thanks Karen... I am going to try... since you are the expert... I am a good student!!!! how big is your plastic bin??? I have some really big ones that I used for storage .... you drill holes in the covers and the bottom of the bins as well as the cups right???

Yep, clear plastic bins (translucent) so light can get to the seeds. Holes drilled in top and bottom, and in bottom of cups as well. I keep the lid on until they germinate, then remove the lid after they sprout. Or, instead of the lid you can use clear plastic wrap on each cup, with holes in it, and secured with duct tape. After germination, remove the lid.





Karen

I wish I could find those big tubs with translucent covers. Every place I've shopped, the lids are completley opaque. I had to put 2 mil translucent plastic film over the tubs and cut slits.

I was thinking that, next winter, maybe I would set some trays, cups or pots on something like plywood or wood paneling, then set big clear tubs UPSIDE DOWN over the WS pots.

This is what I use - it's maybe 30"x40"(?)

Thanks so much!!!! It made is so much easier for me to understand... I will definitely do it... I got some pretty excited buying some heirloom tomatoes and I want to try...

Also I have so many other seeds to start... thanks again!

Rick, you really don't need a clear lid. Enough light can get in through the sides of the bin. You're going to remove the lid as soon as they sprout.

My guess is you would insist on a clear lid. If you have one with a solid lid: Put the lid flat on the ground, upside down. Put jugs or pots on the lid. Snap the bottom of the bin onto the lid. Voila, a clear lid!

Karen

I found clear lid ones at dollar general btw

great idea Karen!!!!

Sounds good.

What I finally did, winter-before-last, was tio cut out 80-90% of the lid, so that all that was left was a square frame a few inches wider than the "lip".

I spread the film over the tub, clamped the "lip" over the film, and then cut slits.

we did that a few years ago too.... we had heavy duty plastic left over from when we were doing work in the house.. dust blocker stuff... and Randy cut most of the top off a couple of lids .. just left a few inches around the rim... enough to clip... and I use that with slits in it.. worked pretty well

here's something I did this year as an experiment:

2 under the bed storage things, (tops thrown away). stack them, holes top and bottom, holes in the side lips to run pipe cleaners through to tie it shut.





Worked great! Lots of itty bitty blanket flowers!




But now that I've read how you others have used the ones with the solid tops I won't be passing them up again! They are lots cheaper!

I did use some of those that I had on hand with out the lids and just taped clear trash bags over the top with slits cut. That worked just fine too.

Nice, Melvalena.

Karen

looking good!!!

I am really impressed... if it works for me I think I will never again sow a seed inside the house!

I wintersow almost everything. I only start a few seeds inside each year. They only real downside is that they bloom later. That can be an issue for annuals for some folks, but for perennials, most won't bloom, or at least not much, in the first year anyway.

Karen

What about tender seeds, non-semi-hardy like lobelia? Can you winter sow those? Also, I made up a mixture of 1:9 water and hydrogen peroxide to spray my little sprouts with to prevent damp off. Read that somewhere. Anyone know how much to spray. Like two spritzes -- repeat how often?? if repeats needed?

Lots of really great ideas on this thread. I use a rolling greenhouse for my containers but then I have to water as soon as the snow decides to look like it might leave this year -- sometime -- before July....sigh. I have them in there because they got rolled by the wind last year. But I guess I do need to get them some moisture. It is snowing again so maybe I can just set them out in the snow and let them accumulate a snow cap, then back in the greenhouse.

Mary, many of us use the wintersowing method for annuals but we don't actually sow them until March or even April, (to prevent sprouts in an early warm spell. They'd die when the cold returns.)

I'm not sure how that'd do in your area. We did have a wintersower in Alaska but she hasn't be on the forum for a while. I don't know how they'd do for you. Sorry I know they'd do well when you get 24 hours of daylight

When is that? Or when do your days get really long?

Karen

I've never been able to see how annuals like petunias, impatiens, etc. would work for us here in the more northern zones -- the growing season is just too short. Not that they won't flower -- I've had a lot of things self-sow and then flower, but by then the growing season was nearly over and I kind of want flowers as early as possible. Could be useful for starting some plants for later blooms, tho -- for when the early plants start getting scraggly. I'm excited to see how the perennials that I started in jugs will do, though -- I expect some sprouting soon, saw my first robin yesterday, and a pussy willow starting to make its little fuzz balls. Our weather is quite unseasonably warm -- hope we aren't going to have a nice March and then the weather turns bad again! (I've seen that happen... I'd rather have the usual crappy March )

what do you mean by later Karen??? If I ws the tomatoes they will only be ready on on the fall??? some of the ones I got are suppose to be ok in 54 days... would that be less time if I get them going inside the house???

I usually sow my tomatoes in March. I take clues from the weather, and this is an exceptionally warm year. I just did them a couple of days ago.

There's no reason why you couldn't sow them in winter. But if you get an early stretch of warm weather and they sprout, they'll freeze out when cold weather returns. So I'd just rather wait until it's safer. I sowed them a few days ago. If frost occurs after they sprout, I'll give them some protection.

Kassia, I think if you wintersow short DTM tomatoes, they should do fine for you. (but I've never gardened in Ma) Longer DTMs might not bear much fruit before frost. Even here, I usually do some short and some longer DTMs to give us tomatoes over a longer time.

But with wintersowing, remember- you're always at Mother Nature's mercy. Last year was my worst tomato year ever, but nothing in my yard, even the flowers, did well last year. It was my lowest tomato production in 25 years of growing them. Most people here related the same, even from store bought plants. Blame the weather.

For you, unless you've gotten lights, you might want to wintersow them, at least your short DTMs.

Karen