Happy anniversary to me! Today marks the ninth year that I’m winter-sowing my summer garden. When you winter-sow, you plant seeds in miniature “greenhouses” made from recycled milk or water jugs. Then you bravely place the jugs outside (yes, outside!), where they are exposed to snow, sleet, and freezing temperatures. When spring arrives, the seeds germinate and grow into strong, healthy, naturally-hardened-off seedlings that are ready for planting in the open garden. Here’s a winter-sowing refresher course for you:
New to this nifty method of seed-starting? You’ll find the basics in Winter-Sowing 101
Not sure how to turn a common milk or water jug into a miniature greenhouse? Read Making a Greenhouse and Sowing Seeds
Have questions about what to winter-sow, and when to plant the seeds? Read the aptly-titled What to Winter Sow — And When
Are you a long-time winter-sower, too? Then by all means weigh in on the method in the comments field below. New gardeners will appreciate your thoughts!
Jerry Miller says
This post arrived with perfect timing. I was just thinking about ordering some seeds for this year’s garden.
I remember reading one of your posts about winter sowing. I’ve been saving my milk jugs for the past year. I can’t wait to get started.
Happy New Year.
Christy says
Happy New Year! I dipped a toe into winter sowing last year, a couple of containers with Euphorbia seed, which was successful enough to prompt me to sow about 25 containers of various things New Year’s day this year! Fingers crossed! I initially overlooked the instructions on the drainage holes, and found myself punching holes in waterlogged containers in the cold! Don’t skip that step!
KimH says
I started doing this 7 or 8 years ago after reading your post about it.
I was afraid to go to WS 100% the first and second year but these days it’s all I do. It’s the BEST EVER!!
Advice I wish I’d had:
Be careful/gentle when you water your seeds in for the first time. Seeds move around and float away and go down the sides of the container if you water vigorously.
Don’t sow the seeds thickly unless you’re going to plant them in a mass like some flower seeds. Roots get entangled worse when theyre thickly sowed.
If you’re in the Northern part of the US you may want to consider starting long growing peppers under lights or make sure you grow quick producing peppers. I have grown poblano peppers this way but very few get full sized and only a couple Bell peppers turned red which is how I like them.
I use a hole punch on 3 sides of my jugs and use either twine or garden twist tie wire to close my jugs. Works great.
I also bought inexpensive but heavy cat litter boxes to put mine in. Much cheaper than many of the totes. They work perfectly.
KimH says
I’ll share pictures later today if some of my results of Winter Sowing!!
Kim says
I dipped a toe into this last year with great success. I plan to plant much more this year .
JenP says
I have had mixed success with this approach, but only due to a really weird weather pattern last Spring (2017). In February it was unseasonably warm and everything germinated beautifully inside their little containers! I was dancing a jig! Then in March we had overnight temps that went down to 10 and 12 degrees F for a few days, with no protective snow cover. I rescued a few jugs and brought them into the porch and they did okay. The ones I gambled and left outside all died.
Word to the wise! Rescue them when they are germinated and you get a freak pattern like that! I’m sure my little baby lettuces would have survived down into the 20s no problem, but just above single digits was more than they could take. :'(
Sheri S Wentland says
I did this last year with great results. My problem this year? I can’t find soil! I moved to Idaho and the ground is frozen so can’t dig earth and no one carries bags of soil until spring.
badger gardener says
Thank you Kim H for the idea about the hole punch and twist tie to close. The duct tape always works fine until spring starts warming up and I have to open and close the jugs. The twist tie is a great idea.
I love winter sowing, which I learned here, and each year my little milk jug starter garden grows. I do all of my seeds this way and have had lots of success.
Mary in Iowa says
Bags of sterile seed starting mix are available at many good nurseries, some big box stores, farm feed and seed stores, and Amazon. I would not recommend the brands with chemical fertilizers added. They are more expensive and fertilizer is unnecessary for plants that are going to be planted in the ground before any supplemental feeding is needed. I also believe that organic gardening is the only truly healthy way to garden, both for soil organisms and humans.
