Winter Sowing: A CHEAP and EASY way to start seeds... OUTSIDE!
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 30 июн 2024
- We typically start our vegetable seedlings in our unfinished basement, but what if you can’t afford grow lights, and none of your windows have enough sunlight? Or what if you don’t have that kind of space? Or don’t have the time to make paper pots? Maybe you always forget to water them, or find the hardening-off process stressful. Well if any of those situations sound familiar, then alternatively, you could just go ahead and start some of them outside, even in the snow.
Table of Contents:
Intro - 0:00
What is Winter Sowing? - 1:17
How to Winter Sow - 2:17
Benefits - 5:29
When to Winter Sow - 6:06
Other RUclipsrs on Winter Sowing:
Please check them out, and tell them we sent you :)
Growit Buildit: • How to Winter Sow Seed...
Little Garden on the Prairies: • Winter Sowing
Esther's Gardening Adventures: • Winter sowing 101, int...
I have been winter sowing for the past three years with very good success. I’ll be honest. I’m truly in love with this method! I just want you to know that you can plant more than cold hardy vegetables, herbs and flowers. You can grow just about anything and everything with this method. I have had great success growing peppers, eggplants, tomatoes, pumpkins, sunflowers, etc. I think you can see my point. Warm climate plants love to be winter down too.
“Winter sown”
Good to know, do you do anything different for the heat loving plants? This will be my first year trying winter sowing, I was nervous about trying corn and okra with winter sowing. (I am growing in the Canadian Prairies)
Interesting experiment. 🌞🌱❤️. We are in zone 7 and we sow some greens seed in the late Fall then add old compost and a wood chip mix about 5” deep to over winter. Our greens come up when they are ready and can even take a few hours of topical frost before busting into a Spring growth spurt. However our best effort to keep our rows straight get interrupted by ground dwelling rodents. 🤨 Last year we experimented with cut cropping plants like tomatoes and peppers leaving the roots and the thick stem at a 45 degree cut and adding old compost and wood chip mix on top. Waiting for those results. We tried this with early strawberries and never had to cut back old year spent runners. New Spring growth just popped through the bunch while using old growth for compost. Good luck. 🌱
Great idea! My only suggestion is that you could put a cane through the pot & bottle to anchor smaller pots to the ground so they don’t get blown away. You could put your seeds in the fridge first to cold stratify.👍🏻💪🤠💗
Great video. I'm trying winter sowing this year on a small scale but in a little bit different style. I put some swiss chard seeds directly into one of my planters and covered them with a tupperware type container. My first year trying it as well, we'll see how it goes!
Here in Finland many gardeners winter sow straight to the garden beds, i heard that fir example carrots are easy to grow this way and you get a super early harvest. I haven't yet tried it myself and i wonder how the seedlings handle temperatures going up and down in the spring 🤔. Great video, it's so nice to see gardening videos from colder climates, thanks!
I started lavender indoors without any cold stratification, and they came up well, so you're probably fine. I used winter sowing for most of my medicinal herbs this year, things like chamomile and feverfew, mugwort, angelica, marshmallow, calendula, skullcap, anise hyssop, echinacea, etc. Everything has germinated wonderfully, and they are growing on well. I will use this method every year, and am thinking of expanding it to vegetables next growing season.
Thanks for the shout out! I love using this method. Waiting patiently for spring weather to arrive here on the Prairies! Happy Gardening 🌱
You’re very welcome! We’ve learned quite a bit from watching your videos. So thank you! 🙂
Make more videos, I don't see you often enough! Love your work!
Delighted to see you are still making great videos....I remember when you were living in the van! I pop on occassionally and it is happymaking to just hear your voice!
Have you tried Not poking holes in them and leaving the lids on?
Wait, What?
I have not tried thin myself but remember being told about the great botanical collectors in the UK back in the Victorian era.
They had seedlings and cuttings they needed to transport across the globe with sailing ships. Regularly they would send off samples only for the em to be received in England as mush!
Eventually one tried making a vivarium of Glass. He planted his samples in, watered them well ..... and Sealed it up with lead flashing (like church windows! The result worked .... except th ones that occasionally got a pane of glass broken en-route and eather dried out or got watered to mush and mould.
It looks like you are trying to do the same thing they were, so my suggestion is to seal 'em up tight and see how they go. The ultimate in a closed ecology, if you will!
