Congratulations, Roselover! It is a leap of faith sowing that first container, but once you see your first sprout, you'll never look back.

My first year I was a little sceptical, not that I didn't believe it worked for others, but I thought for sure I'd find some way to mess it up, so I only sowed around 40 containers. Each year I try more and more new things. This will be year 4 for me and I will probably sow over 150 this year. Now I wish I had more space to plant, so I could sow even more!

Can't wait to hear your results!

Bonnie

I'm still filling my gardens, so I'm aiming for the stars this year too. That one container will change your life. Just wait til you start dancing in the yard because you see green sprouts in the bottom of those half frozen jugs later this year.

It's only 76 days til Spring.

What is the merrit of container WSing? Why wouldn't you just WS in the ground vs container. I think that in the ground(garden) the seeds will germinate and sprout quicker, since heat is always coming from down below and they will be kept warmer than containers.

Yeah, she did it. Yippee, another one "caught the bug" and now she's hooked.

Yup, once you start those numbers just keep going up and up and up.

No need to worry, no time to panic, just keep sowing and sowing from now till May 1st for WS and then it's spring sowing and summer sowing and fall sowing and then it's just plain and simple. Year round sowing.

Keep the faith, those containers will turn green, they always do.

Before you know it you will be doing the "germination dance", then the "bigger germination dance" and then

OH what am I going to do? How am I going to plant all these seedlings. What did I do to myself Dance.

Yup, we do it every year and say the same thing every year. then we do it again and again every year.

Year number 7 for me, and my goal is to keep it under 800 containers this year.

Remember, all when I moan and groan that I blew it this time.

Oh, and don't panic, I sow for more than just myself. A little less than 2/3 of the containers are for myself and a friend. We sow everything at my house. The other 1/3 goes to 3 other people.

Problem is that 1/3 that leaves for others gets replaced with someone elses 1/3 containers that were sown for us.

Fran,

whose planning on those famous last words, UNDER 800 CONTAINERS.

Congratulations roselover. Keep up the good work.

Year 5 for me. If it didn't work well, we wouldn't all still be at it. I remember when Bonnie was the new kid on the block. Fran probably remembers when I was new and full of questions. We all remember Token when he was new. Next year, you'll be reassuring newbies yourself.

Cyrus: Container warm faster than the ground. That's one purpose of the lid- to form a mini-greenhouse. In sring sunshine temp in a milk jug will get at least 20 degrees warmer than soil surface in a garden bed. I've measured with a compost thermometer. Also seeds don't wash away in rain, "roof" holds humidity, can't be raided by critters... works well.

Karen

Cyrus gardener..

Its a matter of control, there are hundreds of items you can sow in the jugs and keep them in the jugs, no loss to mother nature, you can them place them exactly where you want them as well.

Sure you can direct sow a # of items. But there are tons of stuff you really cant with any success. Plus your up the vagrancies of mother nature sometimes as to the percantage, placement of your seedlings that way.

Wintersowing works, it works well and it will multiply your gardents 100 fold within a couple of years.

Silverkelt

This is year #2 for me and the nervous jitters are gone. I took the "leap of faith" last year being told by friends and family "that aint gonna work" and much to their surprise and mine I had oodles of plants for my garden and to share! This year I am going full tilt, I already have 121 containers sowed and more to come over the weekend.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Winter Sowing!

I've lost count of the years I've been WSing, but it's become part of who I am. I grow sprouts for me, for the butterflies, for my friends, for my kids' school, etc. It's such a wonderful investment in the future and in my mental health. I just love the miracle of nature/God/science, and the reassuring rhythm of the seasons. I'm waxing philosophical but I don't get enough chances to reflect on the goodness of WS. Happy New Year to all and enjoy!

Martha

Yippee!! You go, girl!

Deanna

Yeah, welcome to the group!!!

I am in year #2 and have sowed 81 containers since Dec 21st. So I guess I am a believer it will work.

