Neat! I've had good luck using vermiculite for sprouting in the greenhouse, and the sprouted seeds seem to hold really well. I haven't given up on my little outdoor tubs yet, tho.
And of course, NOW the temps are dropping back down below freezing, after getting up into the 70's for the last couple of weeks. Sigh.

Wow Toni! That's quite a list. I'd say your taping your jugs completely closed is working just fine! : )

It has been so mild here this winter that I never got around to starting anything outside. Tomato plants are taking over my kitchen window though. I sure started them to early! I also started a bunch of other seeds a few days ago, and put them on top of the fridge. Wouldn't you know it, we're going to be back down near freezing again for a while, and I should have done this outside instead. But, the stuff in the house is all germinating, so I can't move anything out! Maybe I'll get energetic and start a few things out in the cold, and see how it goes.

I'm going to try WSing some vegetables & perennials. Our winters are usually mild. Rain but hardly ever do we get snow.

When using gallon, 1/2 gallon milk jugs & 2 liter bottles, how many seeds should go in?

We've grown suspicious of our drinking water & get bottled water. I usually recycle the little individual bottles but could I use those to WS? Would they be big enough?

@Kathy547 You could try an individual bottle. It might work for you needs. You would have to transplant from the bottle pretty quick. That doesn't work for me, sometimes it is end of summer before I get my "babies" transplanted out. I have used half gallon milk jugs in the past. I just planted four seeds in those. Mostly those were vine like items.

As for how many in a gallon jug, it depends. For most seeds I would say I sow about 24. But some bigger seeds/bigger seedlings I only do maybe 10. And things like dianthus I just sprinkle a bunch because I just plant those out in hunks.

I find you just have to experiment. What works for one may not work for another. Try not to take it too seriously.

Happy planting!

Ditto here. When I sow tiny seeds they tend to come up like chia pets😁. But for bigger things like, say, zinnias, I might only use 6 or 8 seeds...

Karen

The only seeds I winter sow now are Iris. They require stratification with fluctuating temps to sprout in the Spring when temp reaches 55 to 70 degrees.

I don't see the point in winter sowing annuals or veggies since they don't need stratification to sprout.

The only reasons I know are to protect the seeds and seedlings from insects, slugs, birds, drying wind and excessively fluctuating temperatures and humidity.

Plus giving them cleaner soil with fewer pathogens.

Plus maybe to get them to start a few weeks earlier, due to the jug keeping them warmer than the soil would.

I think of "spring-sowing" annuals as a variation on starting them indoors in trays. Not as warm, but maybe easier.

Actually, I think that both winter-sowing and 'spring-sowing' are actually forms of a very old-fashioned practice, sowing in an outdoor seed bed enclosed in a cold frame ... just the WS "cold frames" each have a volume of one gallon, instead of several cubic feet. And they are plastic instead of wood and glass. And jugs have a lower overhead and shallower root zone.

I use the method for annuals, perennials, tomatoes... It varies from year to year and usually works well for all. I have limited space inside under lights.

Karen

kqcrna said: ... I have limited space inside under lights.

That's what's making me tell myself I "should" try it again.

I have limited space too, and three cats, so I save the tropicals and special things for inside and the rest go out in the driveway. I get to do so many more that I may not have this way.

Realize we are in fall and we have been above normal temps.
I want to ws this year for the first time.
I am zone 5 and I understand the sowing perennials, and I am guessing my best time is in January.
Sort of confused on annuals tho. Do you start them in Jan also? They don't freeze and die during the winter?
Any help will much be appreciated.

Yes, January is an ideal time to wintersow your perennials. As for tender annuals: You CAN do them any time, too. The problem arises if you get an early (e.g. March) warm weather period and the seeds sprout early. Then when the cold weather inevitably returns, your babies croak.

I usually wait until around March, depending on the weather that year, to sow tender annuals. Then if they sprout fast, I cover them with blankets for frosty nights, or even stick those jugs of tenders into the garage overnight.

Wintersowing works really well. I think you like it a lot.

Karen

It's that time of year again, and I have some new seeds along with the old seeds, which are leftover from sowing, or just never sown. I seem to be a seed collector, and I am starting to make my lists of which ones to sow first.

Does anyone have their list (s) made out? What are you sowing this year?

@evelyninthegarden
I have wintersown many years but I have had difficulty placing my jugs somewhere that our PNW constant downpours don't adversely affect the little seedlings. So this year I got impatient and started my seeds indoors.
I've started onions, Bok Choy, Tatsoi,
Cilantro, speckled leaf lettuce, tricolored Romaine lettuce.
Soon I will start my tomatoes and peppers. I will show my beans and peas out in the garden. I also will start melons and squash out in the garden as well.
What have you got going?

Has anyone tried winter sowing hyssop (not the Agastache, but the Hyssopus) I have a few seeds and am starting to run out of space on my light stand:)

I've never grown it but I think you could. I've done Agastache and Giant white hyssop with no problem. You still have plenty of time for it to get some cold moist stratification.

I didn't get my hibiscus seeds winter sowed like I wanted in January and the weather has been so mild. I've never planted seeds before, so any idea what I should do with them?

Ginny I believe they need at least 60 days of CMS for perennial....might be too late...if you have extras always worth a try though. Maybe pop them in the fridge on moist paper towels for a few weeks then try.