Very helpful! I’m new at native gardening and will be using containers for a while (only renting for now). Thanks for including the scientific names of the plants!
Very useful. Thanks for including the Latin name of the plants. Helps a lot. Too often people don’t realize that people in different areas/countries have different common names for the same plants, and different plants often have the same common name.
If you take a walk on garbage day you can find lots of water jugs in your neighbour’s recycling bins. The extra large ones are great for covering plants after you plant in case of frost just cut the bottom off.
@@NativePlantsNearLakeOntario we are in Hamilton. I am able to collect enough jugs each fall/winter that I can recycle them after I finish with them. If the bins are at the curb you don’t need to ask. We walk the dog each evening and on garbage day find one or 2 each week. You get to know who puts them out.
Been waiting for someone to make this video!!! I think I’ll try the yogurt containers w just clear tape on top since that’s what we have the most of on hand
so lucky to find this video! i’m a newbie at gardening & i’m also an hour away frow toronto. i recently started repurposing our recyclable plastic junks into pots like you too, and i’m definitely gonna be taking note of all your winter experiments ❤ very helpful content
Me and my wife drink a lot of tea and coffee and use distilled water that comes in those jugs so that our kettle last longer. I have around 30 of them now and will likely have 40 by winter sow time. I'm zone 6b in lower waterloo region and im starting a native nursery to give plants away to the sad gardens in my small town. I'm also seed collecting native oaks, hickories and beech as well as native shrubs. Im happy this video showed me how well water containers that i have will work well with native wild flowers. Thanks.
I tried to subscribe , but , CZcams says I have too many subscriptions !!!! Keep making gardening videos and I'll keep watching !!!! Thank you very much !!!!
I use yogurt containers too. They do fall over easily so I've gotten free trays with individual holes for each 6" pot from nurseries. They have tons of them and leave them for their customers to use when you buy lots of plants to carry. Just ask and they'll give you some for free. The tray fits the yogurt containers perfectly, will stabilize them and make transporting so much quicker.
Thanks for the info. I am saving containers now for my late December efforts. If the yogurt containers are working for you, you can reuse some clear plastic sheets (Saran wrap) and attach with a rubber band
This is my first year trying the jugs method. Next year I am using jugs (I think) and also looking into using buckets with custom made domes (to eliminate transplanting).
I'm glad to have found your channel because I also live in Ontario, in Scarborough, specifically. My main purpose in gardening is to plant for pollinators so most of my ornamental plants and herbs are those preferred by our native pollinators. However, it's hard to find some of the native plants that grow in Ontario. If they are available, they are pricey like bloodroot, sweet Joe Pye Weed, blue cohost, etc. Like you, I use different kinds of containers that can be recycled which my daughter finds an "eyesore." But once my plants are transplanted and bloom, bees, butterflies, birds, dragonflies are their regular visitors. Modesty aside, our councilman sent me a certificate of appreciation for what he deemed a 'beautiful garden." For me, my better reward is the buzzing bees, the flitting butterflies and dragon flies and the foraging birds, not to mention the rabbit and the squirrel that nibble the leaves of my echinacea and the flowers of my sunflowers. It's ok they need to survive, too, for as long as they leave some for the pollinators. I am now your subscriber. Thank you for sharing very useful information about winter sowing of native plants in Ontario.
Do ya'll have Chobani yogurt in Toronto? Thatbrand has excellent, thick clear lids. I often use them for " water saucers" to collect drainage under pots. Or to keep them stabilizeed, put inside the clear bins. The US milk jugs are thun walled & become brittle in TX sun here. I like using the rhicjer walled gallon White distilled vinegar bottles which I use as a fabric softener / stain cleaner for laundry. Also using 50/ 50 vinegar water spray to get rid of fungus gnats for inside sowing/ rooting cuttings that my nursery center suggested on fruit tree cuttings. Did not want to use chemicals on edible plants so Im trying this spray & baits / added sugar & dish soap.🤞
Unfortunately I haven't seen that brand called Chobani - it would be handy to find a brand with clear lids since I eat yogurt every day. Good luck with getting rid of the fungus gnats on your indoor sowing.
I also had the idea to use yogurt containers this year, luckily the brand i use already has clear lids ! I also like how easy it was to just snap the lid back on, instead of cutting bottles and taping which can be time consuming
Chinese take out lids are clear and fit the yogurt containers well enough. Ask you local restaurant if you can post a sign asking people to save them for you in exchange for free plants. Oatmeal canister lids will cover some nursery pots. Also go to your local glass or window store and ask for scraps of plexiglass or even recycled windows could be set on top of cinder blocks. Thrift stores often have donated Rubbermaid totes.
This is such a great video! I've WS in the plastic bins, yogurt containers, salad containers, milk jugs, cool whip containers, soda bottles and kiwi containers. The worst germination were the plastic bins. The best germination was from the milk jugs, cool whip containers and salad containers. I'm in zone 5b, NW Illinois.