I am so happy I can fill my beds with plants started from seed.

Have fun and come back and report your success. I loved the first time I saw sprouts. I went inside and got my camera and took pics through the spouts/vent holes of the baby plants. It was the best! I am sure that confirmed to my neighbors I am nuts.

Karen

Thank you, everyone. And, just so you know, Gardenfanatic is the person responsible for me giving this a try. I saw the hundreds of seedlings in her gallon milk jugs and started thinking she had a point. Her garden is so pretty, she's obviously doing something right!

I have to say that I'm sold on the HOS method, but I am completely skeptical about being able to plant out small seedlings individually, the ones where I don't have so much seed I can sow thickly and then plant them in hunks. I guess that's the "leap of faith" part some of you have mentioned. I envision having to pot those seedlings into individual pots to grow them on until they are large enough to hold their own in my Darwinian garden (survival of the fittest; the rest die off). If that ends up being the case, then I don't see how WS saves me any effort. Hopefully, I'll be able to post a "testimonial" about even the individual seedlings later this year. But the HOS method is going to be great and I'm excited about how easy that will be.

I think that you are right, Roselover, about the planting out being the tricky part... for me anyway. A lot of it has to do with timing, planting on a cloudy or drizzly day is the best, but we don't get many of those here. The second best time to plant is in the evening, so they have a chance to recover before the sun hits them. I sometimes put milk crates upside down over newly planted sprouts to give them a little shade for a day or two. Looks kind of funny, but it works. Because I live in a high desert climate (5600+ ft. elevation) the sun can kill tiny sprouts in a hurry! On the other hand, we can have frost until mid to late May though, so I can also lose sprouts to late frosts. I like to hang on to the top half of a few 2L containers and use them as cloches when sprouts that have been planted out need protection.

It is disappointing when I lose sprouts, but if it is something I really want, I've learned to either sow multiple containers, or only plant out part of the sprouts from the container at a time, so that I've got back-ups.

Wintersowing isn't foolproof, but because it's so cheap and easy, you can afford to lose a sprout or two and still fill up your garden beds.

Bonnie

"What is the merrit of container WSing? Why wouldn't you just WS in the ground vs container. I think that in the ground(garden) the seeds will germinate and sprout quicker, since heat is always coming from down below and they will be kept warmer than containers."

Cyrus, the answer to your question is simple and one word "control".

When you direct sow, which is what you are thinking of in terms of WS in the ground, you are at the mercy of mother nature.

That is, you sow the seeds in the ground and then mother nature is totally in charge and so are the critters for that matter.

Birds love your seeds, so if they are ones that are tiny and need to be surface sown, (poppies, rose campion come to immediate mind), the birds will have fun with them. Mother Nature will do you in with weather. Rain, snow melt, sleet, etc. will move those seeds to who knows where. One thing for sure though, is they will not stay where you want them to, at least many of them will travel all over from downpours etc.
Those that don't travel have to fight with the birds for survival and the rest of the elements that mother nature will throw at you.

If they are larger seeds, the birds will find those too, and the chipmunks, squirrels etc.

Now, take those same seeds and put them inside containers with covers. The birds and critters can't get them, and Mother Nature and all her curves of weather, will move the seeds around in the containers, sometimes and sometimes not, but they aren't going anywhere. They are "stuck" in their protected container, in their nice little "home and greenhouse".

Also, the soil will be warmer in the containers than in the ground, and will also warm up more quickly than in the ground.

Ground soil warms up from the top down. So the direct sown seeds may possibly germinate a little more quickly and grow above the ground more quickly than in the containers, but their roots are slow to grow and form good solid root systems, because the soil below the seeds is still cold and thawing down.

In the containers, the soil is warm all the way through. It heats up more quickly because of the greenhouse environment that we have made. The seeds grow more slowly above the soil, the stems and leaves because they are far too busy growing good, strong root systems because the soil is warm all the way through the container.