I always am able to get all the milk jugs I need from an organization that cares for children and feeds them before and after school. I would imagine most day care centers would be happy to have the jugs taken off their hands. I also have found that the open mesh crates used to deliver produce are ideal for holding 6 gallon jugs with space at the end for 3 half gallon ones.
Planted 13 jugs yesterday, and have more to go. Will probably do only 25 or so this year. Of course, I said that last year and ended up with closer to 75, so …
Patti Law-Poggi says
what is the best sowing medium? What about vermiculite only?
AnnB says
I love this method! I can have lots of my favorite annuals that are pricey at the garden center this way. I usually put them out in late March here in zone 6a. Tomatoes too!
Jean says
Thanks Kevin, I have been doing this for the past five years after finding your WS method.
I do have a hint regarding watering small, delicate seedlings. Use a old dish soap bottle. The water doesn’t come out as fast and it is easy to aim the water where you want. Even if you leave the top on and aim down the spout, it does little or no damage. I use this method also with my late started seeds. Happy winter gardening!!! Jean
Sheila says
Love this! Will definitely have to try.❤️❤️.
Nancy says
I am a long time WSer as well – love it! Just wanted to share a few things:
1) Large clear plastic salad/spinach boxes make great containers as the “tops” come off easily for checking and tending seedlings. Just make sure the container is deep enough.
2) I organize my jugs and boxes outdoors on plastic shelving units – saves space.
3) There is a facebook group for WSers. It’s a helpful place for newbies to get questions answered.
Belinda says
Kevin,
Since I first learned this from you several years ago, winter sowing has become very important to us. We start the jugs at our IA home and haul them in their bins to the ADKs for planting at our garden there. After planting the garden, I find that extra plants thrive best when left growing in their jugs. The June winds can be so harsh, that I sometimes have to call on those extras as late as July. As to the bins, we scrub and store them beneath a bed then use them to haul winter squash and clothing back to IA in the fall. We also scrub and store the jugs and bring them as well. We do have the jugs cut in half, so that the extra seedlings are easier to water, and we’ll try Kim’s hole punch idea to reattach them this time. I have needed to call on those extra plants many times, even into July, and boy do they take off!
Thank you for teaching us about this great method.
Cheers!
Kim says
The lesson I learned in my wintersowing is to mark the jugs with paint marker to identify what is in them. Anything else is faded off by the time the plants are big enough to move. I still have one mystery container to identify from last year.
CAROL SAMSEL says
I love this method of seed starting and even though we are having record breaking cold this winter I’m starting this tomorrow . Today I’m drawing out my vegetable garden plains and going through the seed catalogs to see what new flowers and veggies I want to try this year. What else is there to do during an ice storm.
J. Lynne Higgins says
Love all your ideas–I have a small balcony where I plant herbs–I have found that many of them can easily overwinter without much protection–I am on the north side of our complex (Texas). Thank you so much for sharing everything–you are a swell guy.
Carolyn says
Can someone clarify abou the hole punch idea and closing them? I like the idea of of the plastic salad trays because we don’t use gallons of milk anymore. Will try.
Terry says
I love Winter Sowing! It’s a great way to get a little “dirt therapy” in the winter months. My local latte stand loves to supply milk jugs and I always plant a half tomato and half marigold jug for each of them to enjoy. Have fun everyone!
Jean Sharac says
Thanks for reminding me of this delightful endeavor. This year I will try it! The appeal for me is would be to sow seeds of plants that are hard or impossible to find in the nurseries, like “zinnia Queen Red Lime”, or only yellow portulaca, instead of the usual mix. My birthday is the Winter Solstice, Dec 21, so I should for sure be doing this! Thanks!
BETTI FLETCHER says
I did this years ago for a few years with limited success. Mostly cause I get weeds in them somehow even though I use store bought soil, do the weed seeds blow in? I don’t know. But did get a few good plants out of it. Thanks for reminding me of this and I will try again this year. I still have lots of empty milk jugs in the basement that I had saved for this and hated to throw away. And lots of seeds I never planted last year cause I got too over ambitious and ran out of window space.
