Why I Don't Use Milk Jugs for Winter Sowing Anymore
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- Опубликовано: 7 фев 2025
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This video is my opinion only and you're obviously free to do what is best for you and your garden in your own region of the country or world. This is my new favorite way to start seeds and to plan a budget friendly garden. I find that it takes so much time and work out of the project. Watch the entire video to learn the downsides to this method as well as the huge plus sides to it...
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One important note about using the larger pots method vs the milk jug method:
Regina brought up a great point. You need more soil the larger the pots you use. I happened to have lots of soil from saving any and all soil I've had over the years I've been gardening plus a new bag I hadn't opened yet...It can really add up over time, but if you're newer to gardening, you may not have that much soil on hand. So, the less soil you can get your hands on, maybe use the smaller or medium sized pots instead. You just may have to water more in spring and summer, when it gets hotter, than if you had the larger pots. Would still work great. In the video, you may be able to tell that in 2024 I used a mix of large, medium, and smaller pots. But I didn't have success with the tiny pots or the cell trays. So, basically, use the largest pots you can afford to fill up with soil. That would be my advice. Also, I recommend you place all your pots together, for ease of watering when the time comes. If you're growing plants for two different light conditions, though, have 2 areas for your pots. The shade lovers could be placed all together in a shady location and the sun lovers all placed in their sunny location, together. This will cut down on your labor when watering. You may have seen in the video that I put my pots very near each other in groups. And since I had a huge amount of pots, I keep a little walkway between groups for ease of watering each pot. Hope that helps!!
I’ve had mixed success with milk jugs too and often run out of pots because I have so many seeds. This year, I’m using large mixing tubs from Home Depot (the kind used for mixing concrete). I drilled several holes with a 1/2” spade drill and used hardware cloth. The deep soil should retain moisture longer, so I think it’ll work well. Also, check if your local hardware store has a garden center dumpster you can often find great free pots there.
I love that idea at the end, to ask for free pots!! Thanks for watching and for leaving a thoughtful comment. I wish you great success growing your seedlings this year and beyond! :)
You are doing such great work!!!! Thanks for offering your time, thoughtfulness and experience to the world. It's wonderful to know you in this space. :)
Awww thank you!! Right back at you!!
I just started last year doing my winter sowing in large black pots too. I had good luck. I like how you labeled your pots. It was nice to see what you are growing
I'm glad to hear that you're loving this method, too! The plant labels I use are actually cut up old window blinds that were in my house when I moved in. I hated the blinds and took them down but had no idea what to do with them. One day I realized I could cut them up and write on them in pencil for easy and quick plant labels. They don't last forever of course, but at least I can give the window blinds one more use for a while. :) Thanks so much for watching and for taking the time to comment, too.
So right! I am using 5 and 10 gallon grow bags and the left over milk jugs with the tops cut off.
That sounds great! Do you like the grow bags so far? I haven't used them yet, but they sure do interest me.
@@awildapproach Hi Girl! I am using the grow bags for the the first time this year because they were full of soil and available. I will let you know the results. I have used 5 gallon buckets with success and also, like you, old deep nursery pots. My greatest successes have been with anything deep, like a 1 gallon reused nursery pot. What I do not like about the grow bags is the ones I have are fabric and they dry out and water does not disperse all the way to the bottom. I am going to experiment with some that are water tight around the sides, but not the bottom and maybe revise the fabric ones I have to make them water tight around the sides.
@@ninetypercentnative Very good info! Thank you for that!
I did the milk jug method for 2 seasons, spring i had lots of seedlings, but needed to water more often, jugs dried out to quickly..even on a north wall.....so i started with a clear spot, I just plant right on the ground, lightly covered, and then cut the bottom off the milk jug, and stick it down into the ground...i do 2 lables, a stick lable inside the jug..and then i write on the outside of the jug..when i water the ground absorbs more....the only down fall to this is it has to be done before the ground frezzes, otherwise you cant push the jug down into the ground, covering the seeds....this works better for me..i still thin, move some seedlings.
That is cool! I've never thought of doing that before. I'm glad it's a method that you find helpful!
Great to see different ways to do winter sowing! Great title for your video, btw. 🌱🌱🌱
Thank you! I'm glad there are so many ways to grow native plants. And it's fun to experiment and find a new favorite way to do it. :D
This is so informational Macey!!! The milk jug system was a lot of work so it's nice to know I could do this in just pots I have and put screen fabric over it which I also have. You are genius. And so kind to share your experiences🩷🧡💛💚🩵💙💜 I'm now going to give this a try with some native seeds I have.
