Winter Sowing – have you heard of it? Basically, for those in colder climates, it’s magic says my friend Heather from Massachusetts.
Here’s what she had to say about the winter sowing and the milk jug greenhouses she made:
It works like this: around January through March it’s time to make little tiny greenhouses from see-through milk jugs. Place your moistened soil and little seeds in there and seal it up. Then simply put it outside {without a lid} and let nature with all of it’s rain, snow, ice and wind do it’s thang.
Come pre-springtime your seeds will freeze and thaw as if they were out in the wild outdoors but we get the benefit of plants getting a head start and protection from the crisp air. Come springtime during the day open the lids for sunshine and air, be careful to close at night. When it’s time to plant your seedlings, put them directly into the garden – Mother Nature has already hardened them off.
This is especially awesome for perennials that take a while to get started or plants that need scarring because the freezing and unfreezing action does the scarring for you.
Step 1: I texted all my friends with three or more kids {I was impatient to get started} 🙂 and asked them to save their milk jugs – no explanation needed, they’re used to my bizarre projects.
Step 2: Discard the lid and cut around the milk jug except where the label is – it’ll act like a hinge.
Step 3: Punch holes in the bottom for drainage. This is surprisingly harder than I thought – I tried a knife {too skinny}, heating a screwdriver with a lighter {didn’t work} and finally settled on my handy-dandy drill which worked great.
Step 4: Fill with a couple of inches of moistened potting soil {I used a mix of potting soil, vermiculite and peat moss} in the jugs and plant your seeds according to directions.
Step 5: Seal your little mini greenhouses up with duct tape and label them so you know what’s-what come spring.
Step 7: Ready for Mother Nature!
Like seedlings, when the plants emerge in early spring, you’ll want to open up the lids during the day, watch them closely so they don’t dry out, and feed them a light liquid fertilizer.
Mother Nature does all the timing – sweet!
~ Heather
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Carol says
This looks like a winner! Thanks, Mavis!!!
gardenpat says
So when you open up the milk jug during the day, do you keep closing or retaping it each night?
Katie says
From what I read you shouldn’t need to open it because it vents through the top (you leave the top off). This is a good way to harden off plants that you start inside too. I would think starting them this way would take a little longer to get them to germinate though.
Monica says
This is awesome! Does it work for just flowers or veggies as well? Thanks!
Kelly says
Thank you so much for posting more details! I will definitely be giving this a try!
Kamiko says
we recycle our milk jugs now, what a better way to use them, then to fill the dump with them!
Barbee says
I tried this once and my seedlings grew all ‘leggy’.
It made them weak and not at all nice-any ideas on what I did wrong?
How I can do better? Thanks
Connie Wheeler says
I was thinking if they remain in the tub all winter, wouldn’t it fill up with water and you’d need to dump it to make sure you didn’t drown or rot all the seeds? Probably so, just didn’t see any mention of it.
Jess says
There are holes in the bottom, which I would imagine prevents that.
Kevin Wilson says
I’ve been using this method for years, and it really works. My milk jugs planted in January are now happily sprouting.
When you make the holes in the bottom of the jugs, make them in the raised areas instead of the flat bottom – they drain better that way.
You can use regular plastic 9-packs (the size that give you 72 plants in a standard flat) inside the milk jugs if you want. Makes is easier to separate the plants come planting time. But sowing directly in the jugs works too.
Many other scavenged and recycled containers work too.
Janice says
Another great way to make a mini greenhouse is with large refillable water containers. These are the kind that are used in offices or families refill at the grocery store. All that needs to be done is to cut the bottom out. They are a heavy plastic and allow for plants that are too large for the milk jugs.
D Lovely says
Thank you!! I get my milk in bags, but I have a water cooler! Now I know what to use. 🙂
Kristina says
I sow almost all my seeds this way. (The rest, I direct sow.) I love it because it’s cheap and doesn’t require lights. PLUS, I get my stuff in the ground sooner than my neighbors because I don’t have to harden anything off. I highly recommend this method for anyone.
Jess says
I’m a little confused. Do you leave the lid off the whole time, or ever put it on?
Diane says
You leave the cap off the whole time. It allows rain or snow in but keeps it from drying out too quickly and vents the warm air as weather warms up. Think of it as a miniature greenhouse.
Heather from MA says
Gardenpat: do not open the greenhouses until the plant has sprouted and the weather warms during the day (full-on spring) where a young plant would be ok. Every climate is different. Yes! Close (use a little strip of duct tape to hold in place) at night until after last frost.
Heather from MA says
Monica: perennials and cold hardy vegs and herbs work best!
Heather from MA says
Barbee: place your milk jugs in an area where they will get as much winter sun as possible. Especially in March when the days get longer!
Heather from MA says
Connie: make sure to punch holes in the bottom of the greenhouses (I used a drill and it make quick work of the job) – this will allow for drainage.
Heather from MA says
Jess: the milk jug cap remove and never use, this will allow for ventilation and rain and snow in. The part of the jug that is cut so it will open – leave shut in winter and open in spring for sun. Close during spring nights to protect the plants from frost.
Jess says
Thanks! I’m going to try this with a few plants I want to get started early.
Cecilia says
I am curious as to whether we should use the recommendations for sowing according to the packaging of the seeds… Some need to be started indoors a few weeks before last frost date, etc… What did your friend in MA do?
Heather from MA says
Hi Cecilia, go ahead and put them out now – nature will determine when to sprout. Then the greenhouse will protect them once they have sprouted. Your only real work is to manage them once they sprout (like you would in a large greenhouse) with water, a little food once they are decent size, and to close them up at night so they don’t get frosted. If you can stay vigilant you’ll have healthy plants ready to plant in the spring.
Cecilia says
Thanks! It is worth a try! 🙂
Betty819 says
Wintersowing works! I tried it for the first time back in 2009 and it is so satisfying. I used an old soidering iron that my husband had to punch holes in the milk jugs and it goes fast when heated..Watch that you don’t get burned though. The plastic melts quick. Make sure you place your soidering iron on something that won’t melt or burn..maybe like a tile or Some milk companies are making the opaque containers..this will not work because light needs to get to the seeds for germination.
Beth says
Mavis, I can see that this would be great for those living in areas where the temperature stays pretty cold and it is a great idea. I’m wondering if it would work in the South, though because of the great fluctuation in temps (one day freezing and then the next days temperate). Has anyone tried it dow in the south?
Cindy Nipper says
I expect it would work even better on a wood deck that’s clear of snow instead of the frozen ground! A few degrees could make a big difference!