Hey Leisa,

The cup and baggie method works really well for me also. I have about the same number of milk/water/2liters as I do cups every year. They are so quick and easy to do a bunch at a time.
I do mine just a tad differently from floodthelast. I save ziplock baggies all year that have been used, but not yucked up. They go in a kitty litter bin until I'm ready to winter sow. I use the red or blue solo cups and poke a few holes in the bottom of the cups. After I sow the seeds and foil tape a label on the cup, I slip it sideways into the baggie so the zipper goes up the side. Then I pull the plastic taut over the top and poke some holes for rain and snow to get in. I use scissors to cut several slits along the bottom for drainage and the cups go into beverage crates. As they sprout, I cut more of the top open. On nice days, I open the zippers and let them breathe and get a good sunbath. Once the weather is warmer, I take the cup out of the ziplock, but leave it below the cup in case we have a cold spell, so I can put it back in it's protection. They work GREAT!
I tend to sow heavy handed when I have lots of one seed. These are perfect for sowing several cups of something I want a TON of- like lobelia. I plunk the whole cup into a planter or the ground. I also use them for sowing sunflowers. They are so cute full of baby sunflowers!
Here's a pic of one of the cups sowed and a crate full of more in the background.
It isn't the best pic because you have to look sideways to see it- sorry! Hope it makes sense!
Have fun with your winter sowing, it's all good!!!

Shore

Hey Leisa,

The cup and baggie method works really well for me also. I have about the same number of milk/water/2liters as I do cups every year. They are so quick and easy to do a bunch at a time.
I do mine just a tad differently from floodthelast. I save ziplock baggies all year that have been used, but not yucked up. They go in a kitty litter bin until I'm ready to winter sow. I use the red or blue solo cups and poke a few holes in the bottom of the cups. After I sow the seeds and foil tape a label on the cup, I slip it sideways into the baggie so the zipper goes up the side. Then I pull the plastic taut over the top and poke some holes for rain and snow to get in. I use scissors to cut several slits along the bottom for drainage and the cups go into beverage crates. As they sprout, I cut more of the top open. On nice days, I open the zippers and let them breathe and get a good sunbath. Once the weather is warmer, I take the cup out of the ziplock, but leave it below the cup in case we have a cold spell, so I can put it back in it's protection. They work GREAT!
I tend to sow heavy handed when I have lots of one seed. These are perfect for sowing several cups of something I want a TON of- like lobelia. I plunk the whole cup into a planter or the ground. I also use them for sowing sunflowers. They are so cute full of baby sunflowers!
Here's a pic of one of the cups sowed and a crate full of more in the background.
It isn't the best pic because you have to look sideways to see it- sorry! Hope it makes sense!
Have fun with your winter sowing, it's all good!!!

Shore

Hey Leisa,

The cup and baggie method works really well for me also. I have about the same number of milk/water/2liters as I do cups every year. They are so quick and easy to do a bunch at a time.
I do mine just a tad differently from floodthelast. I save ziplock baggies all year that have been used, but not yucked up. They go in a kitty litter bin until I'm ready to winter sow. I use the red or blue solo cups and poke a few holes in the bottom of the cups. After I sow the seeds and foil tape a label on the cup, I slip it sideways into the baggie so the zipper goes up the side. Then I pull the plastic taut over the top and poke some holes for rain and snow to get in. I use scissors to cut several slits along the bottom for drainage and the cups go into beverage crates. As they sprout, I cut more of the top open. On nice days, I open the zippers and let them breathe and get a good sunbath. Once the weather is warmer, I take the cup out of the ziplock, but leave it below the cup in case we have a cold spell, so I can put it back in it's protection. They work GREAT!
I tend to sow heavy handed when I have lots of one seed. These are perfect for sowing several cups of something I want a TON of- like lobelia. I plunk the whole cup into a planter or the ground. I also use them for sowing sunflowers. They are so cute full of baby sunflowers!
Here's a pic of one of the cups sowed and a crate full of more in the background.
It isn't the best pic because you have to look sideways to see it- sorry! Hope it makes sense!
Have fun with your winter sowing, it's all good!!!

