Okay this is a really stupid question but the jugs are used as a starter unit? Is it only for cold veggies or cold loving flowers etc?

Ultimateshopper,

Any seed package that says direct sow early spring, as soon as the ground can be worked, X number of days before last frost are all excellent choices.

ultimateshopper said:Okay this is a really stupid question but the jugs are used as a starter unit? Is it only for cold veggies or cold loving flowers etc?

Ultimate, by "starter unit" I think you mean a container that the seeds are started in, and yes, the seedlings are generally left there until time to transplant into the final destination: garden-bed or planter/container. (Sometimes I pot them up into individual pots first.)
I WS all sorts of seeds, except tropicals and things like coleus and geraniums and impatiens.
(edited to add impatiens.)

This is a very helpful website for wintersowing

http://www.wintersown.org/

Forgot to add an informative picture of my 2010 WS jugs and containers that will tell you everything you need to know. LOL

A silly question, and sorry I might have over looked it maybe in a fourm, but need to know about bottom drainage in Milk jug. Some how I have missed out on that one. Thanks, Mike

I just drill five 1/2" holes

I just cut out some triangular slits in the sides and bottom of my milk jugs--it's easiest to cut into the corners with my craft knife, where the plastic is thinner. I make them about an inch long--usually about four cuts are enough.

I did the same thing.. in the sides I cut V shaped flaps so when the weather started getting warmer I had vents

Thank you all, I'm doing 8 jugs, and started to put soil in, and pondered.I will get a pic when I put them out. The spot to put them gets morning sun, and is shadded in the 2:30 shade. Hope this works. My zone is 7, and plants go in the garden on Apr. 15. Hope I haven't waited too long. Mike

Mike,

That sounds good. I also keep mine in morning sun, afternoon shade. Keeps them from getting too hot. (which sounds like a joke when they're currently under a foot of snow). Don't use the screw-on cap, just leave it open to air, water, snow. Also, make sure you poke plenty of drainage holes in the bottom.

Don't worry, it DOES work.

Karen

Here are some of my jugs drying off in the kitchen as of tonight, 2/22, after an afternoon of cutting them, scouring them out, and otherwise prepping them before I will fill them with potting mix and seeds, and then set them out in the next few days. DH rather plaintively asks me when he will have access to the kitchen sink again!

My milk jugs are 99% opaque white plastic so I have to cut the tops mostly off, and then tape on a gallon-size plastic Baggie (with a hole cut in the top.) Works fine; I like the translucent milk jugs much better but can't find them at my local market.

I thought this might bring a grin to some peoples' faces!

Thats ALOT of milk jugs!

That's so funny! Do you leave them there for days?

(It looks like a good excuse to go out for dinner!)

Karen

kqcrna said:That's so funny! Do you leave them there for days?

(It looks like a good excuse to go out for dinner!)

Karen

I know; it's kind of peculiar that I think this is normal! ;-)
These are only my jugs for THIS WEEK's worth of Winter Sowing. I have a bunch more containers awaiting cutting--they are the much harder clear plastic juice bottles and jugs. I really have to saw at them with my craft knife. DH says he can't watch.

Wow--I'm in awe of that many jugs. Emily, have you tried kitchen shears for cutting jugs? I found they worked well on even the more difficult juice bottles, etc. If I attempted a box cutter, I'd be on my way to urgent care for stitches (says the lady who almost took off her fingertip with pruning shears last spring).

Thank, Linda, for your advice about kitchen shears. I'm will try the shears on my harder plastic bottles. I also do use shears for cutting around the cap of the milk jugs, which is probably REALLY smart because cutting a curve with a sharp box-cutter is only for those who like to live dangerously! ;-)

I've now set out another 20 jugs and am in that wonderful position of still having 30 jugs in my garage left, filled with soil just waiting for my next WS frenzy. I'm trying to force myself to wait a few weeks to put out some of the less hardy seeds. Of course, I have more than 30 different types of seeds left!! I will also use individual tall plastic cups.

Joanne...What are your approx.temperature ranges when you winter sow in March/April...Just ballpark daytime highs/night time lows...

For me, it can vary so much year to year. Sometimes it's trending really warm and we're seeing days in the 60s in late March and nights staying mostly above freezing. If that's the case, I might start some annuals then. Last year the weather was cold, dreary, and rainy and we rarely saw sun. I think it was well into April before I did annuals.

If I have tender sprouts and we get a frost, I flip the tops shut and cover with a sheet or blanket. Sometimes I put them on my porch for a little extra protection, or even in the unheated garage overnight. Then they go back outside in the morning.

The way our weather has been so far this year, I'm not expecting a warm spring.

Karen

Had to look that info up on average high / low temps at the end of March/ beginning of April

Highs of about +7ºC, which is 45ºF and lows -5ºC or 23ºF

I have lost ws stuff, like alyssum, that germinated and then we got a cold spell where temps went down to -18ºC or 0ºF. Our weather can be quite wonky. Really nice temps for weeks & then all of a sudden a deep freeze. We set up a swing set and dug holes and cemented it in in the middle of March. Last year it was -30ºC or -22ºF middle of March