lessons learned for next year #4

One thing that works very well is using large zip-lock bags to cover the milk jug bottoms. The zip-locks are firm enough to act like green house tents. Just cut ventilation holes in the corners :-)

this is much easier than duct-taping the top of milk jugs to the bottoms. The zip-locks also work on green plastic pots - no need to worry about finding transparent pots. This is what I will be doing this year.

Michaela

My milk jugs look like this. They're white but plenty of light gets through without cutting. Trudi's "rule of thumb" : "if you can see your thumb through it, you can use it". It doesn't have to be clear like glass.

I know some pople have posted pics of jugs that are completely opaque. Glad we don't see those here, I'd be up a creek. I love my jugs!!!

I really hated paper pots. Like PV said, they got moldy and nasty. They also dried out every time I turned my back. I know some swear by them, but never again for me. Jugs it is.

Karen

Ah, so the tape does not have to go all the way around the jug? Just enough to keep it from popping open? Glad to see that. I would have been wrapping ALL the way 'round!

after doing the tape on 1 or 2 milk jugs -- i ended up using a hole punch and twisty ties. Worked great for me.

So the main objective is to keep the "flap" closed over winter? Not to SEAL them up tight, right?

tcs1366, me too, except I used long Christmas ornament hanger wire. I just happened to be taking down the tree about the time I started winter sowing. I just didn't have enough twist-ties. I knew I couldn't resist the temptation of peeking into the containers so the tape was out of the question for me. The wire ties allowed me to open the containers as much or as little as needed when it became time to vent.

Deborah

sj,

yes, you want them closed up for the colder months, then when it starts getting warmer - you open them a bit... and when the sun is HOT, say in April or so -- you want to take the lids off or the seedlings will fry.

that's one thing nice about the twisty method, when you need to close up again for cooler nights, just flip the lid back around and one twist will do it.

I normally made 3 sets of holes with the hole punch, then by spring, i was only using 1 of them -- more ventilation that way.

Terese

I like the idea of twisty tie/wire instead of tape. Easier to deal with too!

Has anyone tried aluminum foil tape for labeling their containers? It works really well!!

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=1979896


PV

I heard it mentioned earlier in this thread (may have been one of the first 3. I am not sure since we were already on part 4 when I found the thread and I read through them all in one day)

I used tape (various kinds) to tape my soda bottles closed, and never cut off the tops - I used clothespins to hold the top back when it was time for full open-ness... does that make any sense? I was saving them all to reuse but now I see the advantages of bigger containers with straight sides!

Here is my winter sowing.

I used a variety of jugs, In the future I will use only milk ones. I tried both taping all of the way around and only part way. Both seemed to work just fine.

This message was edited Oct 17, 2007 3:49 PM

Yet another view

I'm with Seandor--forgot to mention that I just slip a gallon zip-lock baggie over the top of my opaque jug, which has been previously cut with large "windows"above the 4-inch soil line--and that's it! As Seandor mentions, do cut the corners off the baggies to let rain and air through.
Much easier than the taping of the top thing.

--Emily (who has large toppling-over piles of plastic jugs and bottles in her basement--just waiting for WS-ing.)

Up here in the cold north I have a hinge on the containers by leaving one side uncut and then when it is time to open them I use a clothes pin to hold them open. I like the baggy cover, but when a cold snap is coming I can put the tops back on the ones with the hinge with ease it is frustrating to have to tape the bag back on.

What we seem to be learning here is try a few ways and then next year do what worked best for you. There doesn't seem to be one right way.

zen,

that is the way i cut my milk jugs too.... leave one side uncut, so it's hinged. Never did use the clothes pins... i honestly didnt have any. On nice days, i'd just flip it back - then close it back up at night.

terese

Law of life: THERE IS NO ONE RIGHT WAY. Applies to religion, learning, wintersowing, law, driving, you name it. I'm not really trying to be funny!

x, Carrie

You don't have to try :-) (grin)

my youngest daughter keeps bringing me her yogurt containers and bottles from drinks for my baby plants...for her i'll use them for the daylily seeds i start inside....i like the gallon jugs & half gallon jugs with handles & i leave one side uncut

i'm already thrilled with the idea of baby plants....have to figure out when the love lies bleeding has seeds....really loved it
the daturas were fun as well as bachelor buttons and snap dragons.....had great luck with columbine which should bloom next year

definitely want morning glories and some of everything else too!

my big goal is to keep things labeled....

