The storage boxes that are short and wide should be pretty wind proof if kept on the ground. Your containers will be moist which adds quite a bit of weight as well. If the lids are very loose fitting I would definitely set a rock or brick on top as insurance.

Here near the windy city Chicago I have not had any problems yet. I just keep most of my containers on the ground, close together, and against a fence which helps. If using milk jugs you can also run a long stick, or stake through the handles which locks them together pretty well. I use the stick through the handles to help gradually ventilate my jugs in spring as well. I tie the stick to the fence and then move the base of the jugs forward and back which opens and closes the tops based on the weather. That helps because the springtime weather here easily shifts from the balmy mid 70s to a hard freeze in a day or two.

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Great question, wonderful info and pics.

Do these containers have to be in a sunny area? Or can the east side of the house be okay?

I also have an old chicken coop that is open on the top, more on the south side of the house that I could put mine into, as we have gail force winds here in the winter. Would that work better?

I guess I'm not sure how much sun these seeds need whilst they are dormant :/

thanks

I'm curious to what type of containers those are next to the fence, that are round like a coffee can?

pippi21 - they look like quart-size yoghurt containers to me but hopefully molanic will respond. I've considered using those but have such an abundant supply of milk jugs I haven't felt the need. The trunk of my car is currently FULL with the ones I brought home from work.

My containers are on the north side of my house, on my covered breezeway altho' they're set along either side where it's not covered to let them get rained/snowed on.

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I feel compelled to point out the above photos were taken at approximately the 250-jug mark. We got some fierce winds in February so the outer-most row of the next 200+ jugs had bamboo stakes through the handles to anchor them which effectively held the rest in place as well. I also used a few bricks at the outer edges.

Yep, they are quart-sized yogurt. I get a lot more of them than milk jugs. I took a utility knife to cut out the inside of the lid and then put a square of heavy plastic (like from packaging, not plastic wrap) under the lid and poked some holes in it. I used those for things that I had a smaller amount of seed for. I plan to use some more this year because they use less mix, were easier to sow into, plant out of, clean, and stack for reuse. Downside is they don't have a lot of headroom, so you have to take the covers off earlier.

Where you put your containers as far as sun goes...just about anything goes. If you do full south facing sun they might sprout a bit sooner, but they also might dry out or fry quicker once it gets hot. East facing seems like a good compromise. You get the warm sun in the morning, but no direct sun during the hottest part of the day.

If you put them along the house though, don't put it somewhere where your gutters might overflow and flood or knock over the containers.

And like gardenweed said in regards to wind...there is strength in numbers, all the more reason to sow several hundred containers :)

Gardenweed-I just LOVE your PICS!! Your jugs are soooo neat & tidy with your perfect handwriting!

LOVE IT & KEEP THE PICS COMING! ;)

Jodie

Ditto! Gardenweed, I am so amazed at the sheer volume of your plantings, as well as how neat and organized everything is. It's beautiful!

Molanic, I love the photo with the milk jugs cracked open--they look like they're grinning and showing off their sprouts!

Amazing work, gardenweed! And I didn't know marker could be used just on the container. I put tape over mine.

Inspiring! Keep the pics coming!!!

Thank you Molanic and Gardenweed. Guess it is time to stop fretting and just do it! The members of the WS forum are an inspiration. Is there such a thing as winter sowing on a small scale?

Dorothy M

I've noticed that you all don't wrap the jugs with tape. You just have large pieces stuck to the side. I've wrapped my jugs 3x around with duck tape.

What is the rule-of-thumb for use of the tape?

ladyrose65- I don't use tape at all anymore, just two holes punched in the front and a twistie tie to hold it closed. I did tape all the way around my first year but found it too messy. I haven't noticed a difference without it. Maybe in a very dry climate it would hold in more needed moisture though?

"Is there such a thing as winter sowing on a small scale?"

Definitely!

I usually start with around 20 containers, and sometimes I add as I go, and I may end up with 50, tops.

very enjoyable.

Welcome!

ellen

Meadows - definitely you can WS on a small scale! 500 containers is a LOT! I can't imagine how people plant out that many seedlings. The past 3 years I have done 158, 135, and 85 containers respectively. It decreases each year. I constantly have a problem figuring out where to plant all the seedlings - and some don't get planted, they get over-wintered to the next year!

I use plastic trays and boxes to hold the containers. A local WS'er gave me some big blue plastic soda trays. Here's a couple pics from last year.

Perennials in early March. These are on the east (back) side of the house under the shrubbery. There are small pots of WS seedlings under the leaves on the far right of the picture, that over-wintered from the previous year.
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Tenders and annuals. I sow them in cups, put them in the old refrigerator drawers, put them up against the foundation on the south side of the house. These are not technically winter-sown, because they are sown in April, and I don't bother covering them. The foundation of the house holds heat, and protects them from a late frost. Easy to water from the bottom by filling the drawers with a bit of water.
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Oh, wanted to add - Ladyrose!! 3 x around with duck tape! You definitely don't need 3 layers. It works just as well to use a small piece of duct or other tape, or use punch holes and use twist ties as Molanic has done. It's kind of a newbie mistake - it turns out duck tape is very difficult to remove from the containers, and you will probably have to cut through it. All that duck tape is messy and makes the containers difficult to re-use. I stopped using duct tape after the first year.

meadows, last year I tied my jugs together with twine, and then tied the twine to some metal garden furniture which we keep outside all winter.

This year I'm just sticking some chopped-down sapling trunks through the milk jug handles (a good use for the endless invasive Tree-of-Heaven saplings that pop up all over the land we live on).

Ladyrose, last year Louisianagal had a great tip for the duct tape: folding back a tab of the duct tape onto itself so that the tape is easier to grab when you're ready to take it off in the spring (thank you, louisianagal!) See photo below. Last year I just did once around the jug with the tape and it worked fine.

I also put small holes in the jugs with a small sharply pointed steak knife (see photo below) to make a place to insert a pipe cleaner twist tie for the spring. I just rotate the steak knife back and forth a few times while pressing it against the milk jug plastic and this makes the hole. I guess you could use an ice pick, an awl or the pointed end of a pair of scissors or something for this too.

If you make pipe cleaner holes, it's easier if you make the holes BEFORE you make the big cut through the center of the milk jug. The first time I tried making pipe-cleaner holes last year, I tried to make them after I made the center cut and it was really difficult, lol.

I took the duct tape off in the spring and then just used the pipe cleaner closure after that.

As you can see, I'm nutty and I actually draw a little line on my milk jugs with a magic marker before I make the center cut (it helps me to make the center cut straight)!!!

Happy sowing!

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ladyrose65 - I use a 3" (approx.) piece of duct tape with one corner folded over for easy removal/ripping off. I got worried last year & wrapped quite a few jugs to prevent snails getting in and devouring my seedlings. That didn't happen and removing all that duct tape was a major pain. This year I will stick with the 3" piece of duct tape. I tried the paper punch/twistie tie method but found the tape is quicker (altho' who's in a hurry in January/February beats me!). I took a bunch more photos tonight so as soon as I download them I'll post for everyone to see.

Twelve jugs WS today--gloriosa daisy, apple, pear, stokesia, gaura, pansy, penstemon/beardtongue, perovskia/Russian sage.

I'm beat!!!

Thanks for the advice. I am glad I asked before I taped any future jugs. Great pictures!

I'm technically challenged. But I am going to try and upload what I got.