Winter seed Sowing time is coming up!

[midtnmama]

Winter seed sowing is a method of starting seeds in the winter for spring planting. You use mini greenhouses made of recycled milk jugs, 2 liter bottles, clear take-out containers that have aeration holes in the top (to prevent the dreaded damping off disease) and holes in the bottom to allow the soil to drain.



You start with the cole crops and perennials when it's cold (these are OUTSIDE, and YES, they are fine in snow) and then closer to your last frost date, do your annuals.



I still direct seed legumes, squash,pumpkins and cucumbers. I could never start seeds successfully before finding this amazing method. No more messy, fussy indoor seed planting!! There are facebook groups related to Winter seed sowing and also other websites. It was popularized by Trudi Davidoff who has graciously shared her method.



www.wintersown.org/

[feather]

Thanks for the information. I just threw away a clear container I'd been holding onto, but thought, what can I use this for, nothing, then put it in recycling.

Sometimes I learn from my mistakes. I'll be watching your thread and trying to get on board with some winter sowing.

Am I well informed to still plant tomatoes and peppers inside and tend the seedlings March-April-May? (onions Feb-March-April) Or is there some alternate way of doing that?

[midtnmama]

feather, If that has worked for you, then by all means, continue! My containers are outside so they get all the light they need and moisture from rain, so I only have to think about filling them and forgetting them until they have two true leaves (to open them). My winter months are only spent filling, no fussing over them afterwards. I average about five containers a week lazily, starting after Christmas and have about 40 when it's time to plant in the spring.

[feather]

That is awesome, to work at it every week all winter and to have accomplished so much by spring. It might help us deal with our long winter.

The winters here are pretty harsh and the wind would be something to deal with. We've got steel landscape fabric 'nails', we could anchor down containers in case the wind whipped up. That might work here.

[midtnmama]

Believe me, people are doing this north of you. I have mine next to the house, which affords them some heat from the bricks, but you don't need to. Put them in a group and lay some fencing, or tie the handles together. I put a small rock on my deli containers to keep them closed, or you can hole punch top and bottom and wire shut with twisty ties.

It gets windy here too!

www.google.com/search?q=winter+seed+sowing&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjT1eD3l-rlAhUYsp4KHfLoCMEQ_AUIFCgD&biw=1024&bih=481

[mogal]

Great link, midtnmama!

I had never had much luck growing onions or leeks from seed but tried winter sowing last season with 3 year old seed. You would not believe how well everything germinated. I had plenty of bulb and scallion type onions and leeks even after giving 1/4 of each milk jug to a neighbor.

I have a 2 1/2 y/o Pyr who doesn't know she's not a puppy any more--still chews, still carries "toys" around the yard so I cheat and put everything in the hoop house. Her criteria for a toy--if it moves, it's a toy. If it doesn't move, worry it until it moves, then it's a toy.

[midtnmama]

Glad this helped someone. I am storing my seeds in the freezer organized by the time I need to wintersow (or plant in the garden).

[feather]

DH and I just talked about it today. I am going to try to find some youtubes about it since that is his preferred learning method.
Here is a list of the cole family plants.
www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/vgen/cole-crop-plants.htm

[janinco]

We get winds here too, ferocious ones. I tried last year with six containers and got nada. My problem is we don't get moisture and I didn't think to water them enough, I suppose. Will give it another go this year. I was afraid to overwater so just didn't water enough. When I moved to this part of Colorado, neighbors told me you have to water your lawn and trees all winter or they die. I didn't believe that, but it's true!

[midtnmama]

Wind issue: I've seen where people weigh down their jugs (placed closely together and duct taped shut) with fencing which lets the sun through. Mine are placed next to the house and this year I'll put some in the hoophouse. They will do double duty there killing the weeds underneath so I can plant on the outside and inside of the hoophouse this year.

As for water: I can tell by lifting a container if its dry. I water from the bottom by putting in a new kitty litter pan of water. Soaks from bottom. 


Tried something new yesterday with my winter seed sowing in milk jugs and other appropriate recyclables. In the past the seeds would shift around no matter how carefully I spaced them. Yesterday I tried making a kind of seed (tape) and affixed the seeds where I wanted them with a past of flour and water. I affixed them to a sheet of newspaper cut to the size of the jug, covered with a bit of potting soil and sprayed the top with water (previously I had poured boiling water over the soil to kill any weed seeds ( I reuse the soil year to year and add a little garden soil to it or forest soil). I water with compost tea which reintroduces good bacteria into the soil (for another post).