I love the way you end with the birds--how fitting!
Alternate: Plant them in the ground and put a cover (the bottle with the bottom cut off) over them.
This is such a game changer... thanks from Grey County!
Curious how this might compare with a “cold frame”. Feels like it’s a similar concept, but may not need the transplant step. I’ve never done either, but excited to see the results! Love your channel
You can put wintersowing containers inside of a cold frame, or even put them beneath a clear plastic tote, under a low tunnel, inside a greenhouse...
Every layer of glazing is said to raise the temperature by roughly one growing zone.
Tried this a few times and I do love it for cool season veg and herbs. One thing I will add is Label!! You will forget what is what especially is you sowed multiple types of brassicas.
REALLY good point! We did label the jugs, but didn’t include that part in the video. I’ll have to add it in the followup. Thanks!
What I have had some success with is placing the containers on top of branches to aid with drainage, and air flow from the bottom.
Nice, as usual. I had known about this method but I've never used it. The only thing I have to mention is that at least with parsley and basil (ask me how I know it) if you plant too many seeds and leave them there to grow, then they won't be the plants they would if they were sown separately. I mean, I tried sowing the contentes of a pack of seeds in two pots and, well, yes, they grew, but it's almost like grass rather than a full grown plant (as the ones in another two pots where only one was left to grow).
All in all, there will be competition among them for the resources so they will require to be transplanted as soon as possible in order for them to properly grow.
Thank you for the video.
I was just missing you. Hoping a new video would come out and here you are.
I hope you will compare them to regular indoor grown plants until harvest, so we will know if they need the same amount of time and grow to the same size. But from watching all of your other videos, I guess that's what you've planned anyways 😄
I'm interested in what the results will be!
Thanks for the new video!
So good to hear from you. Another great video, giving me some inspiration here in a still snowbound Saskatchewan
Loved the hidden joke in the CC!
I was thinking of starting my peas in toilet paper tubes. Now I'm thinking I'll try it and stick each into a bottle prepared like you showed!! The cardboard will decompose when transplanted. Lucky for me, I've got a chicken coop filled with deep litter method droppings over the last 5 months so when it's finally dry enough for the gang to get outside and prepare my garden with their mad foraging skills 😂
I have used toilet paper tubes for several years. I put them in home made mini green houses made from cut in half jugs. Top comes off to regulate heat and moisture. My seeds sprout almost over night. By the time they outgrow their green house they are ready to harden off outside and then transplant without disturbing the roots in their toilet paper tube .
Peas are incredibly cold hardy. I grew them as microgreens, harvested twice, and because they were still growing, I potted them outside. It was a thick mat of very crowded peas, and not all survived, they self-thinned later. But they survived 3 hard freezing nights in a row (-3 to -6C) in April, with no sign of damage. Dwarf grey peas.
The seeds need warmer temps to germinate than the seedling to survive/thrive. So, last experiment was mid April, now I'm planning it for end of March, see what happens.
@@Mary-uz2tz That's EXACTLY my idea!!!👍 Thanks for letting my know it works!!! I have a green house outside so I'll put the tubes into jugs and stick then in the green house until mid Apr and then I'll put them outside when this nasty mud finally dries a bit, and then transplant in May!!
I tried this method years ago and it worked
I'm too lazy for all that :) I just sow my regular flower pots and give them a plastic transparent "hat" made of whatever I buy at the grocery store that comes in a bag (apples, bread, etc.). I tried those pretty cloches from Dollarama, but the first rabid wind made them disappear.. For the big planters I use big transparent recycling bags (or utility bags? - they're pretty thin) from Canadian Tire. And both the leaf lettuce and the mustard greens were stronger than in the years I planted them in May - this time I harvested in May!
I have these champion Dwarf Grey peas I bought for sprouting - this year I plan to sprout them indoors and transplant them outdoors with and without protection, see what happens!
I really love wintersowing, this is my second year. I wintersow herbs and flowers with great success!
Totally give you a "10"!! Thank you sooo much for all of your discipline!!! In creating an awesome channel!! Thank you!!
Very cool!!
Nice video as always!
Thank you! I'm tired of babysitting seedlings and electric costs.
i will definitely try this out
Always enjoy it when there‘s a new video from you guys. I tried winter sowing for the first time this year, seeds germinated well. My only beef with the method is that one still has to do all the pricking/planting out. A Swedish woman, Sara Backmo on youtube, has videos where she winter sows directy in the beds instead of containers which eliminates the later fiddly work. And I don‘t have all those containers anyway as we don‘t‘ buy that kind of stuff. So next year I‘m going to try her method.
