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How to Winter Sow Seeds Outdoors

Square Foot Gardening List - http://myweb.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html


          It really is very easy to do. 

          First, let me give you a little background as to why I sowed
the seeds during the Winter. I live in a very small
          house, a cottage actually and I simply do not have room for a
light set up, also any window space I have must
          be fought from the cat and "Prinny" likes to look out on the
street and watch the world go by, so I have to
          give her a windowsill. She's a good cat and deserves her place
in the sun. 

          I got hooked on seed trading, and as you all know seed trading
is like Pokeman......you gotta have 'em all. I
          had tons of seeds, I had them all. Though I am not a novice at
gardening I am a novice at growing seeds, this
          was my second season doing so. Because of my lack of
experience with growing seeds, and not having a light
          set up, I always traded for "easy to grow" seeds: I had to
start them in the windowsill or out on the patio in
          flats during Spring and Summer which I did the previous year
with good success too. 

          I was thinking a lot last Winter about how I was going to
start all these seeds, I needed an easy way out. I
          knew that many seeds needed to be pre-chilled, and I knew that
many plants will reseed outdoors without
          our intervention. I thought about this for a few days and put
2+2 together. I would so them into flats, and
          take them outside for the Winter, if all went well then they
would germinate in Spring. 

          I am a true believer in "recycle and reuse". I had been saving
my take-out containers from the Chinese
          restaurant (not those typical white boxes that have a metal
handle and white rice inside), I was saving the
          foil pans that have a separate clear plastic lid, they're
usually round or rectangular. These containers were
          just perfect......plus I didn't have to go to a store and open
up my wallet (hmm, look at all the moths fly out),
          if I can get away without having to lay down a buck I will. I
did need soil though and so I went to Walmart
          and got their brand which is the cheapest I could find. 

          Seed selection: 

          Take a look at a seed catalogue, most will have some sort of
notation about a seed's germination
          requirements, or you'll pick up a few clue-in phrases. Look
for these terms: 

          Needs prechilling (freeze seeds, refridegerate seeds, stratify
for x amount of days or weeks) 
          Needs Stratification 
          Will Colonize 
          Self Sows 
          Sow outdoors in Early Autumn 
          Sow outdoors in early Spring while nights are still cool 
          Hardy Seeds 
          Seedlings can withstand frost 
          Can be direct sown early 

          Look for names that might indicate an origin in a temperate
climate: 

          Siberian 
          Chinensis 
          Polar 
          Alpine 
          Orientale 
          Canadensis 
          Russ (or varient indicating Russian origin) 
          etc 

          Think about your own garden, and your neighbors' gardens too.
Do you find plants that have volunteered
          each Spring and shown up as seedlings that you didn't sow?
These are very good choices. (let's say that your
          orange marigolds have returned in Spring as volunteer
seedlings.......you can then be pretty well assured that
          gold, or lemon, or African or French varieties will also
reseed for you too, when it comes down to it a
          marigold is a marigold is a marigold). 

          I like Park's Seed Catalogue, it has a great germination table
right in the middle of the catalogue. They have a
          numbered guide indicating the best germination requirements
for seeds. I took a yellow highlighter and went
          down that numbered list and highlighted all the numbers that
would be appropriate for Winter Sowing, then
          I carefully went through there list of seeds and highlighted
the varieties that corresponded to the correct
          numbers. This is how I chose which varieties I would Winter
Sow. A lot of catalogues, not just Parks, will have
          a germination table, or some sort of info like that, look at
them, study them, and learn. 

          To make a flat you take the foil container (of course it's
clean, washed in hot soapy water) and a paring
          knife. Stab a few slits in the bottom of the pan, this is for
drainage. Now fill the pan with soil to about a half
          inch from the top. Give it a real good drink and let it drain.
I do this in my kitchen. (I have a sprayer on a
          hose at the sink and I use this for the watering, works well
and doesn't gouge out holes in the soil.). After
          the pan has drained sow your seeds and pat them down. Cover
them with more soil to the correct depth if
          neccesary. I like growing plants with tiny tiny seeds, they're
really just the very most easiest sow. Sprinkle
          them on top of the soil, pat them down, and that's that. 

          Now you need to put the lid on BUT.........and this is the
very most important step.......take the knife and
          poke several slits in the clear plastic lid. This is for air
transpiration. Think about it, you're making a little
          mini greenhouse. If you don't vent the air that is heated by
the sun then you'll cook your flat and the seeds
          won't germinate. You've baked them to death. Okay, put the lid
on secure by folding down the foil rim. Now
          the seeds are sown. 

          Uh oh.......back it up, I fogot a step that you may wish to
use, labelling. I didn't label mine as I like suprises,
          but this concept may pop the heads of gardeners who enjoy
having everything "just so". Get some freezer
          tape, or any tape that you know will work well after being
frozen. Pull off a six inch piece and write on it
          with a laundry marker (or a sharpie) the variety name. Stick
it to the outside bottom of the flat. You can do
          this before or after sowing, if you do it after make sure you
wipe the bottom of the flat well, freezer tape
          doesn't really adhere as good as you'd like to a damp surface.
The label is on the outside bottom of the flat
          because the sun can't bleach it down there. I haven't yet
found a marker that won't bleach out in my strong
          Long Island sun. 

