Cheap winter sowing

For this little project, you need a container with grow mix. A stob of some kind about 3/8 to 1/2 inch in diameter. I use old sunflower stalks. Lord knows I got plenty of those as they dont compost well at all. And you need a one gallon water jug or milk jug with the bottom cut out. I prefer water jugs because its hard to get the stink washed out of milk jugs. Stick the stob into the middle of the grow mix......sit the bottomless water jug down over the stob and PRESTO.........a miniature green house. You can plant quite a few seed under the jug and figure on transplanting later or you can get creative and plant seeds of just the items that you intend to grow in that pot. You can plant one little tomato seed in there and nurse it along under the jug untill danger of frost is gone. You can slowly acclimatize the plant by removing the jug for short periods of time each day untill the plant is ready to survive on its own. I just water around the edge of the jug in place and the growmix should carry enough moisture for the seed to germinate. You can modify the jug if you think it is necessary, cut more air holes if you think it is necessary. Bright shade or dappled shade is best as direct sunlight may be too hot.

These little chives were planted 10 to 15 days ago. The little boogers seem to like their greenhouse.

OK........I goofed up and forgot the picture. Here 'tis

Great! I guess the stob is just to keep the jug-top from blowing over?

Seems once you get the concept of this WS-ing, there are lots of ways to go about it, thanks for showing this one. I don't see though why it's cheaper than used milk or water jugs...... though clearly cheaper than buying plastic bins like some are doing.

Kyla

Kyla..........yes, that is a distilled water jug. We drink that stuff by the ton.....er.....gallons. We have "hard" water here in the Texas hill country that will clog up your plumbing if you drink it. And your house plumbing too. Also coffee makers.

I seem to always live where there is hard water. I am lucky now though, Sacramento River Headwaters spring has the sweetest water free for the taking if you live near enough, I fill jugs there to drink.

but I have been buying distilled water to have jugs for WS-ing! LOL! I use the water in the humidifier....

My dad grew up in Alpine TX.

;-)

Kyla

Jay, I love it! I love the idea of WSing right in place. I bet your method would really help with plants that don't like to be transplanted. If I hadn't rotated the plants in my front flower pots to winter plants, you can bet I'd be sneaking seeds out there this afternoon...

-GB

GreenerBeaner..........I was wondering if you had any results from your winter sowing yet. I planted 4 different kinds of flowers today under the water jugs. They will be transplanted later to these vertical growing systems you see here. The 1 gallon pots sitting on top of the platform have bok choi in them, transplanted from under the mini-greenhouse.

Sorry, Jay. I was so concerned with things germinating too early that I didn't start my WSing until Feb 1st. I have about 8 containers sown, about 12 more to go in the next week, and then about 20 more on March 1. I have no germination yet, but I'll let ya know when I do!

Those vertical growing systems are wild! I can't wait to see them full of flowers.

-GB

Where did you get those vertical systems? Can they be a DYI project?

There are two types of vertical systems shown in that picture, Lynn. The big white ones are by EZgro. www.theezgro.com. The smaller teracota stackers are by www.stackapots.com. In the picture Im attaching, you can see a gray stacking unit by www.stackandgrow.com. There are a couple of other companies......Verti-gro and hydro-stackers. You can order them as complete kits including mounting poles, pots, grow mix and fertilizer.........or.......in the case of EZgro, you can order the pots seperate and also the fertilizer and grow mix seperate. The stackapots and the stack and grow can be stacked from ground level, some can be hung by chain and they can also be stabilized with a center pole if you wont to stack them higher.

Im partial to the EZgro. Once I ordered a kit and saw how easy I could mount them myself, I just bought pots. The pots you see here are 4 years old and still like new. They are hard plastic and seem like they should last forever. If you go to the self contained box forum here at Daves Garden, I have lots of info there on vertical gardening systems.

In answer to your question.........yes......they can be a DYI project and can be a lot of fun................Jay

Thanks for the info.

Hi Jay,

I don't know if this would be helpful, I think am probably in a slightly different zone than you (I'm in 8b), but I have approx. 70 WSown containers that have already germinated. My first WS date was Jan. 10th and I have some sown as late as Feb 1. If you are wondering about any plants in particular, I can check my list. I also have another 70 that have not germinated yet. hth.

Tonya

Thanks Tonya......I appreciate the thought. Im still somewhat confused about what I wont to grow on the poles. I like too many things and thats a good way to stay confused. The results are often pleasing though, whether planned or not.:-)

No problem, I know what you mean about liking too many plants. Hence 140 differents ws containers!

My patented distilled water jug greenhouse winter sowing system continues to pump out seedlings. These convolvulus seed germinated in 3 days........and two of those days were windy, cool and rainy. Geez, I may be creating some monsters!

The baby blue eyes, tidy tips, and birds eye were a day later than the convovulus. Laggards!!

Mini greenhouse jugs still effective in spite of some cold nights and overcast days. These plants are S.Capana sweetpeas. The little seedling on the far right side of the pot germinated outside the coverage of the jug. The ones that germinated under the jug are twice as big and healthier looking.

Here are two Supersweet 100 tomato plants that germinated in 8 days. I believe the jug will keep them growing and protected from frost untill it is safe to plant all but the one that will remain to grow in that 5 gallon coir grow bag.

I miss Kerrville!! I lived there for 5 years. Your WS project looks great! I just WS some seeds in milk jugs a couple of weeks ago. I got seedlings in about a week. I placed them on the east side of my house where they get morning sun, some dappled shade, then full shade in the afternoon.

That seems to be just about the ideal amount of sunshine for your jugs without much chance of overheating them. Plants are tough. Give them half a chance and they will grow. The Kerrville area is in a nice part of Texas for gardening. I had tomato's up untill Dec 10. I planted sweet peas, sweet William, and Gaillardia last October and they grew thru the winter and are almost in bloom now. I wont mention a few things that didn't overwinter. Ah well.......you win some.....you loose some.:-)

Gardening in Texas anywhere is always an adventure. The Hill Country is especially different because it's unlike the areas around it when it comes to gardening. You've got flat, cooler areas to the north, dry dessert like conditions to the west, and the warm humid conditions to the south. It's like it's in a little bubble. (And that can be taken to mean culture and gardening! LOL)

I really prefer to sow my wildflower seeds in the late fall. This year, I threw out poppy seeds and they've started coming up!