Definitely. For me, I have a gas stove so while I'm cooking and the gas is on, I rest an old screwdriver tip over it to heat up and use that to melt holes in the plastics. It's super quick and clean and I'm already using the gas.
Great experiment! I have been intending to try this. I have questions about the drainage. Salad containers have holes in the lid and bottom tray? Is the hole on the top of the jug sufficient for passive watering? Do you water these or just let rain/ snow enter?
Personally I prefer to place mine in part shade, or shade because I don't want them to germinate too early and then risk being killed by frost. In early April, I often try to give them a bit more sun. Other people may have different approaches.
It depends on your province or territory. In Ontario (where I live) and in Quebec, we buy milk in 4 litre bags (in which there are three small bags). I'm not sure about other places, but I think milk comes in jugs in some prairie provinces.
Very helpful! I’m new at native gardening and will be using containers for a while (only renting for now). Thanks for including the scientific names of the plants!
Very useful. Thanks for including the Latin name of the plants. Helps a lot. Too often people don’t realize that people in different areas/countries have different common names for the same plants, and different plants often have the same common name.
Good point about Latin names
This is great!🌱
If you take a walk on garbage day you can find lots of water jugs in your neighbour’s recycling bins. The extra large ones are great for covering plants after you plant in case of frost just cut the bottom off.
I am a bit shy but I'm not ruling out this excellent suggestion. Especially since I drink tap water, and I don't even drink much juice or pop.
@@NativePlantsNearLakeOntario we are in Hamilton. I am able to collect enough jugs each fall/winter that I can recycle them after I finish with them. If the bins are at the curb you don’t need to ask. We walk the dog each evening and on garbage day find one or 2 each week. You get to know who puts them out.
Great video. Very helpful in deciding which containers to use and also identifying early seedlings. Thank you.
Very informative and fun to watch, too. I loved seeing your little seedlings almost as much as I love watching my in person seedlings grow.
Thank you!
Great video. Thanks for sharing. New subscriber to your channel.
Been waiting for someone to make this video!!! I think I’ll try the yogurt containers w just clear tape on top since that’s what we have the most of on hand
Fantastic.
Excellent video, from content to narration and music.
Thanks for your support.
so lucky to find this video! i’m a newbie at gardening & i’m also an hour away frow toronto. i recently started repurposing our recyclable plastic junks into pots like you too, and i’m definitely gonna be taking note of all your winter experiments ❤ very helpful content
@@traceymendoza8877 Thank you! Good luck with your sowing.
Me and my wife drink a lot of tea and coffee and use distilled water that comes in those jugs so that our kettle last longer. I have around 30 of them now and will likely have 40 by winter sow time. I'm zone 6b in lower waterloo region and im starting a native nursery to give plants away to the sad gardens in my small town. I'm also seed collecting native oaks, hickories and beech as well as native shrubs. Im happy this video showed me how well water containers that i have will work well with native wild flowers. Thanks.
Sounds you'll be well-equipped this winter. Good luck with your nursery.
I just watched a great video on the importance of natives and Oakes.
czcams.com/video/M54o9052btE/video.htmlfeature=shared
“Sad gardens” omg yes! I love this effort 👏
I tried to subscribe , but , CZcams says I have too many subscriptions !!!! Keep making gardening videos and I'll keep watching !!!! Thank you very much !!!!
Good to hear you'll try to keep watching.
I use yogurt containers too. They do fall over easily so I've gotten free trays with individual holes for each 6" pot from nurseries. They have tons of them and leave them for their customers to use when you buy lots of plants to carry. Just ask and they'll give you some for free. The tray fits the yogurt containers perfectly, will stabilize them and make transporting so much quicker.
Using free trays to stabilize the yogurt containers is a fantastic idea. Thanks.
Thanks for the info. I am saving containers now for my late December efforts. If the yogurt containers are working for you, you can reuse some clear plastic sheets (Saran wrap) and attach with a rubber band
Thanks for the saran wrap tip.
This is my first year trying the jugs method. Next year I am using jugs (I think) and also looking into using buckets with custom made domes (to eliminate transplanting).
First year! Good luck, I'm sure you'll get lots of sprouts.
@@NativePlantsNearLakeOntario I hope so. Up to 18 containers
Thank you for this lovely video. I learnt a lot of precious advices and I look forward looking your next one with great excitement!
Glad it was helpful.
Thank you so much for making this video, you saved me a ton of time in trying all these different methods.
My pleasure. I love experimenting.
Very helpful. I am new to winter sewing, so I appreciate your informative information.
Thank you and good luck.
