#winter sowing

[leebrontide]

Very mixed bag with my winter sowing. The bee balm, pale purple coneflower, calico aster, foxglove beardtongue, shooting star, and anise hyssop are all going bananas. (Some of them are going bananas on a very small scale not seen well in the pics)

But I got exactly 1 native geranium, and so far no rose milkweed or New Jersey tea. Gonna see if more sunlight and ventilation helps.

[the-habitat-ring]

With all this help it’s a wonder I’m finishing my winter sowing so late

[balkanradfem]

So I'm going to try something. I've been moping about not being able to grow little seedlings for my gaden, but. It might be possible.

I've been watching videos on 'winter sowing', which is an old method of getting seedlings without using indoor space. You take a big milk jug, or a big plastic water bottle and cut it in half, put soil in the lower half, put seeds in it, tape the top part back, and you leave it outside. It acts like a mini greenhouse. The plastic bottle protects the seeds from extreme temperatures with a level of insulation, and adds extra warmth whenever the sun hits the bottle, so the seeds germinate early, and you get a big bottle of seedlings, that you didn't have do to a lot to care for. The lid is removed from the bottle so the rain falls in and waters the seedlings automatically.

Now this is usually done in January, to get seedlings for cabbage, kale, broccoli, lavender, all the winter-hardy crops that need cold stratification. I think if I did in now, on the first of March, I might be able to get some tomato and pepper plants for planting in May, and I've heard people say they did get very resilient tomatoes this way.

My first order of business was to actually find a big jug or a water bottle, and I did, people throw them away. I cut it in half and poked holes at the bottom. I'm gonna get some good soil from the forest, and the last thing is – the seeds.

I'll put some seeds into the soil immediately, but it's too cold outside for them to germinate anytime soon. I know people with greenhouses put their seeds on heat mats in order for them to germinate, even if they grow in a cold greenhouse afterwards. Not only I do not have a heat mat, but my room is unheated, it's cold everywhere. The only source of heat is me. So my plan is to germinate my seeds in a little bag with a wet paper towel, that I will keep in my pocket. So I will be the heat mat.

*

I have plant babies in my pocket. These are so precious to me now, they're my only seedlings I'll be growing this month so I'm ready to shower them with attention.

If this works it would be a great way to get seedlings, because it's so little work with great rewards, resources for it are easily gathered on the fly if you already have seeds. The only thing that could ruin it are the extreme temperatures. The bottle would not protect against a -10° freeze in the night, and if it's +20° in the day, temperatures in the bottle would be too hot for the plants to survive. So I do have to watch out and bring the bottle inside if it's a hard freeze, and put them in the shade if it's a hot day, or open the bottle up.

[growingwildgardens]

Controlling what I can 1/30/26

Its unseasonably warm so I spent most of the day outside working on little things. Finished pulling and potting the last of the iris bulbs and watered them in

Checking on the garden after the cold snap, happy to see my Brussel sprouts survived. I'll probably pull them and some Parsnips to cook this week or next

After organizing pots and seeing how many starter options I've collected, I decided to thin out some of my earlier winter sowing seeds I'd spread pretty thick before they germinate.

Trying out multiple other forms of winter planting, featuring old tofu containers from a local food bank center and more separated cells. Planted some very early snap peas bc I just can't wait to have some, and I've had great success winter sowing them and letting them germinate on their own time before

Seeded another flower bed I'd cleared of blackberries and misc old junk with a native wildflower mix, along with some red snapdragons and red aster seeds, then strawed it all in lightly. So excited to see what germinates in Spring alongside all my (I think???) Wallflowers from last year

Bonus: one of my old planting pots with a bit of Rupi Kair poem on it aging into its message beautifully

[plantnerderyallday]

I did sow something today that makes sense to winter sow: breadseed poppies. It's ideal to direct sow, and to do so early enough that they get some cold weather. Unfortunately for me, somehow this doesn't end up working, so I start in containers and then transplant out once they look ready.

I did sow into some 9 cell seedling containers that I got from a free pile, though I know a lot of people put soil directly into the milk carton. I don't like separating seedling roots if I don't have to, so I'm trying it this way.

[mrs-tiggy-winkle]

[rosejoy22]

Winter Seed Sowing 2026

Started winter seed sowing in milk jugs some in December, January, and March, total of about forty. Planted a variety of seeds; perennial natives and annual vegetables, herbs, & ornamental plants.

Today, April 16, 2026, I opened and watered them. This is Cucurbita pepo, Cornell’s Bush Delicata Squash started March 16, 2025.

Tropaeolum majus. Glorious Gleam Nasturtium and Brassica juncea, Wasabina: Wasabi Greens, both edible plants.

Radish, really took off, and parsley.

[thestressedsimmer]