Gonna read your articles to refresh my memory.
I write the names on popsicle sticks and both tape them to the outside of the jug words facing in so they don’t fade and then you just turn them over to read them, and also putting a labeled popsicle stick inside the jug to reduce the fading.
Juanita says
I would like to try this, but we don’t typically have snow that stays for longer than a few days in this part of Virginia. Would this still work for me?
Donna says
I tried this just last year after a friend told me about your “Winter Gardening.” I actually did pretty well. I used those big 3 gallon water jugs, and boy did I have a crop of swiss chard, kale, celery yellow squash, brussel sprouts, and more! Thank you so much for sharing this amazing way to garden early. I only did not have much luck with lettuce, peppers and tomatoes…..they froze when we got a cold spell after a thaw.
Katie says
Juanita—I’ve used this method in Virginia and Maryland and the lack of snow doesn’t really seem to be a problem.
Belinda says
To Carolyn 10:29 AM,
I hope I can answer your question. In Kevin’s entry, there’s a link for making the jug greenhouses. The method involves leaving a corner of the jug intact, so that it forms a hinge that keeps the top of the jug from blowing away. If you can use that method, it’s easier. I have to cut my jugs in half, because I can’t plant until mid June and the attached lid gets in the way when I water. I believe the idea of punching holes and using wire ties to attach my lids during the weeks when they really need the greenhouse effect, will work well for me while it’s cold and windy out.
Then I can remove the tops when they are getting to be a bother.
Laura in Georgia says
I don’t have any children or grandchildren in the state drinking milk. So, I use lettuce containers that spring mix come in from the grocery store. Cut holes in the top and bottom with a razor knife. Just fill them half full. The top closes tightly. Works great.
Judy says
I’ve done this two years and I haven’t had very good success, but I think it’s because I don’t know how to take care of them when they sprout. Do you bend the tops back at some point, do you need to water them? I’m not the best gardener in the world….
bren english says
started doing this about 5 or 6 years ago from your blog Kevin…maybe longer, haven’t bought a single starter plant since-neither have any of my friends-I give them all they need…
-all leeks, tomatoes, peppers–from winter sowing. thank you.
Nancy says
I’m so excited to try this! Thank you Kevin for your awesome blog, videos, recipes!! I love, love LOVE them! My condolences on your loss of Lily the Beagle. Much love from Colorado. Plant the Earth with Flowers!
Dola says
Fell in love with this method after Kevin first introduced it. It is such an easy way to get those seedlings started. Have had great success with planting veggies and flowers. The one piece of advice to offer is to be very judicious with the number of seeds you plant. I often overdid it and had to deal with too many little plants struggling for space. Once I realized I was the cause of the problem and cut back on how many seeds were sown, the little green houses produced all the plants I needed. Couldn’t be happier with Winter Sowing. What a treat to do in the dead of winter with great expectations for spring.
Beverly, zone 6, eastern PA says
I place my jugs in a shallow metal tray. I think it’s an old oven broiler pan. In fall I always stash 2 big buckets of soil mix in my garage which stays around 50 degrees. This allows me to be ready on a frozen January day when assembly begins. (It’s impossible to chip away at frozen soil outside.) I label the jugs 3 ways: pencil label on mini blind piece inside the jug, permanent marker on outside base of jug, and a tag tied onto the handle of the jug. I sit the tray of jugs on one of my raised beds away from the paths taken by my dog, just in case she would chase something and knock them sideways. I water from the bottom occasionally, but if we have regular precipitation, I don’t overdo the watering. Timing is essential to take advantage of freezing and thawing cycles. Choose late January or early February. If you have never tried this, start small. I would recommend trying perennial seeds, many of which have evolved to rely on cycles of freezing and thawing to break dormancy and germinate. Also less chance of early death compared to warm weather annuals. When you see the wave of little green sprouts across the soil surface you will jump for joy.