I'm glad it's so helpful! I also find it more fun because there are so many less steps. I used to spend so much time on my milk jugs...and as my microclimate has gotten more hot and tough on these things, the jugs were cooking my plants. Sometimes I didn't get them open quick enough for the safety of the seedlings. I much prefer the open air way, no dome. Just the mesh or hardware cloth, etc to protect from critters. :)
Thank you for sharing your experience with milk jugs. I stopped using them also because of the cutting, tapping, dome effect, etc. I use rotisserie chicken containers and really like that method. However I happen to have some very fine screening fabric and will take the tops off of 6 and screen, and leave the rotisserie tops on the other 6 as an experiment. Yes a little long winded but so heart felt. Continue sharing. There is always something to learn in gardening. You have a lovely yard. I am inspired to grow some grasses. after seeing your success
Awww thank you, Joanne. That's so sweet of you to say. I'm glad it was a pleasant video and that you are going to experiment! I encourage anyone to experiment and see what works best for them. It can vary so much depending on so many factors. And it's nice that there are so many different ways to do this. :) Happy seed starting!
Great alternative! I haven’t had great success with milk jugs, and I also don’t like the whole process. This is a good way to reuse old soil as well…I have a whole wheelbarrow of it…now I just need it to thaw a little bit so I can work with it 😅 I might put the containers into a large clear tote and cover with an old window screen, just to keep everything contained a bit more. Might also try using straight clear totes with holes drilled, and just put the soil straight into it and section off the seeds with sticks or something. I feel like milk jugs are not actually easy…but I know this method works, so I want to adapt it for my needs. I’m trying to plant tons of natives in a huge field we stopped mowing…
Sounds like a wonderful goal! As for the clear totes, as long as it won't burn your plants, have at it! Everyone's microclimate is different and I worry about any clear domes over here which would give me the greenhouse effect, because I'm south facing and on a hill with lots of concrete. It's typically 10 degrees warmer here when the sun is out than lots of other areas nearby. 8+ hours of sun. But if you have more shade and more protection from the sun in general, the clear containers might work fine. Sounds like you'd only have clear sides, though, too, and not a dome on top, which may help them not burn. But I'm just not 100% sure. I've seen very mixed opinions on winter sowing in those big clear plastic bins. Wouldn't hurt to try that and another method, too, just in case you lose some plants. I love experimenting. And after all my experimenting, I finally found a way that works really well for me on this hot sunny city property. :) So, have fun along the way and look at any failures as learning experiences. Happy gardening!!
@ I have lots of old window screens and I’ll just cover with those 😉 also, I get totes from a local return/auction place. They’re often cracked, but that doesn’t matter for this use and they’re much cheaper
I have about 100+ native species I'm growing using various methods. The milk jug method (using cat litter jugs), sowing in flats, plug trays, pots, containers, and large bins.
A positive of the milk jug method is that moist stratification is guaranteed for most species assuming you've potted up the jugs early enough in the season. The greenhouse effect can speed the development of the seedlings by up to one whole season of growth. The newly germinated plants are better insulated from drying out from harsh summer conditions so long as the jug is not opened. If you're germinating a lot of species it can be helpful to give you time to pot up the seedlings at your leisure. I still have some jugs I started last winter that are still full of healthy 1 year old plants I can pluck out and pot up as I need/want them. Third, they are better protected from things like squirrels, mice, birds, etc.
A negative of milk jugs is that the contained moisture can cause disease and fungal issues, algae overgrowth, or it can promote bugs and slugs to get inside and kill the young plants. The plastic of the jugs also doesn't always last beyond one or two years of use. Exposure to months of sun UVs causes the plastic to become brittle and weak. And if you're not careful with labelling the jugs, permanent marker isn't so permanent when weather and sunlight causes the writing to fade off the plastic, and then you're guessing what species you have come spring.
Last year I also tried using clear plastic totes with lids and holes drilled through. We had one 85 degree day in early March which cooked anything that germinated in the totes so I lost some species that way. In general the jugs did better than the totes.
Last bit of wisdom I learned is to add fine pine bark or "pine fines" to potting mixes and seed sowing media. Pine is a natural deterrent for fungal diseases, maintains moisture well, and the chunky addition to soil gives lots of air in the growing media, and lots of surface area, which promotes good roots. At least in my experience so far. For seed sowing I top the chunky mix with a thin layer of Promix Premium potting soil, then broadcast the seeds on top. I would personally avoid anything with too much sphagnum moss.
