• Home
  • About
  • Contact
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

ImaginAcres

  • The Barnyard
    • Bees
    • Chickens
    • Rabbits
  • The Kitchen
    • Baking
    • Preserving
    • Fermenting
  • The Woods
    • Foraging
    • Gardening

8 Recycled Seed Starting Containers for Gardening

This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Gardening· The Woods

10 Apr

Share with your friends!

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Don’t waste your money on purchasing new seed starting pots each year! You can use these recycled seed starting containers for gardening. It’s free, easy, and works!

Starting seeds indoors can get expensive really quickly. Over the years, we managed to use recycled containers for gardening, and germinated all of our seeds for practically free!

Don't waste your money on purchasing new seed starting systems and pots each year! You can pull containers out of the recycle bin and use them for starting seeds. It's free, easy, and works! Here are eight recycled seed starting container ideas to get you started.

Here in New England, we have a very short growing season, so a lot of our slow growing crops need to get a head start indoors in the early spring.

[sc name=”AFFILIATE” ]

With the unavoidable expense of seeds, seed starter potting mix, and a seedling heat mat, you need to be able to cut costs wherever possible, and using recyclables for starting seeds is a huge help!

8 Recycled Seed Starting Containers for Gardening

Throughout the year, I save up recyclables for this purpose. I save egg cartons, newspapers, yogurt containers, toilet paper tubes, pretty much anything that can hold soil and a seed. Starter pots are expensive, and using recycled containers for gardening is totally free!

Egg Shells

I even tried using eggshells one year as seed starting pots, because we have plenty of those lying around! I started some sunflowers in the eggshells, having completely forgotten about how incredibly, unbelievably fast they grow. Next year I’ll toss these seeds right in the garden instead!

Eggshells work well for herbs seeds. Just be sure to poke a hole in the bottom before filling with seed staring mix. When you are ready to transplant, gently crack the eggshell, remove a few shards around the bottom so the roots can grow out, and plant the whole thing!

seedlings growing in egg shells

Egg Cartons

I used an egg carton to start my pepper seeds. When the little seedlings are ready to go outside I’ll gently tear the carton apart and plant each section right into the garden. The cardboard will compost away in the soil. Keep the egg carton in a tray to catch water.

egg carton filled with seed starting mix

Newspaper Pots

Home made newspaper pots worked perfectly to start squash. These pots can be planted right in the ground! The only real downside is that the newspaper starts to disintegrate after a few weeks of watering, so be sure whatever you put in your newspaper pots is ready to go outside within a few weeks.

Place the newspaper in a container to help hold the pots together and catch water as it drains.

seedlings sprouting in a newspaper pot

Toilet Paper and Paper Towel Tubes

I tried using toilet paper tubes propped up in a box to germinate my tomato seeds. These did work for a while, but the tomatoes outgrew them in a few weeks and had to be transplanted into bigger pots before heading outside. Next year I may try something that grows slower, like herb seeds.

toilet paper rolls filled with seed starting mix in a black container

Party Cups

The larger plastic party cups are great for potting up seedlings until they are ready to plant in the garden. Just be sure to poke holes in the bottom and keep them in a tray to catch water.

pepper seedlings growing in recycled party cups

Yogurt Containers

Also consider saving yogurt, sour cream, and ricotta cheese containers in various sizes. The smaller containers are excellent for starting seeds, while the larger 16-ounce containers can be used to pot up seedlings that need more time before planting into the garden.

Berry Containers

The plastic berry containers from your grocery store are perfect for starting seedlings. They come with holes for drainage and a cover to hold in moisture. Just be sure to place these in a tray to catch water.

recycled produce berry container filled with seed starting mix

Bakery Containers

If you start your seedlings in coco coir grow pellets or soil blocks, recycled bakery containers make the perfect little greenhouse. Just flip them upside down, place your prepared soil blocks or pellets. Once the seeds sprout, snip off and remove the cover and the tray continues to catch water as your seedlings grow.

recycled bakery container

We’ve also been growing herbs and spinach in a window box in the sunroom for a few months now. Starting spinach indoors allows us to get several harvests during the winter months, and then it is ready to go outside.

Before using any container to start seeds, wash it well in warm soapy water, rinse thoroughly, and let air-dry. Visit Grow a Good Life for more seeds starting tips: 10 Steps to Starting Seedlings Indoors.

What’s germinating in your neck of the woods?

Related Posts

  • two red and two green tomatoes on the vine
    10 Tomato Growing Tips Easy to Understand
  • A window box vegetable garden is a great way to utilize a small space to grow food. Once planted, all you need to do is water and harvest. Have fresh food at your fingertips this summer by planting a window box vegetable garden.
    How to Grow a Window Box Vegetable Garden
  • closeup of a squash blossom
    How to Pollinate Squash by Hand
  • closeup of aphids on squash leaf
    What to Do When Your Vegetable Garden Fails

With the unavoidable expense of seeds, seed starter potting mix, and a seedling heat mat, you need to be able to cut costs wherever possible, and using recyclables for starting seeds is a huge help! Here are 8 recycled seed starting containers you can use.

Share with your friends!

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

2 Comments

Subscribe to get the latest

ImaginAcres news via email!

« Photo Shoot
How to Make Vanilla Extract »

Comments

  1. Fiona @ Finding Fifth says

    April 12, 2013 at 9:37 am

    Well done for germinating so many great things. I had to laugh at your comments about stumpy. This week I took the last of my germinated seeds and put them into the vegetable patch for the winter. I am not sure how they will grow. How long before you transplant yours?

    Reply
    • meredith says

      April 15, 2013 at 3:15 am

      Hi Fiona! Stumpy is still growing like crazy, I can’t wait to eat that little guy! We still have about three weeks before it’s safe to plant here. The night time temps are still dropping down to about 30, and we’re still getting snow on occasion! I can’t wait to get in the garden, the growing season is so depressingly short, but I try to make the best of it!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Let’s Connect!

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Your Favorites

How to Grow Spinach IndoorsHow to Train Chickens to Come When CalledHow to Make Brown Sugar

ImaginAcres is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Full disclosure policy here.

Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | About ImaginAcres

All content is ©2019 Rachel Arsenault | Grow a Good Life Media. Please feel free to link to or Pin any of these posts with credit and a link back, but do not copy, take images, or content from this site without my permission.

Copyright © 2021 · Refined theme by Restored 316