Joanne says
Hey Kevin–I teach Winter Sowing to my garden center classes. They love it. Last year I got a few packages of Native Plant seeds–perennials. I planted each type in a milk jug and, while slow to get going, they stratified themselves and came up–all of them. I am overwintering the 3 inch tall Elderberry shrubs in the vegetable garden and they go into their forever home this Spring.
I noticed the “self” seeding tomatoes in my veg garden were sturdier than the seedlings in the jugs so tomato seeds are going out earlier in their jugs. Gardening in Maine. I set my jugs into the veg garden’s raised beds–just make a dent in the snow and set them down. On the porch the Black Lab would push them over.
Roberta says
Two online sources for seed starting soil are Espoma Organic Products
https://www.espoma.com/product/organic-seed-starter/
Gardner’s supply has both regular and organic seed starting, though being in Vermont shipping could be a bit much https://www.gardeners.com
What I do since I live in Northern Vermont is buy extra soil each year and store it in a cool spot for next year. I then add some coconut coir the following year if the soil seems really dry. Coconut coir has the same properties as peat moss but is more sustainable and it comes in brinks that rehydrate which fill about half of a typical rubbermaid tote, The bricks make for compact storage
My suggestion is to number your seed packages and then make a table in your word processing software or use a spreadsheet. The advantage is you can repeat the number several times on the jug so you don’t have to worry about the sun fading, faster than writing out the plant name, you can put all the descriptive info you need so you do not have to got and get the packet, you can take a plant name stake and cut it int0 3 or 4 pieces, depending on the length and put the number on it and put it inside the jug. Save it and reuse next year by just changing the date and clearing out the date in the success column
# Plant Name Date Success Date Success Notes (height, color, sun/pt shate, shade, A or P
Out In or what ever you need)
Roberta says
I get my jugs from the local recycling drop off. I live in rural Northern Vermont and all the towns have a trash transfer station so they usually have lots of jugs. You would have to check with your local recycling place as some might say no because of the money they make from them.
Laura says
After a recent arctic cold blast, I’m just starting my winter-seeding. Since we’re neither milk-drinkers nor users of much that comes in disposables, last year I bought a bunch of reusable plastic food storage boxes, punched holes with a heated awl, and planted. This year, I ran the containers through the dishwasher, filled them with fresh soil and watered. Tomorrow when the containers have drained well, I’ll start planting. Trying flowers this year as well as a few varieties of kale. I haven’t done well with carrots or beets, so I’m sticking with greens which we love. In March, I’ll plant ground cherry and eggplant. If I can keep the squirrels from eating them, I might try tomatoes again. But last year the critters feasted and we didn’t. Thanks for the ongoing inspiration.
Laura says
Have had tremendous success over 5 years of winter sowing, always 200+ jugs a season. Am now sowing 2 dozen containers of foxgloves, for me and my neighbors, in an effort to establish drifts of a deer-proof alternative for our shady gardens. (Our deer love hostas). I live in suburban D.C. and have enjoyed tremendous success with lambs’ ears, echinacea (and cone flowers more generally), shasta daisies, canterbury bells, holly hocks, cardinal flowers, coral bells, perennial geraniums (clips), alpine strawberries, black-eyed susans (many different varieties), gallardia, turtlehead, dutchmans’ breeches, clematis, etc., etc. Less successful with trickier natives, e.g., bloodroot and trillium, which need to be kept in container for 2 seasons, as well as with herbs, such as dill and cilantro that tend to bolt before they can be planted in the garden. Have also winter sowed broccoli, cauliflower, onion, and leek seeds. I have an indoor seedling operation too, and thus do not use containers for other veggies, e.g., celery, peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, cukes, winter and summer squash, etc., all of which I start indoors under lights.
