Hi Dix,
glad to have you joining us!

You can use any container that you can put drain holes in, and some way to cover it - I use strofoam cups with plastic wrap on top held by a pony tail band- how thick are the coolers? I would think you need to put quite a few holes and about the size of a pencil, so they won't have to 'do the backstroke' in water during your winter -LOL

You can put your containers anywhere you want really- the easier for you to get to/peer in/talk to, the better :))
Then, in your zone, when the hot sun starts in spring, you may have to move them to part shade and/or watch the water-
I find I lose a lot more babies from heat than ever the cold...

don't worry a minute about asking too many questions- no such thing- this winter, the forum will be "hoppin" with questions/answers/suggestions...

you might want to post these questions on the discussions page- there are more folks posting there *it's totally relevent* this conversation page goes pretty slow in the summer (everyone is so busy enjoying their w/s gardens!)

hope this helps,
Linda in Louisville
*do tell us what seeds you want to plant*

{{gwi:334725}}

{{gwi:334726}}

How cool!! This picture is worth a thousand words in how to winter sow. Thanks so much!

I used styrofoam coolers from Omaha Steaks, and they worked great. They weren't a foot deep, but that shouldn't be a problem. It'll just give the seedlings more headroom.

{{gwi:36797}}

I drilled 1/2" holes in the bottom, for drainage, and covered the top with clear plastic dropcloth from Home Depot, with transpiration holes poked in it. Some of them had 4" of potting mix, and some of them contained newspots of potting mix.

I let in small wooden dowels to support the plastic during heavy snow, but it wasn't really necessary.