Shore

Hey Leisa,

The cup and baggie method works really well for me also. I have about the same number of milk/water/2liters as I do cups every year. They are so quick and easy to do a bunch at a time.
I do mine just a tad differently from floodthelast. I save ziplock baggies all year that have been used, but not yucked up. They go in a kitty litter bin until I'm ready to winter sow. I use the red or blue solo cups and poke a few holes in the bottom of the cups. After I sow the seeds and foil tape a label on the cup, I slip it sideways into the baggie so the zipper goes up the side. Then I pull the plastic taut over the top and poke some holes for rain and snow to get in. I use scissors to cut several slits along the bottom for drainage and the cups go into beverage crates. As they sprout, I cut more of the top open. On nice days, I open the zippers and let them breathe and get a good sunbath. Once the weather is warmer, I take the cup out of the ziplock, but leave it below the cup in case we have a cold spell, so I can put it back in it's protection. They work GREAT!
I tend to sow heavy handed when I have lots of one seed. These are perfect for sowing several cups of something I want a TON of- like lobelia. I plunk the whole cup into a planter or the ground. I also use them for sowing sunflowers. They are so cute full of baby sunflowers!
Here's a pic of one of the cups sowed and a crate full of more in the background.
It isn't the best pic because you have to look sideways to see it- sorry! Hope it makes sense!
Have fun with your winter sowing, it's all good!!!

Shore

Here is a link that might be useful: winter sowing pics

Maybe the gal that did the video/slideshow will show up, but I'm sure she had slits cut in them for ventilation. IIRC no tape. She started them down pulled down fairly snugly, and I didn't see where they could blow away.

It was floodthelast. She says after the baggies are pulled down and holes punched in, "The baggies stretch over the top and don't need to be affixed any other way."

I'm going to try it.

I am using packing tape this winter, wrap it around jugs twice, single layer in a few other places to affix labels, etc.

It was awful trying to rip that duct tape off my jugs a couple springs ago but didn't really damage them. With packing tape I go around jugs twice but don't know if it matters.

Here is a link that might be useful: floodthelast's Winter Sowing Tutorial - Photos 10-13

Great, thanks. I did cut the corners off for ventilation. And a new batch is safely (hopefully) nestled in a snow drift on my back steps... :)

I have so many I want to sow, and my whole backyard is covered in over 2 feet of snow. Any it's snowing again... ARG! I have no place to put things...

Leisa

Was just reading the news; see you're in MD. You are really getting a double whammy. If more accumulates like they are forecasting, I've never seen anything like it here in the midwest, and we've had some bad ones over the years. MN gets really bad almost every winter like the first hit, but I don't know about what's coming, maybe in the extreme north.

Plus our crews may be more prepared to handle it, and they're stretched thin here trying to keep up with the blowing and drifting. Read there's lots of black ice out your way; that would really scare me driving more than snow. Where my neighbor went along with the snowblower this afternoon, there's really no more than 4 inches that I can see, but it looks worse.

It just stopped snowing here, not too bad, but my containers are covered but not quite buried. I'm running out of room, too, especially when it's time to open some up but figured out something I can do with things I have on hand, may kill some grass though which I'd rather not. I can plant some more grass seed lol. But I'm watching the soil and need a whole lot more.

Glad you caught cutting the corners of the bags, missed that detail. Slits after they're on is the way to go I think. I'm also using plastic lids but will probably run out and not about to order more.

This baggie method..what type of baggie is being used? I use Ziploc freezer bags which are thicker than sandwich baggies; are considered heavy duty. If you sat a cup or container in that, zipped it up tight, and put some air holes in..would you even need to tape the bag around the cup? If I remember the post, somebody mentioned they took a hole punch to their plastic bag..same as putting slits into it..maybe a different shape and size, but if you used a hole punch, every 3 or 4 inches around top of bag, below zipper part,,why wouldn't it work? Oh, I bet you'd have to cut slits in bottom for drainage too. Duh! How did I miss that part? I think it is fascinating at the different methods and containers people use for WS and what has proven to be successful for them. We all learn from these postings, not just the person who is asking the questions.

If baggies work, that is the way to go, a lot cheaper and faster to work with. Granted freezer bags are heavy duty, but the # I'm using would cost a lot more. You could reuse them for sure though, but they would probably get yucky.

Do what feels right for you. I can't find a way to price compare on the web, would have to go to the store. I use all 3 around the house, freezer bags, storage bags, baggies. The kind with the tab pull is easier, but I use the squeeze lock ones for some reason, but some require a couple of tries to get them to seal.