My 82-year old mother loves participating in every part of the winter sowing process. She particularly enjoys inspecting the fruits of our winter labor on the first warm day of early spring. She also helps with transplanting. She sits at an old round plastic table and uses an old kitchen knife and cutting board to cut the container plantings into smaller transplants. Even though I have so many flowers that I really don’t need to winter sow, I do so every year, because it is now a means to get my mom out of the house and into the garden for some much needed exercise.
Here are some tips:
Every week, the night before trash day, I pilfer my neighbors’ recycling bins for milk jugs. If it is very cold, I drive from house to house and carry a flash light with me. I often drive rather than walk because my mother loves to accompany me on my night-time raids, and it simply is too cold for her to walk. Five years of “dumpster diving” expeditions have taught me which neighbors have the largest number of milk or water jugs. Many neighbors now deliver their jugs to my front door. I have never had to travel more than two blocks to secure enough containers for winter sowing.
Deep, plastic strawberry and blueberry containers also work well for later sown annuals (marigolds, coleus, etc.). They already have holes in the bottom and top. They also tend to be more rigid than salad containers. Their biggest problem is dirt loss and keeping them damp.
To punch holes in the bottom and at tops of the milk jugs, I use an old pair of manicure scissors. Use scissors unopened; hold in dominant hand, and thrust into milk jug to punch holes. Do this before cutting the jugs in half. In fact, I use the same method to punch three small holes close together near where I will cut the milk jug in half, to create an opening for the scissors.
I use more expensive, weather-proof (red or white) duct tape to seal the jugs, just to make sure they don’t come unhinged. We had a bit of a problem with unhinging during our first season.
Label, label, label. Since I do not eat popsicles, to obtain plant markers, I cut strips out of ricotta, large yogurt, and sour cream containers (saved up and pilfered from the recycling of others). I write on the white side of the marker. I insert two markers into every jug. I also mark the container on the outside in at least 6 different places (on tape, behind handle, below dirt line, at least twice on 3 different sides).
Rather than put the finished jugs in a larger plastic container, I place them on top of the soil on one of my raised beds. In early spring, if water is scarce, I drag out some larger plastic bins to corral the containers together for bottom watering. The exception to this rule are the smaller strawberry containers, which I keep in a larger plastic container (an old white hard plastic cracked Elfa drawer liner fished out of a neighbor’s trash) on the front-porch table. I also use old nursery flats and a shelf to contain any overflow berry containers.
As for dirt, when the ground is completely frozen, I buy potting mix (stored indoors) at our big-box store. Before this option was available, I purchased frozen bagged compost (made by our county and sold as “leaf-gro” at a number of retail outlets), peat, and potting mix, including at a local farm store which doesn’t mind loading frozen bagged dirt into your car. I also have purchased frozen potting mix from the outdoor gardening area of our local big box store. I always wait, though, for a warmer day (temps in the 40s), before shopping for frozen dirt. It is simply easier to separate still half-frozen bags at the store. After defrosting in my basement, I cut the bagged compost with vermiculite and peat (1/3,1/3,1/3).
Mostly, though, I wait until a thaw to drag several of my old containers from outside into the basement. (I grow many veggies in cloth grow bags). After the soil defrosts, I pre-moisten the “used” dirt (actually a mix of 1/3 peat; 1/3 vermiculite; 1/3 compost) and then nuke it in small batches for about 10 minutes in a microwave oven to kill weed and “volunteer” seeds, before placing it in the milk jugs.
One of our biggest issues has been that my mother often gets way ahead of me while cutting up the transplants, often making it difficult for me to figure out which plant is which. So, now, rather than work within plant type, I try whenever possible to have her cut up transplants from jugs containing plants with 3 distinctive leaf types (e.g., columbines, strawberries, and hollyhocks), so that I will be able to identify them through their leaf types, should the transplant table become overwhelmed.
After my mom and I are done transplanting, I place all used containers and plant markers into the recycling.
Patti Law-Poggi says
I get all my milk jugs from a local coffee shop. I used to do Star Bucks but the parking is so bad there and it’s hard to get in and out.
