temperature swings. So the jugs are going to freeze
00:23:05
and thaw along with the outdoor conditions.
00:23:07
That is normal. That is actually part of the
00:23:09
process, especially if they need that cold stratification.
00:23:13
You do not need to bring them into the garage just because
00:23:16
it's going to be very cold. Just leave them Unless you are
00:23:19
working with scenes that are only marginally Hardy, then you
00:23:22
might want to bring them in. But that really does kind of
00:23:25
defeat the purpose. So if that is the case, then you
00:23:27
might just want to adjust the timing of when you planted those
00:23:30
seeds. But in most typical winter
00:23:32
sowing scenarios, a container stay outside the entire time.
00:23:36
OK. And then as the days lengthen
00:23:39
and the temperature start to rise towards like late winter or
00:23:43
early spring, we're going to start checking those jugs more
00:23:46
frequently, like every few days, just kind of look through the
00:23:48
plastic for signs of green. Once seedlings appear, they
00:23:52
start behaving like any other container grown seedlings.
00:23:55
OK, But they just have two extra considerations here and that is
00:23:59
ventilation and moisture. So as the seedlings start to
00:24:03
emerge, then our job shifts from ignoring them to don't let them
00:24:08
cook and don't let them dry out. So on really sunny, you know,
00:24:12
late winter or early spring days, it can get very, very warm
00:24:15
inside those jugs, even if the air temperature is still chilly.
00:24:18
This is again, a little mini greenhouse.
00:24:21
It's trapping all that heat. So you might need to open or
00:24:25
vent the containers more as spring moves forward just to
00:24:29
avoid overheating. So you can either prop the lid
00:24:32
open during the day, or you can cut some extra vent slits near
00:24:36
the top to vent that extra hot air.
00:24:40
And if you're you're past the worst freezing risk, you might
00:24:43
just remove the tape and open the containers fully during the
00:24:46
day and then closing them up again at night if you need to.
00:24:50
But if your your seedlings start to look pale or floppy or
00:24:53
scorched, then think about the types of things that we're
00:24:57
looking for when like we're hardening off our indoor plants,
00:25:00
right? So think about whether they're
00:25:01
getting too much heat or maybe not enough ventilation.
00:25:05
And then once the seedlings are up and growing, then we want to
00:25:08
check that moisture pretty regularly.
00:25:10
We want to water them gently whenever like the top 2 inches
00:25:13
of that mix feels dry. We don't want them to sit bone
00:25:17
dry, but we again, don't want to keep them sopping wet.
00:25:20
We want a consistent moderate moisture level and then we get
00:25:25
to transplant. So when those seedlings have a
00:25:27
couple of sets of true leaves and the outdoor conditions are
00:25:31
appropriate for that crop. So you know, if you're
00:25:34
transplanting brassicas, it's still cool, but it's not
00:25:37
brutally cold. Or if it's reliably frost free
00:25:41
for things that you're worried about frost with, then it's time
00:25:43
to go ahead and transplant, right?
00:25:45
Your soil in your garden should be workable by this point and
00:25:49
now it's time to go. So all you need to do is open
00:25:51
that jug completely full fully is it is a full jug, but you're
00:25:56
going to open it fully and gently loosen up that block of
00:26:00
soil and just kind of break apart this block of seedlings.
00:26:04
You're going to tease those seedlings apart, just trying to
00:26:06
preserve as much root as possible and then plant them at
00:26:10
the appropriate spacing in your garden bed or your containers or
00:26:14
wherever you're growing them. Water them in.
00:26:17
Great. The only thing that you have to
00:26:18
worry about at this point is maybe providing some light shade
00:26:22
or row cover for first the first few days if you are moving them
00:26:25
from an area where they haven't been getting full, full sun.
00:26:29
The other than that, you know, they don't need much more in the
00:26:33
way of hardening off. They they've been outdoors all
00:26:36
along, so they're going to need very minimal hardening off.
00:26:40
But again, if you're moving them from a very sheltered spot to
00:26:42
like an exposed windy bed, then easing them in with a little bit
00:26:46
of protection is still helpful. So let's walk through some of
00:26:50
the most common what went wrong questions that we can have with
00:26:55
winter showing. The first thing would be maybe
00:26:57
nothing germinated. OK?
00:26:59
So a couple of possible causes for this either was the seed
00:27:02
viability, so it was old seed, or they were in poor storage
00:27:05
conditions. And that obviously can
00:27:07
dramatically reduce our germination, the timing.
