Strong winds are part of our winters too (summer too for that matter!) and I like using those nursery carry out trays (the vented bottom ones) and fitting as many containers as I can into them snuggly. I usually have them placed on the ground and once they are frozen solid they are like heavy weights. I wouldn't want them no more than 12" off the ground (I did that once my first year and was sorry) since the higher up they are the easier it is for the wind to catch them; heavy or not.

Vera

I use mostly gallon and half-gallon milk jugs, and group them together in nursery crates. I was able to get many of them free--one of the local nurseries just throws them away! They usually have lots at poinsettia and Easter lily time, and are great for winter sowing jugs--you can group like seeds, or sprouted and non-sprouted, and it's easy to carry the crates around. Other containers can go in, too.

My area's windy all the time, too.

In my first yeat I used some smaller containers which I didn't like for many reasons, blowing in the wind was one. I covered them with netting like this. The long shallow sterilite container on the bench on the right holds cups.
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Half gallon milk jugs and 2 liter bottles blow over in my yard, though I never had that happen with the gallon ones. I corral the jugs together in a larger bin. In this photo you see some in a styrofoam cooler. The tan monstronsity is the top half of a large dog crate. Sterilite bins work well, too.
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Some folks just use cardboard boxes.

Karen

I personally like crates. However, if that won't work for you, I saw somewhere that someone tapes from 3 to 6 containers together for added weight.

I live in the same area as Karen. The only things I've ever had trouble with in the wind are two-liter bottles. I'd never put anything up high. I have a large concrete pad in the backyard, so everything goes there.

Karen, I see you like the roasted chickens at bigg's. :)

Yes, but mostly, I hate to cook! I like to eat anything that I don't have to prepare. Tonight I called my husband to pick up dinner on the way home from work. pf changs- yum!

Those pics were from my first year. I didn't like those containers at all for wintersowing. They're too shallow, don't drain well, and don't hold enough moisture. I prefer gallon milk jugs.

Karen

Last year was my first for wintersowing, and I had primarily 2L bottles, which DID blow all over the yard ... more than once. Then, my neighbor who is in the restaurant business gave me some rectangular milk crates, which will hold exactly eleven 2L bottles. Worked great. I saw a photo in a thread last winter, where someone had scored some of those plastic things the soda companies transport the bottles in. Whatever kind of bin or crate you end up using to hold your containers in place, just make sure it has some drainage holes in the bottom.

Bonnie

I too was very unsure of wintersowing when I did the first few jugs last winter. I was worried on two counts 1 the seeds not germinating since they love to be spoiled and pampered. 2. would the wind have fun with the jugs.

Ok now here is where I was shocked and surprised. 1. I did have some jugs not sprout at all but that was ok since the other jugs had what seemed like 150% germination.
2. I had placed all of my jugs I thinnk I did around 40 jugs, against the garage at first and then later further in the yard. And I did have one jug blow off of the front porch (it was placed there for a day or two and it was my fault.) But the jug that fell still germinated.

HTH

Paula

Chris,

I live in Nova Scotia so close to the Atlantic Ocean I can hear the waves crashing against the rocks at the tip of the peninsula on most nights. Makes for a windy place to live, and when the nor'easters hit in the winter I don't fret about the containers. Mine are on the deck, 8 feet off the ground, and fully exposed to those winds.

The trick? One, make sure you have at least 3 inches of soil in your containers and that the soil is nice and moist before you put it out. Secondly, put several containers in one bigger container. I will place 8 styro cups inside a plastic basket type of container which also has drain holes. (I bought several of these little baskets at the dollar store a few years ago and still use them.) Two liter pop bottles can be placed in trays with 8 in each if you can get your hands on them.

We had two storms last year, one which toppled trees, but never did those winter sown containers move even though they were right in the path of the wind.

I've been WANTING to winter-sow for years but the first year I planned it, late that summer my ex took over the garden. So this is the first year I'm finally getting to do it.

We live in a seriously high-wind area; we have straight line winds as a norm that most places would consider 'severe weather'. 15,000 people in my little city and you don't see one 'screened in' porch etc. around here for good reason, heh.

I've been thinking that my only hope is probably getting a lot of whatever container I come up with (I am still really not certain what container to use; I don't have ANY, so it's a matter of what I can find cheap or free) and just duct tape a whole bunch of them together around the bottom so the lot of them is a lot heavier.

There are few problems to which duct tape cannot be applied. ;-)

There are ways to deal with that. I lived in okc for 9 years and I understand your issues. We have some very excellent (lisa_h) oklahoma gardeners who understand the red clay and wind issue. These folks have some up with ways to handle those issues. Perhaps an OK post from those in OK would be nice.

Use gallon milk/water jugs and run a string through the handles to bundle them together in clusters. Then shovel some soil or mulch around the base of each cluster to further stabilize them. (This soil around the base also keeps them more moist as the weather warms up in the spring.)

Hi all,just made my first forum post in another topic. Here I would like to ask if anyone could provide a link for me to learn about winter sowing. I've never done it and know nothing about it. (what seeds do well, best exposure, how-to's, etc)
Sounds like fun tho.
Thanks for any help.

Yes, the FAQs for this forum are very informative. The link is below. You should also take a look at wintersown.org . It is loaded with information as well.

Good luck,
Seedmama

Here is a link that might be useful: FAQs

I haven't winter sown yet, but Bakemom talked me into it. And I have all those lovely seeds she sent me :) So I have been collecting containers this summer. However, I hadn't considered the wind problem. Thanks for bringing up an issue I hadn't considered and for all the suggestions (and experience) in the replies.

Chris,

I'm on the south-east edge of Lake Ontario, but I think our weather is probably pretty similar.

No, I definitely don't use 4 inch pots, not until Spring
(and even then, we get winds that flip things over. Lost my first batches of WS herbs, sown in 4 inch pots, from a wind this year).

I pretty much use clear juice jugs and milk jugs...anything that can contain an decent amount of soil to keep the container heavy.

I also tend to put all my jugs in a big plastic bag, together...it increases the weight and decreases the possibility of them being moved by the wind. This has worked incredibly well for me. Never a blow-away mishap from it.

I leave my containers on the ground, but I don't put them in the ground.

The only place I have any off the ground is on my porch, on a bench pushed against the house, where the wind can't build velocity-- but the bench is only about 16 inches off the ground, though. Any higher and I think the containers could get tossed into the yard by a gust.

If you stick with larger containers and keep them on the ground and massed together, I think you'll be set.

Linda

Maybe 5-gallon buckets with a few inches of sand in the bottoms?

I'm going to try some in a raised bed on concrete. I will have a pvc hoop system with plastic sheeting over it. I hope that will stand up to Chicago winters.