>>definitely want morning glories

OH I have lots of seeds if you are interested.

currently i have GrandPa Ott, which are a beautiful purple, and some Heavenly Blue

but, now that they are intertwined, its may be hard for me to separate the seeds.

larlienda: Those yogurt cups, cut up, make good free plant markers. I think I used hundreds of them this year. I wrote with a paint pen and had no fading on them at all.

Karen

karen,

that's a great tip.

terese

thanks! would love some seeds...i just love how they meander around :-)

great idea with the yogurt cups...never thought of that...i just picked up a paint pen, so maybe i will be all set this year!

Those markers last very well. My yogurt cups are pliable, have a kind of waxy feel. They didn't change at all from early spring through fall. The material doesn't change at all. They could last for years. (Which shows why our landfills are overflowing> the plastics can last forever.)

Karen

Mini blinds cut into strips make good markers too. That is what I use along with the paint pens. It isn't hard to find someone who has some they want to get rid of.

I had to go out to buy clothes pins.

OH, now that is a good idea! I have a broken one in the corner upsstairs!

Sorry - that might have been my idea. I am NOT going to buy mini blinds so I can disassemble them, but i may be able to locate a yogurt cup or two.

I'm finally picking up paint pens today!

I get mini blinds out of trash cans in the spring lol I just use pencils to write on and they work really well haven't faded a bit all summer! Looks like the paint pens are going to work out pretty good too I used thos to mark my daylilies with last year and they still look good :)

grrrr. bought paint pens last year, lost them before winter!

i lost some thanks to my young daughters....oh, well haven't noticed any "new" murals on the walls ;-)

how old are your daughters? Mine are 13 and 17.

4 & 6....young son is 2....i'm lucky right now because both are in school...one in kindergarten & the other in state sponsored preschool (older daughter is special needs which is considered a risk factor for siblings) & i get to play with zachary all day :-)

fun fun fun

Know what's fun? When DDs are grown up and no longer a constant source fo worry! lol

definitely something to look forward to....

my older daughter got her ears pierced today...they did both at one time (my husband took her)...i never would have thought of that....she's so proud :-)

I'm 52 and I still remember how hard it was at 16 to get permission from my mother to get my ears pierced... and then Dad caught wind of it and I had to start all over again! It was one of the VERY few fights about something my Dad and I ever had!! Awww... funny the things you remember about growing up!!

My DD talked and talked about getting her ears pierced for years, she couldn't have it done until she was 10. On her tenth birthday we went to have it done. I had to go first. That was my second set of holes in my ears. I didn't cry or anything so so thought that looked fine. After the first ear was done she was so upset she didn't want the other one pierce. Finally it was ok if I held her head against my chest while she had the other ear pierced. At 21 she has multiple piercings on her ears and her belly button done as well. She tried having her tongue pierced but she drooled and sounded so funny she took it out. Although I think the final straw was when she had a piece of spaghetti stuck in the hole, with the stud in it.

She is a very grown up 21 year old thank god. She was a handful all the way through high school. One of those kids that learned the hard way.

I remember having a fight with my Dad when I was 16 - I left, got an apartment and worked my way through high school. One of the smarter things I did. :-)

My eldest also was one to learn the hard way - now has some rather badly done tatoos she would like to remove. Silly girl - if she had asked me, I would have told her to invest in some quality temporary tatoos. Not junk.

Oh my daughter went to Mexico her senior year and cam back with a large dolphin tattoo on her ankle. She really does not like it at all.

I keep trying to convince both of my children to go to school to learn how to take tattoos off. I figure as all these people with tattoos will be really ready to have them taken off in a few years.

We certainly have strayed from winter sowing. Guess we have told all we learned for next year.