00:27:10
So some seeds need a really long cold period, so they may simply
00:27:15
not be ready yet. You might have to give them some
00:27:18
more time. Or if the soil was too dry, if
00:27:20
the medium got completely dried out for longer periods of time,
00:27:25
then stratification and germination can fail.
00:27:27
So every time we go to plant, we want to make sure that we're
00:27:29
double checking the seed age and the storage and be patient.
00:27:34
You know, with with perennials, some of them can take months to
00:27:36
go through the cold stratification, you know,
00:27:38
process. And so if it's late spring and
00:27:41
you still have nothing, well, then you can try resewing or you
00:27:44
can switch to another method for that crop.
00:27:47
The second concern might be that everything molded.
00:27:50
So, you know, a bit of like surface algae or mold is pretty
00:27:54
common because you're going to be, again, a cool, enclosed,
00:27:57
very damp environment. But if you have really heavy
00:28:01
mold growth, that generally means that you've just got poor
00:28:05
air circulation, likely combined with an overly wet medium.
00:28:10
So you might need to add some extra vent holes near the top.
00:28:13
Let the surface of the soil dry out slightly between waterings.
00:28:17
If the mold is really thick, you can kind of scrape off the worst
00:28:20
of it and then top it with a fresh, really thin layer of your
00:28:24
potting mix and continue on from there.
00:28:27
Another problem is you know your seedlings might get fried on a
00:28:31
really warm day. This usually happens like in
00:28:33
late winter or early spring when the angle of the sun starts to
00:28:37
get stronger. But we are still mentally like
00:28:40
in winter mode. So if your seedlings have
00:28:42
suddenly wilted or bleached or collapsed, especially the ones
00:28:45
that are near the top of the container, then likely they
00:28:48
basically just got cooked. So we need to start checking
00:28:51
those jugs more often as the days lengthen.
00:28:55
Open or vent the jugs on those sunny days, especially if the
00:28:57
temperatures are above freezing. And this is the period where you
00:29:01
might consider shifting them to like an east or West facing
00:29:05
location where they're either only getting morning sun or
00:29:08
they're only getting afternoon sun, but they're not getting
00:29:10
like intense all day exposure. And then the last one might be
00:29:15
your seedlings being spindly or weak.
00:29:18
You know, this is a lot less common in winter sowing than it
00:29:21
is with like indoor seeds starting, but it can still
00:29:24
happen if your containers are in too much shade.
00:29:28
You know, and this can happen sometimes more so as we as we
00:29:32
move from like winter into spring.
00:29:34
If the spot that you have them is full sun during the winter
00:29:39
time because your trees have been defoliated, right?
00:29:43
But then in the spring, all the leaves start to grow back in the
00:29:46
trees and now suddenly that area is in the shade.
00:29:49
So this is just an indication that you need to kind of pay
00:29:52
attention to what's going on with that area and make sure
00:29:54
that you move them when that starts to happen.
00:29:57
This can also happen too, if you've packed way too many
00:29:59
seedlings in there and they're all competing for light and
00:30:03
nutrients. So you might need that, you
00:30:06
know, to thin out some of those seedlings and remove the weaker
00:30:09
ones to give the other ones more space and then just
00:30:11
transplanting them out right away as soon as the conditions
00:30:16
allow. And to answer that question of
00:30:22
how well winter sowing worked for me, it was great until it
00:30:26
wasn't. I got over ambitious as usual,
00:30:29
and I planted a whole slew of jugs and other sort of random
00:30:34
containers and I put them out in what I thought would be the
00:30:38
perfect spot. But after a few weeks I promptly
00:30:42
forgot about them, and when I finally remembered what I had
00:30:45
done, it was already spring. They had clearly sprouted
00:30:49
beautifully and then dried out and died.
00:30:53
So I had one jug of bok choy that was still viable.
00:30:57
So I very quickly pulled those and I transplanted them and they
00:31:00
did great. So that was proof of concept for
00:31:03
me and also proof that the gardener was absolutely to blame
00:31:07
for the failure of the rest of them.
00:31:08
So I didn't do any winter sowing last year, but I absolutely have
00:31:12
plans on starting some of my hardiest greens this year to
00:31:15
save space in my seed starting setup basically.
00:31:18
So Kale and Collards, Bok Choy and Robbie are all my early
00:31:23
contenders for this year, so wish me luck that something
00:31:27
shiny doesn't grab my attention so much that I forget about them
00:31:30
again. Fingers crossed.
00:31:32
Until next time, my gardening friends, keep on cultivating
00:31:35
that dream garden, and we'll talk again soon.