wintertime sowing has become more and more pop over the last few years . nurseryman are discovering how easy it is to start seminal fluid of many common perennials , herbaceous plant and annuals without have to tidy sum withgrow lightsand other seed - starting equipment . I ’ve experiment with winter sowing at my own house , and I have to say , it ’s an amazingly easy way to develop a broad choice of plants from seed , without need to babysit the plant for weeks on end .
Here ’s the wintertime sowing technique I use .
1. Gather Your Materials
There are just a few items you ’ll need before you start your foray into winter sowing . First and foremost , you ’ll need a aggregation of containers . I find the one that lick the best are the all the way - lidded , clam - shell containers commonly used for restaurant take - out and fast - solid food salads . You could also use clear , 2 - l soda feeding bottle or gal Milk River jugs . In addition to the containers , you ’ll need a bag of high-pitched - qualitypotting admixture . I recommend an constitutional , peat - based mix for the beneficial resultant . You ’ll also need a permanent mark to tag your come and an exacto tongue to geld drainage holes . And lastly , you ’ll need the cum themselves . Almost any plant can be start up via wintertime sowing , you ’ll just need to take after the timing schedule I detail below .
2. Prepare Materials for Planting
Begin this stone’s throw by cut a few drainage holes in the bottom of every container . Then , if you ’re using clam - shell containers , cut several poop - in - wide-eyed air hole in the top of the lid , as well . tonic bottles and milk jug should be cut around the middle , about three - quarters of the way around , so you could riffle it capable like a hinge . Their lids should also be off . Next , fill the container with 3 to 4 inch of moist potting mix .
3. Determine the Timing
In order for winter sowing to be successful , you ’ll need to determine what seeds should be plant when . Although the timing should be based on your own mood , for my USDA zone 5 garden , I play along this schedule :
4. Sow Seeds and Label Them
Once I ’ve separated my semen packets consort to the month I design to inseminate them , I ’m ready to plant . To sow the source , plainly plant them into the container . Be certain to be seed packet didactics , burying the seed only to the depth note on the packet . Because the result seedlings will be thinned as they are implant out into the garden , the source can be sown a little more thickly than is evoke on the seed packet . I embed about a dozen seeds in each milk jug . Once the source are implant , carefully pronounce them by writing the variety name on the container with a permanent marker . piss the seeds in well .
5. Close the Top and Pull Them Out
After your seeds have been planted , close up the clam - shell container eyelid . Or if you used milk jug or soda bottles , switch the top fill up and use well-defined packing tape or duct tape to seal off them close , leaving the roof off . localize the containers outside . There ’s no need to put them somewhere extra , but a location with a decent southern exposure is best . If you have a lot of mouse or chipmunks around , you may need to put the containers somewhere inaccessible to them . I put my wintertime sowing container on the ground in the vegetable garden . There ’s no need to insulate them in any path .
6. Wait for Germination
Your fresh planted seeds will take their clue from Mother Nature and germinate when condition are just right . There ’s no need to observe over them ; they ’ll simply grow when they ’re hypothecate to . The condensation that collects inside the container is often all the wet they ’ll necessitate , but if you mark a complete deficiency of capsule on warm Clarence Shepard Day Jr. , you’re able to add more water to the soil through the fix in the lid . Once the atmospheric condition warms , things will start to shoot . When this happens , you ’ll require to start pay a little more tending to your seedlings .
7. Monitor Temperature
On very warm day , you ’ll have to remove the container ’s lid or flip start the Milk River jugful ’s top to keep the seedlings from getting electrocute . Just remember to close them back up at dark . Water the seedlings when they become dry .
8. Transplant
When the right planting time arrives for each particular plant , lift the seedling out of their container and imbed them into the garden . For cold - season crops in my garden , that ’s late March or early April . For tender - season crops and yearly , I move them to the garden after the danger of frost has fade in mid - May . The nice part about winter sowing is that you do n’t have to think too hard about this . The plants will germinate and grow at the clip Mother Nature intended them to .
Winter sowing is an first-class — and round-eyed — style to start seeds .
