WINTER SOWING TRIAL & MINI GREENHOUSE TOUR
October 31 2020
I got an unheated mini greenhouse from Gardener’s Supply in late October 2020 and wanted to try it as a season extender. My mini bell peppers that were living in a container on my patio all year were easily moved into the greenhouse and provided us with fresh peppers through mid-December - how cool is that! Also, I had a trio of herbs in a patio container that is still alive and kicking. The temperature isn’t much different in the greenhouse than outside of it but it keeps everything protected from wind and harsher elements. It stays nice and humid in the greenhouse so I only need to check in on them about 1x per week to see what needs a little extra water. I also started pansy seeds indoors on Oct 1 and potted them up and moved them into the greenhouse on Jan 1 just to see what would happen - no hardening off, no special treatment. Just one day inside and the next outdoors in 35ish degree weather. As of mid-Feb, they’re doing well!
February 23 2021
Herbs and Pansies
Now to fill the greenhouse with more things when it’s cold and dreary in January and all you want to do is plant something...
The absolute best gardening resource I have found is the Garden Answer youtube channel. I’ve been watching for 5+ years and Laura and Aaron have taught me the most out of anyone when it comes to gardening. They live in Eastern Oregon and while the climate there (high desert) is very different than here in PA, they are also in Zone 6 so the plants they use apply to gardening in Pittsburgh.
I do a lot of gardening when Laura from Garden Answer posts a video about it. Trying out winter sowing in January 2021 was no exception. I see cool video, I do cool thing. Except I wanted to try out a couple of different variations to her winter sowing method to just see if it works.
Winter sowing is usually done using old water jugs with the lids removed but since I have this new mini greenhouse I wanted to give that a shot instead. The main difference between my method and the one she used with water jugs in the video is that I would have to provide water to mine. I sowed a small variety of perennials and cold-tolerant annuals in various types of containers:
Lettuce in a larger terra cotta pot
Echinacea, Onions, and Yarrow in 6 cell plastic liners
Sweet Peas in small terra cotta pots
Are the container cells too small? Will the soil dry out too quickly? Will anything sprout at all? Who knows!
And now we wait. I check on them every week or so to make sure they aren’t drying out too much but I’m excited to see if this method works! I plan on using every last inch of grow light space I have indoors this year so having a plants few started outdoors will be a nice space saver. I also plan on starting the same types of seeds indoors to see which method works better for me or if they are both viable options.
Have you ever tried winter sowing or do you have experience gardening in an unheated greenhouse? Let me know what you’ve learned!