I just tried this this year and I'm excited! I'm doing some flowers and a few perennial fruits/vegetables to see how it does. I didn't use a good soil medium, however I did add composes leaf mulch as a top dressing to keep water in a little better so I guess we'll see 🤷
Mom's trying it this year, too. I might have to as well because there are some fruits that I'm trying to grow from seed. Here's to hoping it works!
Thank you for video! I’m going to try this today. It’s cold and we had a light snow today. I was hopeful spring was here, but as usual…surprise!!! Zone 5b Pennsylvania.
I'll have to try this next year. Just one thought; hang on to the bottle caps; you may need to drill vent holes and put them back on to protect seedlings from slugs as spring really kicks in.
Trying it this year too, with "cool flowers" , including echinacea and rudbeckia.
Great video as always. I use winter sowing as well. Making holes in the top was new to me. Not sure why you would need them if the lid is open. Anyhow, good luck with your seedlings.
I was thinking why holes on top of the jugs too.
I found individual containers to be fussy to deal with.
I've moved toward using a clamshell made of translucent dish pans instead.
For tomatoes or potatoes white buckets have worked well.
Tomatoes yes, as I've had volunteer tomatoes before ( a sort of winter sowing, but with no protection) - but won't the potatoes freeze in the winter?
@@doinacampean9132
I found potatoes can overwinter under leaf mulch, but the wintersown potatoes were a February project, so they probably never frozen.
You videos provides a healthy dose of dopamine, ever time.
Respect from Africa 🇿🇦
Ps what's all that white stuff in your background?
Bwhahaha...
Please post more videos, please :)
I'm really excited to try this!
Thanks for this. Q: Would planing in pure compost work for winter sowing?
Technical question: Should the container lids be put back on or not. Your video shows without but it’d seem more sensible to put them on?
Love your creativity with growing! What part of Ontario are you? I’m in Prince Edward County.
Thanks! :)
We're just a couple hours north east of you, south of Ottawa!
@@BackToReality Nice! Former federal public servant here, so I know the area well.
Planting directly in the ground with the plastic over the top as a cloche allows the growing soil to maintain a better, more even temperature due to the buffering of the soil/earth/planet. Exposing a small amount of soil to temperature fluctuations above ground increases plant stress. And it’s just an unnecessary ticktock thing.
Come to think of it, it's as if you move your 72 cell seeding tray outside, with a bit of protection, say, inside a plastic bag! With the advantage that you won't have to separate the seedlings at transplant time! Too bad they don't make them deeper!
Now I'm thinking a toilet paper roll would be deep enough...
Have you ever tried to grow stone fruit trees from store bought fruit? Edible Acres style, with air pruning boxes? Or walnuts, hazelnuts, etc...
Please report back to us on this! I suspect you will still have fluctuations that will kill off many seedlings unless they are inside a second area of protection.. VERY little thermal mass in those "mini greenhouses". In my greenhouse, it took some serious building and coding to regulate temperature enough for reasonable plant comfort here ta 42 degrees North zone 5b In Hudson Valley NY. Cheers and good luck!
Sounds like I can still do this. It's going to be 40s by day and 20s by night.
Your plastic bottles can be heated and rolled into clear sheet. Now what possible uses could there be for clear, heat and pressure/vacuum formable plastic ?
I’m intrigued… please let me know what you’re thinking.
Hey, I can't imagine that it's worth the effort, but I'm curious to see an update video later on in the season :D
Have been doing this with perennials. Drainage in the bottom and leave the top off for watering. We taped the milk containers closed. The container cannot be the opaque type. We put five seeds per container. Germination rate is three or four per container. Older seed just does not do well with this method. The older seed needs a gentler hand.
I do believe the idea is less effort so...
What growing Zone are you located? 🌲🌲🌲
How did this method work out for you guys? Do you plan to make a follow up?
Know the method, did not try it, yet. Maybe this year is the year? Or it's already late in the season. Don't know! Frankie-Lou Nelligan is another canadian channel that does a lot of wintersowing, if you are interested ruclips.net/p/PLV5r-sYm3VWkbRD-j8xy8cP-dQkW1ixCz