Lynda, maybe clarification on one point would help? "Counting things by the number of kinds of seeds sown won't work for me since a lot of things will be sown by the thousands." It's KINDS of seeds, not number of actual seeds. If I sowed 1000 poppy seeds in one milk jug and 4 cucumber seeds in another milk jug it would count as 2 containers. If you sowed 1000 poppy seeds in 20 3-inch pots, and 4 cucumbers in 4 3-inch pots, you could count it as 2 containers. This is one interpretation of Ron's loose guidelines, which are at the top of the container count thread. It is meant to be an illustration of the difference in kinds of seeds and number of seeds. This is not a definitive conclusion, just one suggestion based on Ron's ideas. Hope it helps.

Hi Seedmama -

That's the part that really confused me.

I'm going to be using up around 500 three inch pots to sow just 4 types of plant (5000 strawflowers, 5000 rudbeckias, 2400 echinaceas and 2000 monardas).

So with 500 pots that will end up being planted in 2000 spots in the garden it seems really weird to only count it as 4 containers. It sure isn't going to feel like 4 containers sowing them or planting them out. :)

And then there's other stuff like 12 gallon pots of persimmon seeds sown at 50 seeds to the pot. It just seems like counting that as one container instead of 12 wouldn't represent it very well.

I'm just not at all sure how to count it fairly. It kind of feel like just counting gallons and then counting 4 three inch pots as a gallon equivalent would at least make things similar to milk jugs.

Gosh this part of it is confusing! The seed sowing assembly line on the kitchen counter is the easy part. :)

Lynda

I see you point. I agree that four containers is not the right number. Ron's suggestion is to use your own judgement. 4 3-inch containers counting as one gallon sounds like good judgement to me.

One 3-inch pot equals one container. Doesn't matter if they all contain the same type of seed - we're counting containers, NOT seed varieties. So your 500 3-inch pots will count as 500 containers. Your 12 gallon pots will count as 12 containers, etc. etc. etc.

Plus, you're in zone 6 and we need the numbers! Zone 5 usually whips our butt every year .... LOL!

PV

PVick - I'm pretty close to the zone 5/6 border.

If I was in zone 5 would you still want me to count each pot? :)

You've been WSing a while. Do you have any feel for how people who've used smaller containers have counted them in the past? I wish the archived messages went back further because I'm sure this gets discussed each year.

Lynda

O've got 240 little plastic cups I plan to sow my annuals in. I'll be counting them, even if they're in a larger container. I say if you had to fill each one with dirt, count them.

Token is the zone 7 Ace-in-the-hole.

I'm excited. LOL

Besides, I need the annuals to grow a bit before I plant them out. The slugs here will devour my petunias before I can get them in the ground.

Lynda - well ...... yes, if you were zone 5, I'd still say count each container. You planning on changing zones???

I use half-gallon milk jugs, 4" pots and the occasional 16 oz. plastic cup. I count each one as an individual container.

I better get cracking and sow something, or I won't be counting anything at all.

PV

Haha! My first answer was 1... 2... 3...

You can just count different varieties. Like if you sow one packet of flat parsley and one packet of curly parsley you can count two containers.

OK - if Token is counting that way for zone 7 I'll count as Pvick suggested for zone 6. (And while I'm close to the zone change, I am definitely zone 6.)

Zone 5 has floodthelast sowing like a crazy lady so her bumper crop of containers should help them catch up. That is, if she hasn't already sown too many to count. :)

This container counting thing should be fun. I've got so much sowing to do that except for the sprinkling seed part it risks feeling kind of like grunge work at times. I fill 28 pots, sow them, haul them outside and then repeat and it's in the middle of the soil mixing/filling part that it sometimes starts to feel endless.

Planting out is going to be even crazier. I'm sure I'll end up overflowing the front yard and we'll need to plant out into the hillside and road frontage as well. But by June or so things will taper off and the framework of my dream garden will be in place. I should be able to drop back down to a recreational level of WSing in future years - unless you all end up posting photos this summer of plants that I just have to add to the garden!

So container count - Token-style it is.

Lynda

The way I see it, a container is a container is a container. Just because there are larger and smaller containers shouldn't make a difference. If you have to handle each container and fill it with dirt, it should count, right?

Plus we do have people here who sow only a little using 16ounce cups. Maybe there should be a size limit on the smallest container? But then that's being too strict and wintersowing is supposed to be about informality and such.

I might sow my cool season veggies this afternoon. I have to go pick/split some more firewood first. Geez it's cold.