Welcome to the WSing support group...support for the details and support for the obsession that will develop. LOL

Sometimes it helps to have an answer from someone from your zone. I'm a zone 6 so I can tell you I couldn't plant tender vegetables (tomatoes, lettuce, etc.) in an uncovered container in the winter and expect them to survive. There are a lot of experts here who can probably answer better than me. Have fun!

There are some Okie winter sowers on this forum who can probably help. I lived in OKC for 8 years, but I have only winter sowed in Ohio. I know that it is a whole nuther ballgame out there.

You wouldn't need to cover the entire pool, as long as the individual containers had some sort of clear plastic cover with small ventilation holes to maintain the moist environment that allows for germination. And the pool would need drainage holes.

Martha

The kiddie pool will hold at least six inches deep of soil, and at three or four feet across that is a lot of soil. That much soil retains a lot of moisture, that's why you don't need to cover. Small paper pots hold a miniscule amount of soil and water--I can imagine them drying out rapidly when they're exposed to the air. They have little depth or width and paper sides wick away moisture. You can put the paper pots into smaller containers, several will fit nice in a milk-jug, and with it's cover (cap still off) you'll have greater success, I don't think they would dry out as quick as exposed pots in the kiddie pool.

Why not use the kiddie pool, it has some drainage gashes of course, fill it with soil, water it well, section the top and sow the seeds. Ahhh, it works like a charm. I know it to be so because you're refering to my kiddie pool planters ;-)

I was thinking the paper pots would make transplanting easier, and not disturb the roots at all. I was also thinking they would be moderately snuggly packed in helping to retain the moisture, and cut out a step, if they are all planted in the pool, wouldn't you need to prick them and transplant into an individual container prior to placing them in the ground?

Trudi,
How do you keep critters out of the pool? Don't birds, skunks and raccoons play havoc with your seeds and seedlings?

Martha