Winter Sowing Seeds (The Gardening Season You Never Knew About)

[@YaelBenAri100]

I did this for the first time this year. Not only were flowers and cooler weather plants successfully sown. I also had success with both peppers and tomatoes. Zone 8b. Pacific Northwest.

[@bosquebear1]

You can mix in some annuals the first year such as zinnias and marigolds (the seeds can just be sown into the spaces between the perinnials the first year) to give color and pollinator food while the perinnials are getting established. After punching a hole in the milk jug you can then insert a pair of sissors and cut the jug instead of the scary box cutter. After the plants start reaching the top and the weather is getting warmer, you can open the clam shell and then cut the top off until you transplant. Be sure to watch the water as the plants grow, they will need more. You made a great video which I shared with my online gardening group... these are not critisisms, just suggestions.

[@geekygreenhouse]

Those are great suggestions! I definitely agree that scissors would be a smarter choice, one slip with the box cutter and you've got a problem. Thanks for sharing the video :)

[@MichelleMonstera]

Great thorough video! Love that you have footage from throughout the seasons so that we can see the progress of the plants!!

[@bosquebear1]

East side of the foundation of your house is perfect. Morning sun, afternoon shade. They will warm up in the mornings and thaw and then freeze at night. Stratification success.

[@PreatorRaszagal]

Ah, that nice winter beard! 👍Haha when you came "running" with the wheelbarrow it looked like the ending of a Benny Hill episode 😄It looks awesome already, and it must be great for the peppers and tomatoes etc you are grown with the addition of more pollinators! Hope there'll be a follow up next year so we can "witness the growingpower of this fully flowering and operational meadow!" 🤓

[@nikmohamed5906]

👀👀 greetings from zone 5 (Toronto) Great video with straight to the point clear step by step direction ! I'm saving this for my future reference

[@northernmemaw4036]

This video is absolutely awesome! Thank you so very much😊

[@gregbluefinstudios4658]

I did my first batch of purple coneflower over winter! Looks amazing

[@PowderhornWild]

Great video. Really great to see more native plants being planted. I highly recommend goldenrod (showy goldenrod is a well-behaved garden plant) and pearly everlasting. They're both pollinator powerhouses in our yard. By the way, the reason that partridge pea bloomed the first year is because it only lives for one year ;) It's an annual, but it self-seeds easily.

[@williamdahm8930]

Thank you for this great video, and thank you for the showy goldenrod plug. I'm trying both winter sowing and native gardening for the first time this year and picked showy goldenrod after my research, still not certain about agressiveness. So, I'm glad I picked the right goldenrod.

[@bethyoung3654]

Very helpful video! Thank you!

[@geekygreenhouse]

Glad it was helpful!

[@eastcoast4233]

One of the main failures of winter sowing is to leave all the plants to open them up at the same time. You would never do this with seedlings in propegators - each plant and variety grows at a different rate. So many sown plants are left in too long and get really stressed or even start to die off. Close monitoring once germinated is necessary regardless of all the KZbinrs suggesting it’s sow and forget for months on end.

[@gardenaddict]

Gave this a go today 😁 thanks for the tip 🌺🌼🌱🤗

[@carolburnett8372]

I planted my seeds in jugs now almost 2 weeks ago and I noticed now for the last few days that lots of mine are molding........what can I do to save the seeds........usually the ground inside molds and usually there are 4 kinds of seeds in each jug.......and only 1-2 varieties have sprouted and around the base of those seedlings is a little white cloud of mold............what should I do........help please ???

[@hotrodmom86]

This is one of the best winter sowing process videos. Thanks and happy gardening!🎉

[@geekygreenhouse]

So nice of you, thanks! Happy gardening

[@hmartin751]

So do I do this when the package says sow in late fall? Such as self heal seeds

[@geekygreenhouse]

Yes, if it says to plant in fall then it's a good candidate for winter sowing

[@hmartin751]

@@geekygreenhouse I guess I am just getting confused between the words fall and winter.2 different seasons

[@WIED66]

I need squirrel repellant. :(

[@nikmohamed5906]

in my experience, the surest way to squirrel proof is creating a chicken wire cage.

[@MissSandraK]

I buy large quantities of cayenne powder and spread it around my veggies and Hastas. They do not like it. I used it in bird seed too. It doesn’t hurt the birds but will make the squirrels uncomfortable and sneeze!

[@nadyabryant7660]

What did you do to prepare the area? I’m thinking cut the grass very low & then putting tarp for a month.

[@geekygreenhouse]

We had a deep-rooted grass (zoysia), so we had to remove the top layer to get the roots out. Shallow rooted grasses are easier, your method should work.

[@lissarice1876]

When can you transplant to pots?

[@dustyflats3832]

You are Z6a I’m in 5a and last year it was too warm and raining in January and even warmer this year minus a subzero week. My concern is many failed last year and believe they sprouted too soon in artificial environment and we then turned cold longer than the jug cold protect. I’m thinking we will need to wait closer to do a ‘spring sowing’ as we normally should be in 20s and through the middle of February we will still be 40s-50s. Cold weather plants can be quite resilient if they have a good rooting like poppies in fall. Edit: 😂😂I commented too soon. You said what I was thinking! Place them in a shady area!! I did have them in full sun last year! Still concerned though as it is Way warmer than last year. I will give it a go! Thank you!!

[@geekygreenhouse]

Yup, I waited a while into January before planting in 2023. It's all about that overnight temperature! Ideal to plant during the coldest point

[@dustyflats3832]

@@geekygreenhouse that’s just it and this weather is just too warm and I know it will turn cold again. This isn’t normal WI weather. Temps heated up since Halloween, cooled a bit in January with one subzero week and about face again to so warm that some nights didn’t get down to freezing. After rain this Thursday we will cool down starting Saturday forward and hope it behaves. Really want WS to work for many reasons, but don’t want to waste seeds. One Huge reason is fungus gnats in potting soil and nothing gets rid of them. I need to sterilize the soil for indoor plantings-never use to have to do that. I have searched to try to confirm my suspicions of what went wrong last year and you are the only one that has confirmed it-Thank You!

[@carolyncumming4277]

Excellent. More detail than any other I've seen. Thanks

[@regatta2k]

Excellent as always