wow i thought i was the only one who did that, well this year. also!! now i know the secret :'))

Jackie, I sow mainly perennials, trees, shrubs and put emphasis on good root development...they'd be shallow for me. I do have plug trays that I use, they have individual deep cells of 48 or 32 count, and they are 5" deep.

But, don't change what is working for you :)

Thanks for the heads-up on the high maintenance bit, Jackie. I did my first six containers like that before I started hoarding milk jugs. Right now they're against the north side of the house and behind the dog ramp leading off of the deck.

How do you take care of them as temps start warming up? Do you have to be careful with how much sun they get during the day?

~Kristi

Oh phew! I'm not the only one!

I started collecting containers last year, but my boyfriend went nuts when he saw me start bringing them all out! he was like no way am I allowed to junk up the yard with a little plant ghetto! lol!

So out of desperation, I went to a garden center and got the 72 cell plant starter things... not with the dirt disks, I wanted to use my own soil, but they did come pre drilled twice in each cell, came with a clear cover, and a tray to sit in to keep hold of moisture. So what I did, is label each row before sowing, and then poke drainage holes in the outer tray, but about .125" above the bottom so no more than .125" of water can collect and sit. Then did the air holes on top and taped the whole thing shut (after sowing of course! lol!).

The biggest mistake I've made though is not being familiar with what I've planted and I've sown hot crops & cool crops next to one another... ie , in one row I've got cantaloupe, and in the next row, chives. I'm pretty sure this will backfire on me.

I too am curious about the whole sun thing, as mine have heavy condensation, but I was advised just partial sun is best.

I have used these tray for a couple of years. Have had good success. The only draw back is that I end up taking lid off to early. Because they are touching the lid. Have lost a couple plants that way. This year I had my husband build me a cold frame. So I won't have that problem (cross my fingers). This also keeps down what is refer to as the plant ghetto. However, I have started hiding other containers behind the cold frame

barnbatt

I haven't used seed trays but did use a lot of 4 and 6 celled pony packs lol!

Vera

So I do keep the flats mostly under the deck furniture where they get some sun but not a full on all day baking. As I said I do this originally mostly to protect them from the snow. If the temps are going to be above 50 during the day I tend to take the lids off before going to work and put them back at night. I just use cheap packing tape to hold them down and replace it when needed. The high maintenance part is wartering when it warms up. I find I have to water sometimes both morning and night. Deeper cells or the jugs and other things alot of people use are probably better in this respect and for promoting good root growth.

I bought one for $3 as a kind of experiment, but am not sowing in it for a another week.
I was going to use them for annuals that pop up quickly that can stand having a small root ball--maybe marigolds, herbs, maybe petunias, that kind of thing.

But for all the perennials, I went with the mushroom boxes and tubs inside of milk jugs.

My main thing with containers now is to see what is sturdy enough and stack-able enough to last year after year.

Do you all use these year-after-year?

I do it this way, too. If you can get the larger sized 6 pack inserts (which would have 36 cells in the 10" x 20" tray)they're not so high maintenance. I think these are deeper than the regular 6 packs, too.

I just remembered my first year wintersowing (2003) I ran out of containers and used an cardboard egg carton. I sowed my Creeping Thyme in it and was watering every single day. By the time I planted out (each cell as one plug)the carton was literally falling apart... so in went the cells right along with the plugs in the ground LOL! I couldn't wait much longer after germination and those seedlings were barely 1st set of leaves at the time. It worked though!! Those little plugs went from 1" diameter to abt. 8" diameter by the end of the summer!! I think they were quite relieved to have been set free :)

In 4 years this is how much coverage those itty bitty guys gained...and might I add in April I pruned them back a ton:
June 7th 2007...
{{gwi:370012}}
However it worked I don't thick I'll ever go that small again :O

For those wondering about watering the shallow containers.Donn reccomended using one of those 1 or 2 gal. sprayers.It works wonderfully since the water is turned off for the winter and the hoses are put away.I bought 3 of those 72 trays this year.I also bought 2 green houses that walmart has on sale for $34 set up on my back porch.I am finding they have to be watered,where as the ones setting on the ground outside won't have to be watered until I take the tops off next month.I will use them for the GH and I also have tons of 6 pks and 4in. pots to use.
moonphase

Vera:
That is great looking Thyme. I wanted to really have a lot of this in my garden, but in the past I found it would get woody and sparse.
Is the trick to cut it back early in the year?

Tansy

I use seed starting trays, but I take out the inserts. I have also used the square aluminum foil pans set inside of seed starting trays.

I have a better picture somewhere :) But here's my little setup:

{{gwi:370013}}

I've got 5 seed starter trays that I bought before I found Winter Sowing. I didn't want to waste them so I sowed them. No problems except I didn't label everything. (smacks head) I have 2 trays that are labeled and I have one that I drew a diagram of what I planted....I just have to make sure I'm not looking at the tray upside down. lol

I also used the domed seed starting trays and cells before I started winter sowing, but my first year, as a trial, I used the strawberry containers. They seemed perfect becasue they were pre-drilled and had lids. The problems: they were not deep enough and required lots of watering when it warmed up, and they did not have enough head-room and some of my nasturtiums got burned. That's why I like 2-litre bottles. Lots of head room; more depth for root development; easy to water with the spray nozzle of my hose without removing the lids; labels are clearly visible through the plastic; different plants requiring different conditions can be moved around independently. I sometimes have to keep a perennial in its container for quite some time (bed not ready) and there's just one container to deal with - not a whole tray. This year, a young neighbour who is very good with a hammer built me some trays in which I can load my containers and they look very neat. They sit in my veggie. garden along with my pots of bulbs until spring. I still have some of those cells and trays, but haven't used them in 2 years.

Tansy,

The creeping type doesn't become woody but as with mine it grows to about 8-10" during bloom and needs cutting back to keep it fresh. Any dead stuff in spring I just pull out or prune out and then neaten up the whole area cutting it all back to keep it in bounds! Now my upright 'German Winter' plants on the other hand are said to be short lived because they get woody. That hasn't been the case for me as I trim back pretty hard in fall (then dried for cooking) early enough to let new growth harden up for winter and then again (tho not as hard) after spring blooming phase. Lightly harvest as much as you like otherwise. The trick to preventing the woodiness in Thyme is frequent pruning/harvesting to keep the new growth coming :D

Hope that helps :D

Vera, that does help. I'll try keeping my thyme this year pruned back. Will smell good, that's for sure!

Yes, I use these also. I ditch the cell thingys though----make holes in the bottom of the tray---lay a paper towel or newspaper over the holes fill with potting soil to top of tray----water----sprinkle seeds liberally over top of soil---make holes in plastic top and cut 4 pieces of aluminum tape and place one on each side to hold top to bottom and place outside! Works great for me and with out the soil divided in tiny little cells it takes less watering also. Best petunias I have ever had were/are done this way. In fact I just finished winter sowing 5 of these trays---3 with blue wave petunias, 1 with drummondi phlox, and 1 with dwarf yellow snaps. I wash them up and re-use them year after year. This year I am trying the roasting pans with lids from the dollar store as well and think they are going to turn out great! I love using the gallon milk jugs and large ice cream tubs too. I just really enjoy winter sowing! :)

aunt_lou