Sunday, February 20, 2011

Creative seed starting containers






Looks like Spring has arrived in Central Florida and I couldn't be happier!  Time to start planting seeds in my part of the world!

In my travels around Bloggerville, I found this creative self-watering seed starting container idea from Brandy at Savin' Some using recycled soda bottles!

How cool is this?


Click on the photo to go to her post describing how she made it.


Thank you Brandy for this awesome idea!
Her blog Savin' Some is all about being frugal.



Do you have creative uses for recycled items and tips for starting seeds?

One of my favorites is egg cartons.  I cut them in half, poke holes in the little cups and use the top as a saucer.  They are readily available, a convenient size and a perfectly fitting saucer.  They use a small amount of soil, making it economical if you like to use those expensive seed starting soil mixes.

I have experimented with using actual egg shells to plant the seedlings in, making transplanting a breeze.  They fit perfectly in those egg cartons!

Another favorite recycled item . . . clear plastic containers that department store pastries come in.  Same concept . . . I cut them in half, poke holes and use the top as a saucer.  I love using those for starting pepper and tomato seedlings.

My best tip for seed starting is to water them with a sprayer . . . sometimes I will use heavily diluted fertilizer to get them off to a strong start.  It is so easy to kill the babies with too much water!

I will be posting some of my soil recipes in a future post.






6 comments:

Brandy said...

Thanks so much for the feature. I love your blog.

Gina Alfani said...

Thank you for the awesome project . . . love it!!

Anonymous said...

Hi I enjoy plants. New follower from Spicy blog hop. I'm House of Raquel.

Unknown said...

We make our own seed pots from shredded newspaper. We also make our own potting soil from compost, leaf mulch with some play sand added to it.

I popped over from Tawna's blog hop. and I will definitely be back by.

Unknown said...

I'm following you here, too! Though I'm in MI (anything BUT 'subtropical'), I'm sending my mom your link. She just moved to FL and loves gardening. She needs a little help with the climate zone changes!

Gina Alfani said...

Thanks to Alicia, Tammy and Raquel for following my blog!

Hey Alicia . . . what we grow outdoors are your houseplants. How exciting for your mom!! Florida is a fabulous place to live and garden too. :)

Hey Tammy . . . Thanks for the tip on the shredded newspaper . . . I love it and I'm sure I could make them to fit the egg cartons. Composting is one of the beauties of nature!!

Hope everyone is staying warm . . . we already have the air conditioner on in Florida :) That makes me happy . . . Spring is here!!

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