Winter sowing is a way to start seeds outdoors while it is still winter, in a small container greenhouse. It was first invented by Trudi Davidoff. It sounds so good that one wonders if it can be true. Well, you will never know if you do not try it, so we did. I do not doubt the system, it sure sounds possible, seeds will germinate whenever it is naturally time for them. In zone 3, however, that time might come way too late. Still, I am trying it out and will keep you posted.
Preparing the container greenhouse
Any containers can be used, the most common ones are the gallon milk jugs. First rinse the container and remove the label sticker. This can easily be done by filling the jug with hot water, after a few minutes the label will come off. Now cut the jug in about half, leaving 1-2 inches, so that the top can be closed and opened. Make some holes at the bottom and lower sides for drainage. Now fill the container with light, well-draining soil. Moisture the soil throughout, and let it drain. You are ready to plant now.
Planting the container greenhouse
Plant the seeds as usually about 3 times their size, but plant them more dense. In our zone 3, I waited till March and used a warm weather break so the seeds would not be totally choked right away. I also only planted winter crops. It is still really cold here. After planting we closed the jugs with some duck tape.
Bring the winter sowing container outside
Now it is time for the winter part of the sowing system. We placed the containers on the south side of our house. A few days later we got snow, and some more snow and heavy frost. Too cold for my liking. But I wanted to try the winter sowing in zone 3, so there we go. Will edit this post as we go to keep you updated. If you have any experiences with winter sowing, please share.
See update: Winter Sowing Works in Zone 3
Inspiring books for winter gardening:
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We winter sowed a couple years ago and it was great. I wish we would have doe it this year 🙁 It was too cold to even go outside most days. I am so glad it is over!!
Yes this is a cold winter, and a cold spring so far. Maybe not the best year for me to try winter sowing. Glad to hear it worked for you in the past.
I have been doing this for a few years now and have always had GREAT success!! My only problem is that I usually don’t put them out until the end of March just because I don’t get my butt in gear! I learned it from a gardening class and she recommended to do it in mid to late February. I do a lot of tomatoes and peppers and I swear I have had every seed germinate. I am also in zone 3, by the way.
Thank you for sharing Becky! This is very interesting. I only start winter crops, not tomatoes and peppers. I am afraid they would freeze. Great to hear that it works for them too.
I am a huge advocate for winter sowing. I’ve had great luck here in zone 5. Neat tip from my husband (while watching me chop up milk cartons with a paring knife): Fill the cartons with water and let it freeze outside, then cut and drill. It’s much more stable a surface to work with.
That is a great tip, thank you Jessica! Great to hear also that it works in Zine 5. We will see how it is in Zone 3.
No experience with this type of planting for me….I have not heard of this kind. Let us know how the turn out!
I heard about it the first time this winter, so it is new to me to. Will keep you posted.
Great advice Anna – I don’t have that kind of winter, but it’s interesting to learn 🙂
My winter sowing has been a huge success for the most part. I learned this method from your previous blog post about it a few months ago. I did my first sowing in early Feb. I am now just waiting to be able to put some plants into the ground and into outdoor pots. We had snow and ice but those milk jug’s kept the plants growing, will definitely utilize this method again.
Oh good to hear! Lets hope it works good for me too. It sure would be good, such an easy way to start seeds.
I hope to get some pictures posted soon as a follow up to the blog post I did about it. Some of our tomatoes FINALLY sprouted in the last few days. It took them about 3 weeks.
Looking forward to see them.
Interesting! I would have never thought that these would grow in the midst of so much snow…but I don’t know much about snow LOL I’m interested to see how this works out!
Well, we will see. Hopefully I can see some green in there sometimes soon 🙂
We’re not as far north as you are so, good on ya!!! We can usually get by with planting cold sturdy crops and using hort fabric or a hoophouse/cold frame set up. I like the simplicity of recycled materials, though. In fact, I just killed my Swiss chard transplants because I failed to do something similar during our surprise (ha! I knew it was coming in my bones!) snow and they keeled over. All my fancy garden stuff is packed for our move. Ah, well – that’s how it goes!
We all learn through trial and error, don’t we.
I do this successfully in Can zone 4. I don’t think the winter cold makes much difference as the seeds stay dormant until conditions improve. In fact, I always make sure it’s not a warm spell when I set them out so they don’t break dormancy long before their time. Not every seed germinates, and some things never germinate at all, so I would never use precious seeds this way, but it’s a great way to get very sturdy young plants quite early in the season. I use Trudi’s hunk o’ seedlings method (sow thickly, then break off a “hunk” off seedlings instead of separating individual plants) and it works very well to get lush growth quickly in the garden.
Thank you for sharing, Bev! So if my seeds do not germinate, it might be because I did not plant enough of them. Well we will see.
Living in zone 8, I don’t have to be concerned about winter sowing, but I do love to read about it and to see the pictures. I learn so much from your posts!
Thank you Alli! I so appreciate faithful readers no matter from what growing zone!
Can you describe what you were sowing? I am in the same zone and would love to try this next winter!
Cabbage, broccoli and swiss chard germinated the best. Dill, salad and celery did ok. So the hardier the plant, the better it works. I really liked it. Happy gardening!
Thanks for the info on winter sowing. I live in zone 2 in interior Alaska and will definitely try this this spring. One question: what do you mean when you say to duct tape the containers closed? Also, do you think it is rougher for the seedlings to be in a greenhouse where they will get warm day time temps and potentially subzero night temps (as compared to being outdoors in beds or containers)?
Jenny thank you for your questions. Duct tape the containers so they stay closed so wind and snow cant get to the plants. Just a tape all around the cut. Does that make sense?
I am not sure on the greenhouse. I could imagine it would be harder on the seedlings to be in the greenhouse. Maybe just use the greenhouse as an extra shelter for especially cold times (blizzards), we get does even in spring.
I’m also trying this method in zone 3 this year.
I had a setback – I put my jugs on a bench and they got blown over a few days ago. I’ve resettled the dirt and moved them to amore sheltered spot…but I have no idea if anything will germinate.
A friend just shared with me, she has hers in her basement, they grow quicker this way. I thought it was a great way to trick our Alberta weather ;).