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Opening up the Winter Sowing jugs, it feels like Christmas opening up all the mini greenhouses and seeing what has grown. Come and see my winter sowing results!
Did you Winter Sow this year? If so, please share with us what you grew and how it worked out for you! I have had success every year with this process. It is always fun to experiment, and to see them many possibilities, for growing things using this method!
Be sure to read all the way to the bottom, and grab my free printable that is a Winter Sowing Schedule for Garden Zone 8b!
Seed Starting 101: Winter Sowing
How to Grow Lavender from Seed using the Winter Sowing Method
Seed Starting 101: Essential Seed Starting Equipment
How to Make Money Growing Plants at Home
When to Start Seeds in Garden Zone 8b
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My Winter Sowing Results:
This year I grew a wide variety of things using the winter sowing method. Most often I just sow my annuals, but you can also grow perennials and your cold tolerant food crops. Have a gander at my Winter Sowing Results this year!
Winter Sowing Flowers: Snap Dragons and Zinnias
The row on the left is snapdragons, the row on the right is zinnias.
You can grow so many types of flowers using Winter Sowing! I grew three varieties of Snap Dragon this year: Black Prince, Tall Deluxe Mix and Apple Blossoms. I grew five varieties of Zinnia: State Fair, Benary's Giant Purple, Red Scarlet, Lilliput Mix and California Giant.
This year I want to add more flowers to my vegetable garden to give it more of a potager's garden feel. Can't wait to see these all in bloom!
Winter Sowing Flowers: Marigolds
Marigolds for the vegetable garden.
I always grow some marigolds for the vegetable garden, and now collect my own seed from them every year to plant next years flowers from. I grow three varieties every year and they are Star Fire Signet, Court Jester and Giant Mix.
These are wonderful for the vegetable garden because they keep pests away. They also happily reseed there on their own, so I will probably find some volunteer's as well.
Winter Sowing Flowers: Phlox
Phlox is my favorite, and I grew 3 varieties this year, Cherry Caramel, Cecily Mix and Sugar Stars.
Phlox is one of my very favorite flowers. I love all the varieties it comes in and the scent is awesome. This year I used up some seed I had bought last year, and grew three varieties: Cherry Caramel, Sugar Stars and Cecily Mix. The Cherry Caramel is probably my favorite variety, so pretty with it's cream petals and cherry center!
Winter Sowing Flowers: Calendula
These 3 jugs are Calendula.
I have not grown Calendula before, so am excited to have some this year. I am a sucker for any flower that resembles a daisy. The jug on the left is a calendula mix that I got from my friend Paula of Gapey's Grub.
The two jugs on the right are Ball's Improved Orange. I am excited to try and make calendula tea with these and will be looking for more varieties this year.
Winter Sowing Hosta's
Most excited about these jugs that I sprinkled with seed from my own hostas! Wasn't sure if this would work, but it did!!!
What I am most excited about are these HOSTA's!!!! I found a bin of hosta flowers I had cut back last year, that I left on my porch all winter. They were all dried up, and when I picked it up recently to clean it up, a bunch of seed fell out.
So I threw a bunch of seed into 5 of my winter sowing jugs, just to see if it would work, and it did!!! I have really tiny baby hosta plant's starting to grow!
The only problem is, I have numerous kinds of hosta's, and the seed got all mixed up, so I will have to wait and see what I've got. I'm hoping for a good variety!
Tiny itty bitty hosta seedlings!
Winter Sowing Vegetables
Well it's April 2020 now, and this is the year I remembered to take photo's of the vegetable starts I grew using winter sowing. I started seed for Kale, Broccoli and Cauliflower this year, and they did just fantastic!
These are my Waltham broccoli starts, right after I flipped open the lid.
I grew 3 varieties of Kale, one jug each of Nero di Tuscano, Dazzling Blue and Red Scarlet.
I definitely need to get these planted out asap, and I will probably sell some of the extras. See how I sell my extra veggie starts every year in my article How I Make Money Selling Plant Starts.
