How to Winter Sow Seeds in Jugs

Hey all! Today we’re covering how to winter sow seeds in jugs. Well—you can use other stuff like takeout containers with clear plastic lids or clear plastic clam shell salad containers. But I’m using old mild jugs for mine because we always have them.

Winter sowing seeds is a great way to efficiently start seeds without needing to buy a lot of supplies. No grow lights, no special seed starting mixes, no seedling heat mats…just an old jug, some soil, and some tape. So let’s walk through the process.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Clear jug cut in half; you could also use a plastic takeout container with a clear lid or a clamshell-style plastic salad greens container
• Scissors and knife
• Well-draining soil
• Seeds
• Packing tape

Step 1: Cut jug in half & cut drainage holes

First cut your jug in half and throw away the lid. After cutting the jug in half, use a sharp object of some sort to puncture a bunch of holes in the bottom. These will be the drainage holes and will prevent excess water from sitting in the bottom of the jug.

Step 2: Add soil & seeds

Next add some fresh well-draining soil. I put in just a few inches. Then I sprinkle my seeds onto the soil. I am growing dill seeds in this jug and had great luck growing dill seeds last year.

Since you’ll be putting these jugs outside over the winter, winter sowing seeds is also a great option for seeds that need to be cold stratified. That is, seeds that need a period of cold in order to germinate like milkweed and lavender.

After sprinkling the seeds, cover the seeds with about a half inch of soil. Pack it down lightly and water if the soil isn’t already moist.

Step 3: Tape shut

Use packing tape to tape the top of the jug back on. Make sure you remove and throw away the lid, too! The top of the jug will protect the seedlings from frost while still letting light in, while the small opening at the top will let in water and air.

Step 4: Put outside

Once you tape the two pieces of the jug back together, set the jug outside in a sunny spot. Don’t put it on a covered porch—you want to make sure any precipitation can get inside of the jug to water the seeds! Below shows a few of my jugs in the middle of a February snow storm.

Nothing had sprouted yet for these seedlings. I had dill, parsley, lavender, and milkweed in these. And I just let mother nature do her thing all winter!

Step 5: Monitor for sprouts & air out

Once the temperatures started to rise into the 60s during the day, I noticed sprouts. After the sprouts, that means it’s time to start airing things out. On sunny days, you can remove the top of the jug and expose the seedlings to more light and air.

This prevents the need to harden the seeds off as you normally would have to do if you were growing them indoors or in a greenhouse. Make sure to put the lid back on at night if there’s still a danger of frost.

And then when they get big enough and it’s warm enough, you can transplant them into their own pots and let them grow or plant them around the garden! I put a bunch of my dill throughout my raised beds since letting dill flower is an excellent pest management best practice. It attracts lots of good bugs. And that’s it!

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