Thanks for your comment! :) I found the opposite with the jugs, when it comes to burning my seedlings. However, I'm in such a hot microclimate (south facing hillside and LOTS of concrete over here...), so I often didn't open the jugs quick enough. If I had the jugs closed all summer as you suggest in your comment, that would definitely kill my seedlings here, not protect them. It must be my 8+ hours of sun and very harsh conditions over here. I know others have much success. I used to have more success with them years ago when I first started doing them.
I hadn't heard that advice before about the chunky soil on bottom and the promix potting soil on top! That sounds really interesting! Thanks for sharing that.
All in all, I found that my jugs were drying out too easy the last time I used them and cooking my seedlings or my soil mix was wrong, or both. 2023 was a fail in many ways. XD But I'm so happy 2024 went better and I learned so much...
As another pointed out, one other drawback to my new way of winter sowing is the amount of soil one has to have to do it. I'm lucky I had so much old soil on hand and a new bag waiting to be used as well. I think the less soil one can purchase, the smaller pots they could use. But the smaller the pots, the more watering will need to be done once the weather heats up.
After experiencing rutabagas that reseeded and had the best crop, I’m just winter sowing right in the garden. Will use jug tops to protect seeds and eventually plants. It’s going to cut out so much cost and fussing.
Sounds great to me! :)
The purpose of using hte milk jugs was I think primarily a reuse recycle one.Also not buying lots of plastic seed starting kits.
Right? I feel I lost sight of that over the years, when it no longer was a good method for me anymore.
Great info, thanks. Your garden is impressive!
Thank you so much for watching! I'm glad it was useful. :)
Can you make a video on what plants you plan on growing or adding this year
I'd love to! Thank you for that suggestion. Any other video ideas, don't hesitate to comment them. :)
Fertilize after first true leaves
Thank you for the specifics!! :)
Thanks for the video! I'm trying milk jugs this year for the first time but also have a flat of planted seeds on the edge of my covered patio, where they get spray from the rain but won't drown. We'll see how it goes! I was thinking about mixing in some of my native soil for the next batch. We have naturally very acidic soil, which isn't something you get in the bagged mixes
That is a nice idea (the covered patio)! I hope you have great success! As for using your own native soil, I say experiment and find what works for you. Unfortunately, for me, using native soil in pots didn't work for me. But it can depend on what native soil you have. No hurt in trying. Keep experimenting until you find your favorite method of winter sowing or seed starting. It will be worth the possible failures in the end, I truly believe! :) And don't be scared to kill plants!! It's part of the process, I say. The most successful people also have a lot of failures they have used to learn by.
Im doing some in gallon jugs and some in pots with screen on it. I'll see which one is more effective. In the past I have had great success direct seeding in a prepared bed.
I love the prepared bed method, too. I may revisit that some time...I did a mini raised bed once for my winter sowing...
Thanks for the video. I’m doing milk jugs for the first time right now after ending up with moldy seeds in the refrigerator when I tried the baggie method. I might just cut the tops off the jugs sometime in the spring and cover with some leftover screens.
I wish you all the luck in the world! Definitely don't be afraid to experiment until you find your favorite way. Could take a few years until you find the perfect method for you. I've had things sprout in the fridge, and I've had some mold on some, too. I find it really matters what substrate we use (substrate is just what we put in with the seeds). What molded for me were coffee filters. So I don't do the coffee filter method anymore. The type of soil you use could cause mold, too, in the baggies. Some folks use very specific soil or they use sand (inert type not the other type) or perlite or vermiculite. The more sterile or inert, the better, I've been told. I hope that helps!
When sowing in these larger pots, do you typically separate the individual seedlings, or plant all together? Thank you for all of the information!!
I just divide them when I'm ready to put them in the ground, but you could also pot them up individually when they are a decent size, if you want to grow them on a little longer before planting them out. :)
Where are you located? What is your last frost date?
I'm Colorado zone 4/5a.
Been doing the milk jug method for about 6 years now. It helps me to stratify with protection so they don't dry out. I also do some direct seeding but I really like the control and protection from hail, slugs, and grasshoppers. I don't care for the taping jugs etc but it has been so successful that I just keep doing it. I might use the hardware cloth idea to try your pots method. How many years have you done it this way? I do cover any sprouted plants with a blanket if it will be under 40F after sprouting and the jugs are handy for that support.
