Winter Sowing for Beginner Gardeners | Effortless Seed Starting

Winter is a great time to start planning for all the beautiful things that can be grown over the spring and summer months .

If you would like to see more about this type of seed starting , check out this video here

What is Winter Sowing, and Why Do It

Winter sowing is planting seeds in the winter. Instead of waiting for spring to plant all your seeds, you are able to get some started in the ground or in containers early. Winter sowing is a low-cost method and doesn’t take up much space in the house. Winter sowing has several advantages. First, it’s extremely easy and pretty much hands off. Winter sowing, we take on a simple approach. We sow them and then sort of forget about them for a while. When we feel the itch of spring, it’s a good time to check and see what has begun to pop up. This is definitely a more hands-off approach that can still give some big results.

You’ll need a bag of potting mix, duct tape and a marker, seeds, and some old milk jugs, take-out containers, or other clean jugs. The most important part is that the container is see through. You want to make sure enough sunlight can get through to warm the soil and start the growing process for the seeds when spring gets near.

Let’s get started 😊

Cold stratification

Some seeds, need to be exposed to a period of cold called stratification. Until the needed chilly period has been satisfied, the seed won’t come out of dormancy.

I recently heard that peach trees need a minimum of 850 hours of freezing temps to produce a good crop. Without that period of cold the volume of peaches that tree will produce will be low. That is the same idea for certain plants. Some seeds need “x” amount of time in the freezing temps to germinate and grow into something beautiful for our gardens.

Most seeds that need cold stratification need about 3-6 weeks of those cold temperatures.

Other seeds are good to just wait through the cold until warmer weather triggers them to sprout. Tomatoes and sunflower seeds that dropped seeds the previous summer are good examples of this. While they didn’t need stratification, they also won’t sprout in the freezing temperatures instead will start to grow when the soil temperatures warm in spring.

Winter sowing takes advantage of the natural seasonal increase of temperatures to time seed germination. Instead of cold stratifying seeds in bags in your refrigerator or freezer, you can enjoy winter sowing and let Mother Nature do it for us outdoors.

What plants would be good to winter sow?

If your seed packet says to chill the seeds before planting or the plant is self-seeding, it’s a good winter-sowing choice. Heat-loving summer plants, such as peppers, are not a good choice for trying this method.

The general guideline is that almost any perennial native to your area can be winter sown. Other perennials that are hardy in your area are also usually good choices for winter.

Vegetables

Spinach, chard, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, salad greens, and other cool-season vegetables.

Flowers and herbs

Poppies, butterfly weed, rudbeckia, echinacea, bachelor’s buttons, milkweeds, chamomile, yarrow, snapdragons, foxglove, larkspur, sweet peas.

When to start Winter Sowing

You can begin winter sowing once your temperatures are constantly below freezing. After the New Year is usually a good time in the US. The cold temperatures will keep the seeds from germinating early. If your soil warms up for a long period, the seeds could come out of dormancy and be killed by later freezing temperatures. This is why you will want to wait until winter to be set in.

How to Winter Sow Seeds

There are two basic types of winter sowing: in containers and directly on the ground. Both work wonderfully, the biggest difference is your conditions and how much you need to plant.

Typically, winter sowing is done in milk jugs (the ones light shines throughout) or similar containers.

Any container that will hold potting soil, allow light through, and can be sealed up will work. I have also used to-go containers that Bo has brought home when he works out of town.

• 1) Wash all jugs well, remember to keep the caps. If you don’t have the cap, you can use a piece of duct tape.

• 2) Cut around three sides of the milk jug about halfway down carefully using scissors or a utility knife. Leave the fourth side to act as a hinge (I like to keep the side with the handle uncut ). It should now swing open and shut.

• 3) Poke a few holes in the bottom for drainage and the top for ventilation.

• 4) Now you can fill the container to an inch below the cut you just made with lightly moistened seed starting or potting mix. I used a super soil mix I was able to get from a local store.

• 5) Sow the seeds according to their instructions, this can be leaving the seeds on the surface or covered with a small amount of soil.

• 6) Label the jug with the seeds you planted and the date planted. I like to also number the jug and keep a special notebook that I record all the seeds I planted. It’s helpful in case something happens to the writing on the jug.

• 7) Tape the jugs shut and set them in an out-of-the-way spot where they won’t get disturbed. I have ours in a raised bed on our deck. I can see them easily but littles cannot easily mess with them.

It’s okay if they get covered in snow over winter, but they should be in the sun in springtime.

Check on them every once in a while as they may need some water to prevent them from drying out. This is especially true on spring days when the temps jump.

As soon as your soil is ready, ( or the plants are tall) remove the tape from the jugs and gently transplant your seedlings.

Caring for your Winter Sowing Plants:

You will need to be watchful of really warm weather. If the seeds have germinated and you get an out of the blue HOT day, the plants may bake in there milk jug greenhouse with the lid still on.

If you are having unseasonably warm weather, take the tape off and open up the lids. This might be a good time to see if they need watered.

If the temps cools back down, tape the jugs closed again. Then just keep an eye on them.

Once the plants are big enough to be filling the jugs with their greenery it is time to take the tops off the jugs.

You can transplant as soon as you can for what you have grown.

Winter Sowing Example Timeline

You can start cold season vegetable crops that don’t need cold stratification in February. Some cold season veggies to winter sow, are all the brassicas (kale, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, etc), greens such as chard, spinach and lettuce as well as root veggies and onions. Then by late March they should be ready for transplanting.

You could try some warm weather vegetables like summer squash, winter squash or pumpkins in April. You may also be able to start your cucumbers and melons in April as well.

I wouldn’t put all my eggs in one basket though. If I didn’t have space in doors to start seeds and wanted to jump start the summer gardening season, I would do a small amount of seeds the winter sowing method with the milk jugs. I would save the rest of my seeds for direct sowing, when the time is right .

Let me know if you have tried winter sowing before and what your favorite seeds to grow are!

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Until Next Time, Grow Something Beautiful Friends,

Bo, Julie and Family

” For I know the plans I have for you, ” declares the Lord, ” plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”

Jeremiah 29:11