I live exactly in the middle of California, half an hour south of Yosemite National Park. The weather has been so hot lately, the ski lodge and lifts have been closed down! My question is……..what about my winter sowing? Is it too hot? Anyone else live in a warm climate?
Terry Snyder says
This is year 7 that I’m winter-sowing. I fell across one of your posts about this method and tried it that very year. I have taught COUNTLESS people how to do it. I have sent many, many to your website. My sister loves everything you do. AGAIN, I am on here to get my list of seeds that I need. Thanks so much, Kevin.
Lisa says
A tip for anyone just getting started – I used to write the name of what was in the jug on every jug. Rather time consuming and honestly, the permanent marker would fade half way through the winter and I’d be left trying to figure out “what exactly does that jug say?” Last year I was determined to be more methodical and decided I would record everything I planted and keep a garden journal of sorts. As I was preparing my spreadsheet, a light bulb went off – I don’t need to write what’s IN the jug ON the jug… I can just number the jugs and keep track on my spreadsheet! I wrote the number in three places – the outside of the jug near the top, the outside of the jug on the bottom and the inside of the jug. It worked perfectly! When I noticed the numbers were starting to fade on the visible part of the jug, I just popped out with my marker and wrote over them. Easy to do as I had them standing in numerical order. And the numbers on both the bottom and the inside of the jug didn’t fade one bit, so even if I hadn’t had a chance to re-write the labels, I would have been fine!
Patty J Lemley says
Question: Can you use those little containers (plastic) that often hold little tomatoes or blueberries or blackberries? They usually already have holes in the bottom and are clear plastic. Will the seeds dry out too much–is that why you aren’t using them? Or is that they are not deep enough? Appreciate any insights, and thank you.
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Terry – Thanks so much for sharing my work!
Hi Lisa – What a great idea you had. Gonna steal it.
Hi Patty – I’ve never used berry containers. But if you do, let me know how they work out for you!
Dianne says
I have not been successful with WS using milk type jugs. My biggest issue is with chipmunks. I have to cover everything with wire or the little pests dig up all the soil. This is a major headache when I open the jug tops for air as they’ll sneak in and dig the soil out in less than an hour and I end up with 30 empty jugs and soil and seedlings scattered everywhere. And the wire is not stopping them from reaching into the open milk jugs and pulling stuff out.
I thought I would try planting in salad containers and covering them with 18 liter water jugs to foil the chippies – the really big jugs. Would this work or do you have to have more warmth inside the container like with the smaller milk jugs?
thanks for the help
Dianne says
As for labeling, I had the same issue of the marker fading out the first year . I kept a paper inventory and still lost track. Now, I beg, scrounge, those label tags that the greenhouse uses for roses; they are 1 inch x 6 inch plastic strips. I mark them and secure them to the handle. That worked for me.
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Diane – Honestly, winter-sowing should be a FUN job. If you must leap through hoops in order to protect your work, then maybe the game isn’t worth the candle. (Your story reminds me of the bulbs I used to plant outdoors in huge pots each fall, only to have the bulbs destroyed, year after frickin’ year, by curious squirrels. Since I only wanted spring flowers — not a lesson in character-building — I finally said “No mas!”)
Dianne says
Hi, I guess I’ll try a few of the big 5 gal water jugs over the salad boxes and see if they keep the inside air warm enough for the seedlings to survive. And seed doubles indoors.
I live on a heavily treed farm so there are zillions of squirrels of every type. They’re up and down the spruce tree in front of my window all day. To keep my bulbs safe in the flower beds I always plant 2 >3 daffodils near the tulips etc. Squirrels hate the smell of daffodils and don’t dig anywhere near my bulbs. I stick in garlic cloves at random for the same purpose – repels squirrels, moles and bug pests.
best,
Liz says
Thank you for this post. I’ve shared it the past couple of years when I’m trying to explain winter sowing to friends interested in the method. You did an excellent job explaining and encouraging. Thanks and happy spring!