          Alright, the flat is now sown and covered (with little slits
in the top, yes? don't forget!!). Now take it outside
          to somewhere it will be safe for the Winter. I put them on a
picnic table top away from my curious puppy. I
          learned my lesson, I lost a flat of daylilies, the first I
sowed this way, because I put them on the ground under
          a bush and the puppy found them and thought the flat was a toy
and promptly killed it by shaking it to
          death. After that all the flats went up on the table out of
her reach. Sad loss, but an excellent lesson. 

          Now you just wait it out. When the weather warms the flats
will freeze and thaw repeatedly as Winter gives
          way to Spring. This action of freezing and thawing out helps
loosen the seed coat (you'll often see the term
          "nick or file seeds prior to sowing" in germination databases:
this is to duplicate Mother Nature's work, now
          you don't have to do that anymore). 

          Amazingly, just when Winter is about to break, and you're
still getting nightly freezes, the first of your flats
          will begin to germinate. When I saw this I thought that the
seedlings were gonners, but they thrived. I guess
          the seeds know when it's okay. Now is the time to check the
moisture in the flats, on an above freezing day
          open them up and if they look like they need a drink give them
one. The excess water will drain away. Don't
          forget to replace the lids tightly. 

          As your seedling grow start widening the slits in the covers,
once a week or so make the slits a little bit
          bigger, eventually you'll have more open areas than covered
and you'll be able to transplant the seedling
          into the garden because they are completely hardened off. I
have put in seedlings that barely had their first
          set of true leaves and they thrived in the ground. 

          After transplant care is typically the same as for indoor sown
seedlings, they need a drink, just a little bit of
          food (10% strength after their first week in the ground, then
increase slowly as the season progresses. After
          about eight weeks and a few feedings your seedlings will be
able to take a full strength feeding. 

          Alternate seed flats: 

          I have used plastic milk jugs and 2 litre soda bottles too,
just cut around the middle almost all the way
          through. Make the drainage slits. Fill with dirt, water,
drain, sow, cover with more dirt (the same precedure
          as above). Tape the cut edges together and simply remove the
cap for air transpiration. 

          Cardboard orange juice or milk containers can be used with a
baggie too. Cut them in half, horizontally or
          vertically, make the drainage slits and sow your seeds by the
same method above. Slip the flat into a baggie,
          tie it closed with a twist tie or a knot and use the knife to
make a few slits for air transpiration. put a few
          slits in the baggie at the bottom too (drainage). 

          Coolwhip tubs: Make the drainage slits, sow your seeds as
above. Take a scissors and cut out the center of
          the lid, leaving about an inch around the inside of the rim.
Put a piece of saran wrap over the tub, put on the
          lid. This holds the saran wrap "window" snuggly. Take the
knife and make some slits in the saran wrap for
          air transporation. 

          +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 

          So that's how to do it, if I remember something that I have
forgotten I'll post an addendum, but I think I have
          it all covered. The major principles of outdoor Winter Sowing
are selecting the appropriate seeds, and
          providing adequate drainage and adequate air transpiration. Do
all these and you'll have a success. 

          Did all my flats germinate? NO! I had about eighty or so of
these made and I had eight not germinate. Was it
          the seeds? was it the method? was it me? I don't know. But I
did have around seventy flats that did
          germinate. Outside! 

          I forgot to mention that I also used four kiddie pools too.
These were used the summer before as container
          gardens (lots of soil, lots of big slits for drainage). I
simply direct sowed these, and didn't cover them. They
          got snowed on, the snow melted, it rained while the base of
the kiddie pools were still frozen and the rain
          didn't drain. They all were frozen with ice at least an inch
thick.......aarrgghh, panic Panic PANIC....I couldn't
          do anything about it. The warmer weather came, the pools
thawed and drained, and the seeds came up!
          YEAH! 

          That's it. As you see it's not hard to do at all and I sowed
these flats at my leisure throughout the Winter.
          Everyone talks about going bonkers in January and February
because they can't get out and do any
          meaningful gardening, and there are only only a few varieties
of seeds can be succesfully sown this early
          indoors....frustration and gardening fever sets in. While all
the other gardeners were chomping at the bit I
          was being self indulgent and playing with dirt and mud and
seeds at my own lazy bones pace. 

          I took a leap of faith, I kept the faith, and I was rewarded.
I believe in this method, it works, it really works.
          Too much emphasis has been made on indoor sowing under lights.
It takes up time, it takes up space, white
          flies take to the air, damp-off kills your effort, your
seedlings, your spirit. Did I forget to mention that there
          was NO EVIL DAMP-OFF? The freezing action killed whatever
nasties that are in the soil that cause young
          innocent seedlings to perish so tragically, so sadly. And it
is sad, you take a lot of time and care, they're
          sometimes like children, it's really depressing when they
perish. 

          I encourage everyone to try this Winter Sowing method, if you
want to hold back some seeds the first time
          you try it that's great. Save some seeds to sow indoors of a
variety you have placed in a Winter flat, compare
          the differences in the seedlings, and then the plants when
they mature. Learn from what you observe. 

          Make your life and garden easy, let it flourish with flowers,
grasses, bushes, and trees you thought you
          couldn't even consider trying before now. 

          Good luck to you all! 

          Trudi Davidoff


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