A few days ago, I discovered another way to wintersow… so I’m giving Wintersowing another chance.
I purchased two 50 qt. Sterlite plastic bins with covers.
I was able to place twelve 3 inch pots into each one.
I planted mostly flower seeds and a few vegetable. Continue reading
Last year, I attempted winter sowing for the first time… and I wasn’t successful.
The plants either didn’t germinate, or germinated then died, or was baked in the small container.
I wasn’t planning on winter sowing again, but I happen to stumble upon the journal entry “My First Winter Sowing” by HollyBee on Folia. She used a large translucent container and placed 24 square 3 1/2 inch square pots… which are similar to the pots I used a couple years ago for my overwintering Coleus. I think I’ll copy her method and plant my flower seeds this way.
I also found a photo by pestee35 on Flickr using a similar method.
I realized that I posted some information about winter sowing in previous entries:
http://www.joeysplanting.com/2010/02/04/winter-sowing/
http://www.joeysplanting.com/2010/02/03/milk-carton-gathering/
…but never posted instructions on how I did them… so here I go:
I first marked where I wanted to cut the bottles and milk cartons using a Sharpie permanent marker…
To make this easier for me, I cut a strip of cardboard 2.5 inches tall, aligned the cardboard and bottle on the ground, then traced along the top edge of the cardboard with the Sharpie onto the bottle…
then I carefully cut along the line.
I then poked holes in the bottoms to let excess water flow through the container.
A friend on Flickr suggested that I also put additional hole on the sides to allow better drainage, especially if these sit on a flat surface .
I created vent holes on my first container, but later ommitted this step and just left the top off the bottle.
Added some potting soil to about 2 inches and sowed some seeds. For my first two winter sowing container, I planted Daisy Garden Wildflower Mix and a Wildflower Mix I got free from Subaru (at the SF Flower and Garden Show).
For my second batch, I sowed: Zinnia ‘Whirligig’ Cosmos ‘Bright Lights Mix’ Alyssum ‘Gold Dust’ Melampodium (Butter Daisy), Cilantro Zinnia (Fall 2005).
Here they are all lined up in our backyard.