I have had difficulty with echinacea and agastache .
I'm in East Tennessee ~ the Ridge and Valley Ecoregion. Last frost is April 19th, but I don't really think much about that date unless I'm growing non-natives like zinnias or veggies. As for how long I've been doing the open pot method, 2024 was my first time doing it in the exact way mentioned in the video, where I sow in pots and protect them over winter with grates or window screen, and then fertilize them in spring after they germinate and grow a tiny bit.
But I've grown some by accident before that and that's partly why I got the idea. Some Lanceleaf coreopsis reseeded itself in my pots and I realized it could be fun to try it myself.
I would direct sow everything in the ground instead, if it wasn't so unpredictable and hit and miss for me...
Excellent video, Macey! I loved that there were THREE commercials! Go, girl!
I also stink at jugs so I was thinking of going with pots and mesh this year. It takes so much more soil, though, which is a serious drawback.
Are you dumping your excess soil after transplanting and drying it out, then storing it? You have to have a ton of used leftover soil.
I had a lot of soil already from my old big pots I used to keep planted on my patio, plus any leftover bagged soil I still had fresh, and also leftover soil from pots I planted, where I had been dusting off roots of the plants I bought and keeping that soil. Basically, I keep all the soil from everything I bring in, and over time it's been a lot. More than I would have in my compost bin. If I had more room, I would have had a giant compost pile, too, to get soil from, but yes, this method requires more soil. For sure a drawback, unless you've got lots of soil like me from leftover projects (and failed seedlings from 2023, remember ;) ). I will have to buy some new soil soon, though, too, since all my soil is tied up in these pots. But if someone wants to do this but not have to have as much soil, they can do the same thing, but with smaller pots. They would just have to keep a closer eye on them in spring and summer and water more in the smaller pots. But the process would be the same other than that. In 2024, some of my pots were large, some medium, and some small. All did pretty well except a couple troubled ones. But I found the larger ones were more lush and had more roots...so I went with large ones this year. Plus, larger ones are great for starting the trees with the long roots!
Thanks for sharing, this is really great advice. I have had very little success with milk jugs, and growing indoors it's so difficult to harden plants off so maybe just focussing on mechanical protection from birds and squirrels with mesh outside would really help. It's interesting for some species there can be variation in seed dormancy -- I worry that by growing indoors we're kind of selecting out individuals that don't have dormancy (which is actually an adaptive trait for some species' long term survival). But this is probably less important for a home gardener than if you're doing something like habitat restoration.
Wow!! I didn't think of that at all. That's fascinating: the seed dormancy part. Yes, hardening the indoor ones off can be a big pain. And another thing I noticed is they look so lush and big after growing inside for weeks / months, but even after hardening off, they seem to be weaker than my outdoor grown plants...they still grow and do ok, but I feel like mostly the plants I grew outside do better in the long term of the growing season. Time will tell this year. I have some aromatic aster I want to keep an eye on for example and see if it bounces back and gets stronger.
Thanks so much for watching and for commenting!! :D
Hello, really enjoyed your video, very informative. I have tried for years to grow grasses from seed, like purple fountain grass without any success. How do you get the seeds to germinate? Thanks for your reply.
It could depend on the species, but I've been growing native warm season grasses mostly and one cooler season grass. These native warm season grasses I've been growing don't need any cold moist period, so you can grow them under grow lights right away, sow them directly outside in pots in fall or winter, sow them directly in the ground, or you can start them in pots in spring, too. Just keep in mind that warm season grasses don't like to be transplanted in fall as much as they do in late spring and early summer (especially the species I grow and where I live here in East Tennessee). For best results with in ground direct sowing of warm season grasses, direct sow them in early summer in a prepared garden area. But I did mine in pots outside over winter as well as under grow lights indoors, and it went great. :)
I'm not familiar with purple fountain grass, but our native purple love grass could be an alternative that is shorter, and could be sown the same way I state above. The scientific name is Eragrostis spectabilis. Not sure if it's native where you live, but give it a look and see. Another alternative could be Pink Muhly Grass aka Muhlenbergia capillaris. Pink Muhly can get quite a bit taller than Purple Love Grass. :)
@awildapproach I have pink muhly grass seeds. I will follow your instructions. Thanks for the very informative reply.
@@deborahgrigsby235 You're welcome! :) Have fun.
