You might have already seen the trend for winter seed sowing but have you tried it out? Or are you wondering how it works?
Here we will take a look at what it is and the benefits, as well as what I do and the experience I have had so far.
What is winter sowing?
It is a way to germinate seeds outdoors in mini greenhouses made from recycled containers and bottles. This mimics nature in a slightly controlled environment and works well for many of our cold climate native plants that we have in the past had to ‘cold stratify’ (provide a period of cold moist conditions, usually in the fridge, to break dormancy and to get to germinate)
Benefits of winter sowing
- Cost effective way of producing lots of plants
- Gives you something garden related to do in the winter
- It requires less resources than starting seeds inside where you would have to provide heat and light as well as space
- It’s an easy way of reproducing cold moist stratification
- There is no need to harden seedlings off and get them used to outdoor conditions
- You can start right now!
The details
It is usually recommended to use plastic milk jugs but as I do not buy these I had to find an alternative. I decided on using my usual trays and pots inside recycled salad or other plastic food containers as pictured here.
So far this has worked for me and I will be using the same method again.
I sow and label the seeds as I would for normal sowing then pack them into the clear containers closing the lids. Make sure your sowing medium is moist but not soaking. I then find a suitable place outside in the snow to leave them all winter. A north or east facing wall works well and after covering with snow I put my large compost sieve on top just so they don’t get crushed under the snow or accidentally walked on.
You can sow many native and other perennials, anything that usually self seeds or anything needing cold stratification. I have tried Rudbeckia ‘Sahara’, Verbena hastata, Echinacea pallida, Agastache, Aquilegia vulgaris, Baptisia australis and more.
After the snow starts melting in the spring I dig out the trays and move them to somewhere more convenient for keeping an eye on. I check on them often as I do not want them to dry out or bake in the sun once they germinate. If they are dry and need watering I just sprinkle some snow on the top of the soil and leave it to melt.
As soon as they are big enough I pot them on or plant out in the garden.
I have had good germination with most of the things I have sown except when I accidentally let some just germinated seeds dry out. Every year is a learning experience and I encourage you to research further and give it a go even if you only try one pot of something!
For more information you can check out these links on winter sowing
Ottawa Wildflower Seed Library https://wildflowerseedlibrary.ca/instructions/how-to-winter-sow-2/
Royal Botanic Gardens Canada https://www.rbg.ca/winter-sowing-part-one/
Hana Earth Gardens https://www.hanaearthgardens.ca/winter-sowing
Follow me on Instagram and Facebook for regular updates and progress as I sow my winter seeds before the end of the year. I would love to know if you try winter sowing yourself!
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Rosalind's Garden Blooms 