When seeds are allowed to germinate naturally on their own in the perfect environment of warm soil all the way through, natural light and natural temps that mother nature intended them to have, you get strong healthy root systems and plants that she intended.

WS provides all of the natural germination requirements with just a little helping hand from "us", those covered containers to keep the seeds exactly where we want them to grow and give them that little bit of extra boost in warm soil that the "mini greenhouses" we created provide.

We are giving our seeds every natural advantage humanly possible, yet we still let mother nature do her job.

I hope that helps explain why WS if far better than direct sowing.

ROSELOVER, there are really very, very few, if any, seedlings that I plant out as an individual plant.

Most plants look far better when they are planted in mass clumps. Even if I have some that are growing as a single plant, I put them in a wide hole all together when I plant them.
Mother nature has a way of weeding out the less viable seedlings and leaving the healthy one in the hunks to keep growing.

The few plants that are individually planted are 4 o'clocks and I still put 3 seedlings in a 12 inch pot, morning glory that are going to grow in a hanging pot, dahlias I grow from seed, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, snowpeas, and that's about it.

Karen, I sure do remember you as a newbie. That's seems so long ago, doesn't it?

Bonnie, sounds like you should keep your seedlings in part shade and let them get a bit larger and use the old rule of thumb that my farmer grandpa taught us.

Nothing gets planted in the ground before Labor Day, Labor day being the original date of May 31st, unless its something like peas that need the cooler temps.

I've gone by that date all my years of gardening and that's more than 30 and it's never failed me.
We get those late frosts into may as well and can get some horrible spring flooding rain as well.

May 31st is my date except for my peas and everything is fine.

I always so a few extra seeds whenever possible of everything that I sow. Just have to be safe and in reality, not all seeds will germinate.

Fran

Fran, I appreciate the advice, but in the climate I live in, I have to finish most of my planting out before Labor Day, or I would lose practically all of my sprouts. The sun at this altitude is VERY intense, and my yard is almost entirely full sun. Trust me, this is year four for me, and I've had the best results with things planted out in late April to early May, and just given them frost protection when necessary.

The thing that is so awesome about the WS technique is that it can be adapted to fit just about anyone's situation ... even mine : )

Bonnie

Fran, I assume you meant Memorial Day, not Labor Day :-)

I'm with Bonnie here. By June 1 here most seedlings would fry if planted here that late most years. I try to have everything in the ground by mid- May. Our late frost is early to mid May but I plant out perennials as early as April. We don't all live in New England.

Karen

Hahaha! Karen, I didn't even catch that! I knew which one she meant though : )

OH, OH, OH, tell me I didn't say Labor Day please, OH, Oh, I really did say that didn't I? OH , OH

I really did mean Memorial day, heavens by Labor day, my beds are pushing the edge of growing still, unless it's a really warm Sept.

If I waited till labor day to plant, well, everything under the sun would be blooming in their WS containers, not that I haven't had that happen before, BUT, not on purpose, that's for sure.

NO it's MEMORIAL DAY FOR SURE, NOT LABOR DAY.

Will also teach me to be very careful when I post late at night and check my posts before clicking to post .

Sorry for the confusion.

Oh, my poppies go out by the end of April or the first week in May.
everything else is MEMORIAL DAY, MAY 31ST.

Fran

Did my first two jugs last year -- petunias and marigolds. I'm planning dozens for this year for everything because the results were so much better than indoor sowing and eliminated the need to harden off (I lost a # of plants to that process last year). I'm just waiting on my seed order to start.

Welcome rose_lover! My "newbie" WS container count stands at 96 (I started with 12) but it will be going higher thanks to an enabler neighbor who filled the bed of my pick-up with recycled milk jugs AGAIN yesterday. I just called to thank him...and say please DON'T BRING ME ANY MORE (until I ask)! As he was loading the milk jugs in his truck his wife pointed out that I like the spring water gallon jugs better than the milk jugs because they don't need to be rinsed out. His reply was, "You mean she's PICKY?" (;-p)