Regarding the 2023 failure, did you use a store bought potting mix by itself? That is what I did last year and what I noticed was that anything I winter sowed in the potting mix did not grow well except for things that I ended up getting into the ground with very little of the potting mix remaining around the plant. Anything I planted in pots with just top soil from my yard did amazingly well.
Well, I actually made many many mistakes in 2023, which is kind of funny, because I had many years of experience by that point. 🤣 But yes, one of many of my mistakes was the soil I used. I tried making my own mix from several different components (I was hoping to get an organic soil mix started with components I could buy near me). All were too thick like mulchy...rather than fine like seed starting mix. That was one of many mistakes. It was also soil that probably had very little nutrients if any at all. I did a bad job all around in 2023. I have a video where you can see exactly what I did, which will show you the bad soil mix I created: ruclips.net/video/ZDp4IbweB90/видео.html
And the funny thing is, in that video I mention the soil is fine, but once I pot it up, you'll see it's not as fine as the first handful looked.
I now prefer to use seed starting mix for indoor plants (the little bags you find at lowe's) or happy frog soil from fox farm (not sponsored by anyone, though), and I use the fox farm organic liquid food in spring after the seedlings start to germinate and grow. I think it's called Big Bloom. Here's a video where I talk about that: ruclips.net/video/nycCah-hPsk/видео.html
Unfortunately, I've already tried growing things from soil around my property in pots and it doesn't work out well for whatever reason. I might could do that if I had a large enough compost pile, but my pile never gets quite large enough for potting up all my seedlings.
@@awildapproach I am trying organic garden soil from the local store and some playground sand this time. I have the same issue with my compost pile. It's small and I am also quire sure it is just full of seeds I do not want germinating with my intentionally planted seedlings. Which is something you kinds mentioned in the video just not from the compost. Well, fingers crossed we get something right this year!
@ Exactly! Compost is tricky, especially on a small property. I feel like if I lived on a farm, or even a 3 acre property, a compost pile would be so easy to nurture over the years. :) Maybe some day...
I find jugs better method for smaller amount of seeds. I have only 4 plants this year and I re use the jugs (I use large water bottles. They last forever. I don't think we have even milk jugs in Canada). I don't prepare them every year. In my climate it also makes it faster so that I am able to plant the seedlings in the garden before the summer heat. I have also very energetic dog that loves stealing the containers :) It is impossible to leave anything small on the ground level in my garden. If I had hundred of plants (and no dog) I would definitely use pots.
Could be your bottles are sturdier. Here our milk jugs fall apart after a year or maybe slightly longer. But that could also be because of my hot and very sunny microclimate with concrete all around me. Everyone should do what works best for them. Anything I mention is just stuff I wish someone told me. What works for one person may not be the best for the next. Main thing is to experiment, try multiple methods, until you find your favorite. I finally found my favorite one. :) Thanks for watching and happy gardening!!
What marker do you use that doesn't fade ?
Great question! I don't use marker, because, yes, they fade so fast in this intense sun I have. So I use pencil on my plant tags. I use cut up window blinds (the old plastic ones) as plant tags and write the names in pencil. Pencil stays much longer than marker, and I've had great results so far. Plus, I found a use for a set of old blinds I hated! LOL :)
What about damping off?
I can't remember if I mentioned this in the video or the other video about my seedlings, but I did wash my pots before I planted in them.
I've read it's also best to use fresh soil, too, to prevent damping off, but I've had great results reusing old soil, as long as I do so outdoors.
Indoors it's a little more tricky, so I use seed starting mix indoors and typically brand new seed starting mix.
Why use pots or jugs? Native plants will stratify and grow on your soil directly. Just protect with w cloche for birds or critters. Unless you are growing a very large number, I don’t see the point of doing any of this for native plants.
That is definitely an option, but when I do it, sometimes it works out pretty well, and sometimes nothing comings up at all. It's definitely something I'd like to get better at...a friend mentioned trying it directly on the ground, but protecting with straw, and maybe that would help me. :)
I forgot to mention: another reason I don't like to sow the seeds directly on the ground is the weeds here are insane. I get cold season and warm season weeds that grow extremely quickly, and they typically take over way before the native seeds can even germinate. I've even tried weeding, and I still fail. XD
No more milk jugs for me, thank you!!!
I'm glad you found it helpful! :) Happy winter sowing!
Good content, but two minor things that drive me bonkers: You use "you know" a lot, and you repeat some information over and over. Otherwise--enjoyable 💃
Thanks for watching and for the feedback! I admit, this is one of my videos I did not script, hence it's more on the fly! :D I will make a note.