I would say it counts on the amount of seeds I have and how the plant grows. If it was allium or grass like seed, I could plant many. But if it was a large growing plant like hollyhock or butterfly bush, I would plant fewer. Also the size of container I use would be in context to how many seeds I want to plant and the variety.

The first year I planted an entire seed packet in each milk jug. That actually worked really well for some things like Alyssum and Snapdragons. I just pulled the whole block of soil out of the jug and broke in into tiny little sections (hunks of seedlings) and planted the little chunks. For perennials I now space them farther apart but still put quite a bit in the container. They will get planted out in the ground early while they are still very small and it is easy to just break up the soil into sections leaving enough soil around the roots of each plant for transplanting. I don't thin anything in the jugs or try to separate them. You will find out what works best for you just by doing it. Don't worry too much about all the little details. Wintersowing works great here in middle TN just like it does in the colder zones and you will have great results. Just enjoy the process.

Mechele

:D Thank you so much! I appreciate the encouragement. I tend to fret a lot, so it's very helpful to hear that it's all going to be OK no matter what. :)

Glad you asked this question for the rest of us who plan to WS for the first time.

I used to be pretty anal about the amount of seeds I sowed. Now I'm only a little anal, lol.

I used to sow 12 seeds per gallon milk jug (occasionally 9 or 16, but never varying much.) I have several reasons for this. The first one is that I am really bad at identifying seedlings, be they flowers or weeds. So I am careful to sow in pretty straight lines - for instance, three rows of four - so I have an idea of whether it's a weed or flower from where in the jug the seedling is.

The second reason is that I am a procrastinator and I never get things planted out in a timely manner. By sowing thinly, there is more room in the jug for the plants to live for a while longer.

Thirdly, I hate to thin. I can't bear the thought of wasting a single seedling. If I sow thinly to begin with, I won't have to thin later.

Now, I have started to sow more heavily, because I am planting more annuals in my cutting garden, and it's easier to sow, for example, one jug with 24 seeds than two jugs with 12 each. So I am sowing more heavily, (about 20 to 24, maybe even 30 (by gosh!) seedlings to a gallon) but still in those straight lines, lol. I just haved to stay after myself to get things planted out earlier.

If the seeds are really tiny, I just say the heck with it, sprinkle over the container, and deal with it later, usually by using the HOS method.

:)
Dee

Last year was my first year to WS, and I made a mental note not to sow so many seeds in each jug. It was a nightmare pulling them apart.

Deanna