I would not consider this method unless nothing else was possible. Al

I'm using both sizes of the Folgers red plastic coffee containers. First year trying but they are holding up to the weather in phase one. I cut out the center of the cover to make a ring and use it to secure a single sheet of heavy weight freezer bag plastic with several holes cut into it. The plastic hasn't caved or even budged under the weight of rain or snow. So far so good - will see how they do with sprouts and seedlings. They are certainly deep enough.

Hello Topie! you will love w/s! it's so much fun! I started in 2001/2002 season with Cool Whip and cottage cheese containers as well as 2 litre bottles...the bottles did not do well for me- we did have a WET winter, and I did not have enough drain holes in the bottoms.. the last few years I use Solo Cups and the strofoam cups that are listed as 'recycleable'- they are easy to punch holes in, and I reuse them too! I don't need as many plants now, because of w/s I have my little city cottage garden stuffed, so the cups do fine for me. I put plastic wrap on the top, held with pony tail rubber bands and punch holes in it for moisture/air the main thing I have found about containers: you can use most anything if you can get at least 3 inches of soil in it.. I have tons of seed to share- if you want to send me a bubble env- and 2 stamps- then you can experiment and really have fun! Linda

Hi Campanula, Do you winter sow there in zone 8? I’m a little confused. Are you suggesting that you use a seed tray in place of a milk jug? So no, plastic milk jug at all? And here in z6 and lower, I would think the milk jug / soda bottle is used as a mini green house and as protection from the wind, which is an advantage, Rodney, thanks for making that point about drying out, because in my experience, that is one of the main attractions of winter sowing, is not having to tend to the plants very much once you’ve winter sown them. At least until warmer weather requires more attention and watering. And now that you mention it, when I used 3 oz paper cups in a milk jug, they did not do as well and that may have been the issue. They dried out too quickly and I was used to not having to pay as much attention to the jugs that were not separated. As a matter of fact, we don't buy milk in gallon sizes, because we don't use that much milk. So I sow in quart size milk jugs, but I really have had the best experience with the gallon milk jugs, in part, because they didn't need to be watered as often. But, you point out that you can sow more in a jug, but in my experience, I use more seed in a winter sowing jug, but I only get as many ‘chunks’ of seedlings as I can divide the seedlings into before planting. That to me is one of the drawbacks. I might sow 10+ seed into the jug, but if I only separate it into 4-6 chunks, then I’ve wasted seed. But I suppose if you sow 2 seeds into every cell in a 6 pack, for insurance, you end up having to cut one back. So 6 in one half a dozen in the other. And of course, there is the issue of disturbing the root ball when you slice chunks apart or try to tease them apart, that can require the plants to spend time regrouping, when you plant them. A seedling in a separate cell planted in the ground can just take off, speeding things up perhaps. It was interesting when Trudi used to post to the forum. I think she might respond, that you can Overthink the whole thing. [g] I’ve heard her say that keeping it simple and easy was one of the main advantages of doing it.