Here's something else. Her cups may have wider mouths and were taller, nice for headroom, but the 16-oz Solo cups have a 3-3/4" diameter mouth and are 5" tall. I slipped a baggie over one with ease, no need to cut corners or pre-punch holes, will just pierce 4 or or so places in the top w/xacto knife before setting out. Of course, I always burn 2 good-sized drainage holes in the bottom of the cups, maybe 3 would be better.

The irony; I'm the one who spent all that for shipping lids and am being cost conscious about bags? Yes, I am.

Lets see in answer to a few of the points I read. I use the cheapest sandwich baggies I can find, usually the store brand. The kinds that fold over and don't zip. I've found that no matter how much snow as long as they are stretched taunt over the top of the cup the area is small enough to remain safe and doesn't cave in.
I do poke a hole or two before putting the baggie on because it seals and tends to slide better with some air holes. After that I add a few more as necessary.
The 44oz cups I use do have a wider brim so I'm not sure if there would be as much stretch for smaller cups. Mine do not need any tape though.
Mine hold moisture just fine.
Here's something else I learned, while I put drainage holes on the bottom of my cups I also do three on the sides, that way if the bottom ones get blocked I still have drainage.
If your cups don't stretch the plastic baggies I would just try a few with tape and without. I mean put them out and see if they get condensation and watch how they handle snow for the next day. As long as you see the condensation you have the right balance of air holes. With all this snow it wouldn't take long to see if they will hold up either and it wouldn't hurt the seeds since it's too cold for sprouts right now.
I have several feet of snow and it's expected for the next day or so here too. I feel your pain.
Also if you look at my pics one by one there are some notes on each one that give a little more info. If it's any help.
{{gwi:359314}}

If you don't want to use tape to keep your plastic bag on, buy a bag of rubber bands. I use the ones that are about 1/4" wide in my freezer all the time on bags that can't be twist-tied. They should work for WSing too.

You know I love the see the many tuitorials of success shown and I really want to Thank all of you that take the time to make the tuitorials for all of us to view. There are some really creative ways being shown on this website; a lot of valuable tips and lessons to be learned. I have a feeling that I will have a lot of hunk of seedlings if they all sprout..because I didn't count how many seeds I planted in any container. There's too much information to record on the jugs/containers as it is. Maybe I'm just slow and afraid of failure the first time.

Yes, sometimes the simplest little thing I go, "why didn't I think of that?" Somebody nixed the rubber bands awhile back, but I know they hold for awhile and I'd rather not have weight of snow cave in the bags; by the time they get brittle and break, if they do, it should be closer to spring. In my little test w/the 5" cups, they pull way down with some left over at the bottom. The cup may not weigh enough to hold it, and I couldn't see any easy way to tape the bags on mine, well yes, tape around them closer to the top or cut off the excess at the bottom, more work and tape.

IF the bags cave down in, I don't think you'd want that. More rain, hits them harder than snow, could pool in them with no place to go but down through vents, don't think I want that.

Cutting the sides I can see the point of that if it comes to that, because the cutting makes it look like you couldn't use them again and much more brittle, but maybe you do. Guess I could still do that and hope mine don't get too wet because I didn't.

The only unknown is floodtheleast's cups are so much deeper, they will provide a little extra "greenhouse" effect from the cold than any type of cups I'm planning to use this year, so we shall see.

I know some ppl buy hair bands to use instead of rubber bands for their containers.
Extra water doesn't seem to matter too much as long as you have good drainage.
I am reusing all my cups and containers from last year they seem quite solid. I will say that at first I used the lids that come with the cups and come spring when I needed to take them off they broke to pieces and made a horrible mess of my back yard. The baggies never do that.
I also used several 32 oz cups and 16oz too. I did a lot more containers last year than I intend to do this year so I got rid of some of my smaller cups. They all worked the same though.
I also put some of the small plastic red cups into containers or other bags with the spoon and knife labels to hold up the plastic. That worked fine too. The cups aren't made of the thick plastic so not all of them are getting reused this season. I'm trying to stick to my big cups and two liters.
I will say that the cups are my favorite because they are so much easier to slide out and plant than the other containers I've tried. Apart from that planting directly into pots and covering with plastic was the easiest.