I'm glad to have found your channel because I also live in Ontario, in Scarborough, specifically. My main purpose in gardening is to plant for pollinators so most of my ornamental plants and herbs are those preferred by our native pollinators. However, it's hard to find some of the native plants that grow in Ontario. If they are available, they are pricey like bloodroot, sweet Joe Pye Weed, blue cohost, etc. Like you, I use different kinds of containers that can be recycled which my daughter finds an "eyesore." But once my plants are transplanted and bloom, bees, butterflies, birds, dragonflies are their regular visitors. Modesty aside, our councilman sent me a certificate of appreciation for what he deemed a 'beautiful garden." For me, my better reward is the buzzing bees, the flitting butterflies and dragon flies and the foraging birds, not to mention the rabbit and the squirrel that nibble the leaves of my echinacea and the flowers of my sunflowers. It's ok they need to survive, too, for as long as they leave some for the pollinators. I am now your subscriber. Thank you for sharing very useful information about winter sowing of native plants in Ontario.
Congrats on the certificate and for attracting all kinds of wildlife. Yes, some plants can be expensive, but thankfully we can grow many from seed.
This was so helpful. I am going to try this, I never thought about pop bottles, great idea.
Good luck!
It's good to re-purpose these plastic containers 👍🏻 I do that as well. Greetings from Berlin 💕
Yes, feels good to re-use these items instead of putting them straight into the recycling bin.
Do ya'll have Chobani yogurt in Toronto? Thatbrand has excellent, thick clear lids. I often use them for " water saucers" to collect drainage under pots.
Or to keep them stabilizeed, put inside the clear bins.
The US milk jugs are thun walled & become brittle in TX sun here. I like using the rhicjer walled gallon White distilled vinegar bottles which I use as a fabric softener / stain cleaner for laundry.
Also using 50/ 50 vinegar water spray to get rid of fungus gnats for inside sowing/ rooting cuttings that my nursery center suggested on fruit tree cuttings. Did not want to use chemicals on edible plants so Im trying this spray & baits / added sugar & dish soap.🤞
Unfortunately I haven't seen that brand called Chobani - it would be handy to find a brand with clear lids since I eat yogurt every day. Good luck with getting rid of the fungus gnats on your indoor sowing.
@@NativePlantsNearLakeOntario Another brand with a clear lid is Fage--my favorite brand luckily.
I also had the idea to use yogurt containers this year, luckily the brand i use already has clear lids ! I also like how easy it was to just snap the lid back on, instead of cutting bottles and taping which can be time consuming
You're lucky to have a brand with clear lids - fantastic.
Chinese take out lids are clear and fit the yogurt containers well enough. Ask you local restaurant if you can post a sign asking people to save them for you in exchange for free plants. Oatmeal canister lids will cover some nursery pots. Also go to your local glass or window store and ask for scraps of plexiglass or even recycled windows could be set on top of cinder blocks. Thrift stores often have donated Rubbermaid totes.
Lots of creative solutions, thank you
This is such a great video! I've WS in the plastic bins, yogurt containers, salad containers, milk jugs, cool whip containers, soda bottles and kiwi containers. The worst germination were the plastic bins. The best germination was from the milk jugs, cool whip containers and salad containers. I'm in zone 5b, NW Illinois.
Thank you. I'm going to try kiwi containers this year. Interesting to hear about Cool Whip.
Of course, make sure the cool whip is sugar free! 🙂@@NativePlantsNearLakeOntario
More people own a power drill. Using a 1/4" drill bit is very effective on juice, pop and vinegar bottles.
Really good tip.
Soldering iron makes short work of creating holes in plastic. Great for winter sowing and making planters out of anything.
Interesting tip about using a soldering iron. Thanks for sharing that. I haven't tried that yet.
Definitely. For me, I have a gas stove so while I'm cooking and the gas is on, I rest an old screwdriver tip over it to heat up and use that to melt holes in the plastics. It's super quick and clean and I'm already using the gas.
Great experiment! I have been intending to try this. I have questions about the drainage. Salad containers have holes in the lid and bottom tray? Is the hole on the top of the jug sufficient for passive watering? Do you water these or just let rain/ snow enter?
I added holes on the top and bottom. I watered a few times when it was particularly dry, but I mostly let the snow and rain do the watering.
where should i place my containers? does it need sunlight shining directly onto the containers? or can it be anywhere outside?
Personally I prefer to place mine in part shade, or shade because I don't want them to germinate too early and then risk being killed by frost. In early April, I often try to give them a bit more sun. Other people may have different approaches.
If you do not have milk jugs in Canada, how is milk packaged there? Thanks for the ideas for winter sowing.
It depends on your province or territory. In Ontario (where I live) and in Quebec, we buy milk in 4 litre bags (in which there are three small bags). I'm not sure about other places, but I think milk comes in jugs in some prairie provinces.
BC has milk jugs
For the soda/juice bottles, do the labels need to be removed?
@@PaulDzielinski I prefer to remove the labels in order to let more light in.
For the juice and pop bottles, could you prevent them from tipping over by putting gravel at the bottom under the soil?
I'd say that gravel wouldn't be heavy enough.
So when are you sowing the seeds and putting them outside ?
I mostly sowed the seeds in January and February, although I did a few in late December and early March.
Wiper fluid has toxic chemicals! Why would you put plants in a wiper fluid bottle? Those poor butterfly’s and other helper insects. 😡👎🏼👎🏼