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Complete List Of All The Best Seeds For Winter Sowing In Milk Jugs In Zone 2,3 & 4

by on March 3, 2025
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Winter sowing is a fantastic and easy seed starting method for cold climate gardeners. It’s hands off and typically yields really strong, resilient seedlings. Plus the greatest part? There’s hundreds of seeds that thrive when winter sow’d outdoors! So here’s a complete list of all the best seeds for winter sowing in milk jugs in Zone 2, 3 and 4.

What Is Winter Sowing?

Let’s start with quickly defining what exactly winter sowing is.

Winter sowing is the practice of germinating seeds outdoors during the Winter months by using plastic containers (like milk jugs) to create a greenhouse-like effect.

The opposite task would be indoor seed starting under grow lights in a controlled environment.

I have an abundance of blog posts covering indoor seed starting all linked here!

However with winter sowing, you’re choosing seeds that can deal with cold temperatures and letting Mother Nature do most of the hard work for you.

What Do You Need For Winter Sowing?

You only need a few essential items to successfully winter sow.

First, and most importantly, are seeds and soil.

For winter sowing, I like using a blend of PRO-MIX Veggie & Herb Potting Soil mixed with a little bit of worm castings. This provides seedlings some nutrients early on. And in my experience yields really strong seedlings!

Next is a clear plastic container to plant into. This is key! Your container will act as a mini greenhouse, creating a humid environment for germination.

This is why many gardeners (myself included) like using 4L clear plastic milk jugs for winter sowing. However, clam shell-style berry and salad containers work great too.

Aside from that, you’ll also need the following items for winter sowing in milk jugs:

  • Sharp knife or scissors — Necessary for poking ventilation holes and cutting around the middle of the milk jug
  • Heavy duty tape — I use clear packing tape but anything works
  • Plant labels — I like using little plastic labels and putting them right inside the milk jug
  • Watering can

And that’s really everything you need for winter sowing!

What Seeds Are Best For Winter Sowing?

The best type of seeds for Winter sowing fall into the following three categories:

Category 1: They benefit from cold stratification

Cold stratification is the process of seeds requiring a period of cold before germinating. Sometimes gardeners will achieve this by putting seeds into the fridge for a few weeks. However, winter sowing provides the same treatment.

Category 2: They are cold tolerant seedlings

You do not want to try winter sowing with tender seedlings, like tomatoes, peppers or squash. So when in doubt, choose seeds that say they are ‘frost tolerant’ or can be planted prior to your last frost date. This includes brassicas, cilantro and most perennial flowers.

Category 3: They mature within 100 days or less

Seeds that have 100 days to maturity or less are best for winter sowing as they will have enough time to mature without having to be started indoors.

The Best Vegetables For Winter Sowing In Milk Jugs

Here’s my complete list of all the best vegetable seeds for winter sowing in milk jugs in Zone 2, 3 and 4. You’ll find direct links to varieties that do especially well with cold stratification.

The Best Herbs For Winter Sowing In Milk Jugs

Here’s my complete list of all the best herb seeds for winter sowing in milk jugs in Zone 2, 3 and 4. You’ll find direct links to varieties that do especially well with cold stratification.

The Best Perennial Flowers For Winter Sowing In Milk Jugs

Here’s my complete list of all the best perennial flower seeds for winter sowing in milk jugs in Zone 2, 3 and 4. You’ll find direct links to varieties that do especially well with cold stratification.

Pro Note: Most perennial flowers do great with the winter sowing method especially in cold grow zones like we have here in Canada. So definitely experiment if there’s flowers not on this list that you want to try with.

The Best Annual Flowers For Winter Sowing In Milk Jugs

Here’s my complete list of all the best annual flower seeds for winter sowing in milk jugs in Zone 2, 3 and 4. You’ll find direct links to varieties that do especially well with cold stratification.

What Seeds Should You Not Try To Winter Sow?

Seeds that you likely wouldn’t have success winter sowing are any plants that are heat-loving or considered a “tender” seedling.

This includes but isn’t limited to;

  • Tomatoes
  • Peppers
  • Cucumbers
  • Summer & Winter Squash
  • Eggplant
  • Woody Herbs
  • Tropicals

Now here’s a good rule of thumb when wondering what seeds you should or shouldn’t winter sow…

Avoid winter sowing anything that requires 100+ days to maturity.

These seeds simply do not have enough time to germinate in the cold and set fruit before the end of our short growing season. Rather these are seeds that need to be started indoors under grow lights several weeks before your last frost date.

This is especially important for Zone 2, 3 and 4.

When To Start Winter Sowing In Zone 2, 3 & 4?

While you could technically winter sow anytime during the Winter months (say from November to April), there are a few things to consider.

The first is that there’s no real benefit to winter sowing seeds months in advance. In fact, it could damage your seeds if they stay frozen for too long.

The second thing to consider is that your seeds only need 3-4 weeks max of cold period before germinating. So there’s no huge rush.

So, for Zone 2, 3 and 4 it’s safe to say that the best time to start winter sowing is about 6-8 weeks before your last frost date.

For most Northern grow zones, this is likely sometime in April.

With winter sowing, you want to strike the perfect balance of giving your seeds a cold period but also enough time to germinate and develop inside their milk jugs.

Can You Winter Sow Directly Into The Ground?

Unfortunately with most seeds on this list, you can not directly sow them into the ground in the Winter months.

This is largely due to the fact that the earth is still frozen. And most seeds need to be buried below the soil in order to germinate.

There’s a few other factors for why you wouldn’t want to do this too.

The first being that if seeds can’t be worked into the soil, they will likely be blown away from the wind.

Secondly, the point of winter sowing is to use a container that creates a greenhouse-like effect for your seeds to germinate. It’s too cold in Zone 2, 3 and 4 to plant them outdoors without this added protection in the Winter months.

So all in all, give winter sowing in milk jugs a shot!

There’s hundreds of seeds that thrive when winter sow’d in milk jugs in Zone 2, 3 and 4!

I would love to hear from you in the comments and always answer all comments. It truly makes my day to learn about what you’re growing.

Let me know if you’ve found other seeds that work well to be Winter sow’d in Zone 2, 3 and 4.

You can follow @fromsoiltosoul on Instagram and Pinterest for more gardening content too.

I hope you enjoyed this complete list of all the best seeds to winter sow in milk jugs!

If you’re looking to do some indoor seed starting this year, be sure to check out these blogs:

Wondering when to start each seed based on your grow zone?

Try out my seed starting master list for Zone 2, 3 and 4!

In these PDF guides, you’ll find easy to follow planting advice you can use to build out your gardening planting schedule, including:

  • 40 vegetables for a short-growing season
  • 70 cut flower varieties
  • 30 unique herbs
  • Timing for starting each plant
  • Suggested growing style — ie: direct sow vs. start indoors
  • Additional growing tips — ie: spacing, bloom periods, covering, etc..
Learn More

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