I made the tutorial for a dear friend because she likes to look at my flower pics with her kids and do projects. I'm thrilled and amazed at how much interest it's gained on the site. I'm really happy it's useful which is all I wanted.

I really appreciate the tutorial and your comments. Just got back from the store and got my supply of cups the way and kind I want. They did refund on some they still stock from 2 years ago, hadn't opened them, that was nice of them, bought more than I took back.

This one particular store brand was $2.79 for 50, 16 oz, 3" rim, don't know how deep, a little over 5 cents a cup, got 6 packages (some for next year and have some other bigger ones left over), still have to burn holes. I don't drink enough of that from convenience stores to save them up.

Yes, I was looking at those smaller red cups, see I have a few, and the store had packets with lids like mine to fit those. Those would be nice, too, I thought, but enough for this year and I have a bunch of 4" pots I can use.

The reason I like these store brand ones is that they fit perfectly, 18, into the daisy trays. Darned if I didn't leave 1 snap on lid at the store in doing that transaction, upsets my sense of order . . . maybe I can find one free that will fit lol. So silly to be like that. Picked up xtra baggies, too, store brand had flaps, didn't want those, regular brand were $1.78 for 150.

I think the cups eat up soil pretty fast though even at only 3 inches once it's pressed down some and take longer to fill, plant counting out seeds than jugs and 2 liters. You just were able to kind of sprinkle your hosta seeds; I have to watch some of my expensive ones; others don't matter, pinches and sprinkles for those.

So now to get 4 more bags of soil and a couple more things, and I should be set when my seeds come and the second wave; I pretty much have run out of perennials to plant and am waiting until mid or late March for the annuals.

This is my first year WS and I love it. I am glad to see this post about the cups. I live in an area that is very rual and finding milk jugs and soda bottles was getting kind of hard. I did do some planting in the freezer bag but didn't have any cardboard so I used newspaper to hold up the sides. Now the next time I am at the store I can hunt down some cups and baggies and use them. After reading some of the posts as to what others are using, I guess anything goes if it will hold soil and can have hole put in the bottom.

Sounds like you got a nice haul aliska. I'm with you on the perennials and being about done. I need to get some lettuce out and some old hollyhock seed just in case. The next big sow will be in warmer days though.
I agree with paxmom too anything does go as long as it's clear enough and you can make holes in it.
It's also true that I don't count seeds when I sow. Although there are things I am willing to take more care with as far as sowing it in the center if I have few and being sure to get every last tiny seed in contact with the soil. That particular shot of my hosta seeds was done quickly and from my garden so I didn't take much care. I think I gathered about three hundred hosta seeds in a bit of a mix this year and am sowing them heavily unlike the rare trades I have to be more careful about.
Winter is always a time for me to dream about my garden. What it was like last year, what it might be like this year and what I want it to be like in the future. All those little seeds can make such an impact.

Shore, that is neat, haven't tried the jugs-on-their-sides, no jugs like that. Have Mesclun (never did it B4) but will sow later with my veggies because I'm using kitty litter buckets; they will take more soil so will wait.

floodtheleast, I feel pretty upbeat today in spite of weather fears expressed elsewhere, got a whole lot of holes burned in cups and slits in lots of lids and couple other things, so just waiting for the mail lol, have enough soil left to do some.

I will tell you, I cut two juice containers with the hot knife, leaving a hinge. It was very slow going but worked, only had a couple. If I used more juice that way, I'd get the right saw, may have one that would work, but don't think the dinky one I bought to cut pvc pipe is what I want, and my cuts were crooked. Made my light stand and fixed some plumbing under the sink the plumber didn't fit right and wouldn't hold any more.

Here's what I did, maybe help someone faced with similar, the pipes wouldn't line up right for the right side of the double-well kitchen sink. So I took a picture of under my sink, printed it on regular copy paper and took it to the hardware store. The fellow didn't understand at first and grabbed the wrong part. When I said that wasn't what I needed, I showed him again why, and he went and found this flexipipe I didn't even know they made, perfect! So that made me feel good and was tired of mopping water off the kitchen floor until I figured out what was going on under there. Yeah, could have called and paid someone but saved a lot with that one, under $20.

floodtheleast, hope I'm done with yakking, figured out what I can sow today while I'm waiting for the rest.

I'm glad you used the hosta seeds because they are easy to see, neglected to mention that.