Winter Sowing Seed Schedule Printable
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Winter Sowing Results Wrap Up
I hope you enjoyed seeing these winter sowing results. It is always inspiring to see all the different things that people grew from seed using this method.
I would love to hear from you if you use the Winter Sowing method and hear what you grew this year! If you haven't used this seed starting method yet, I hope you have been inspired to perhaps try it next year!
Don't forget to start saving those milk jugs around the holidays so you will have plenty on hand when you are ready to start winter sowing.
If you need tips on what to grow when, or the how to on sowing seeds using this method, don't forget to check out my Seed Starting 101: Winter Sowing article.
Also, check out my post on Essential Seed Starting Equipment, to see what I use and how I use it, to start seeds indoors in the traditional way. And lastly, my article on When to Start Seed Starting Guide for Garden Zone 8b article might come in useful too!
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Paula Thomas
Nice! Looks like everything did pretty well! I haven't tried this method but there's a gal I follow on youtube that planted a whole bunch of stuff like this. I haven't seen a results post from her on it yet though.
Tamara
Hi Paula! You will have to try it and post a video!!! Your video's are always gorgeous! 🙂
AnnMarie Lewellyn
Yeah! You did it! What a wonderful idea also about putting clear tape over your labels so the ink doesn't get ruined! Genius! For anyone who doesn't have a greenhouse, this is perfect! Thanks for sharing such an informative and interesting idea!
Tamara
Thank you Annie!!!
Jacqueline L Laraway
Have you posted any pics of how they looked after transplanting? Since you used this method, any problems with the plants going into shock or otherwise not doing well? Thanks, I am trying this method right now.
Tamara
Hi Jacqueline, No, I'm afraid I don't have any photos of things after being transplanted, but no, I have never experienced them going into shock as they are easy to harden off just by opening the lid and letting them sit in the sunshine that way for about a week or so and then I always try to transplant things on a grey overcast day with mild temps, ideally with a few similar days following. I would not suggest transplanting things on a hot sunny day as that can cause them to go into shock. Hope that helps!
Dianne Hadorn
You were busy with all that! It turned out great and love the idea of the clear tape.
laura elersich
Hi Tamara
I started my seeds in flex I plugs and my tomatoes are getting their second true leaves should I put them in biodegradable pots now and keep them in those until time to plant outdoors?
Thanks for your input
LauraElersich
Tamara
Hi Laura, yes, if you plants have their 2nd set of true leaves, it is the right time to transplant them. I prefer to transplant into plastic pots or even Solo cups, as they retain the moisture better in my opinion. So if you are using biodegradable pots, be sure you don't let the baby plants dry out! Don't forget to harden them off before you move them outside! Happy planting!
Karen Rispoli
Do you plant right into the ground ?
How do you divide them?
Any pictures?
Tamara
Hi Karen! Thanks for visiting! It depends on what I have grown, but typically, each winter sown jug will have anywhere from 6-15 plants that have germinated from the seed sown. I will divide them all up into individual plants, by tearing each plant individually. Just grab each plant base with one hand, while holding on to the the larger clump of plants with the other hand. Than plant each individual plant into the ground. I will try to do a post on this very topic in the spring when it is time to plant the first round of winter sown plants. I hope that helps a bit!
Charlene
How early do you put these outside?
Tamara
Hi Charlene! It depends on what you are planting, and what garden zone you are in. I am in garden zone 8b, and share what I plant when, in this article https://thereidhomestead.com/seed-starting-101-winter-sowing/ Hope that helps!
Kristina
Tried this for the first time this year (with onions, so far), and wondering how long it will take for seeds to germinate? I'm in zone 8b also but it's been quite cold here this month.
Thanks!
Tamara
Hi Kristina! The seeds will germinate at different times, depending on your weather, and yes extra cold temperatures may have effected their germination. Also, onion seed is known for not keeping a high germination rate when it is saved from year to year. So I don't know if you bought fresh seed or used older seed, but that could also be a problem. Onion seed is one seed that I absolutely by fresh every year because the germination rate declines so rapidly with it. Hope that helps!