Starting seeds inside is a great way to get a head start on your garden. While it's still early in most places for many vegetables, growing season for cold weather vegetables like broccoli and lettuce is right around the corner (late February in some places).
You can start the seeds in just about any kind of container, but egg cartons do double duty by not only recycling, but separating your seeds into little planting pods.
What You Need
- Drill or Sharp Metal Object (letter opener)
- Egg crate
- Potting Soil
- Vegetable Seeds
Instructions
1. Creating Drainage
The first step to creating a potting carton is to create drainage for your seeds. To do this, simply drill a hole (I used a 3/8" drill bit) in each egg holding pod. I've found that with Styrofoam cartons the "leaflet" stays attached, but for plastic there are flakes that come off (so do it over a garbage can).
2. Fill with Soil and Seed
All-purpose potting soil works fine for starting seeds. While some guides recommend putting seeds in the refrigerator for a couple days before seeding, I've found that planting them immediately from the store works fine. The easiest method I've found is to fill each egg section 4/5 of the way with soil. Add a couple seeds to each pod, and then add a thin layer over the seeds to bring it to full.
3. Water and Place Strategically
Soak thoroughly with water and place in a warm spot in your home near a heater vent or radiator and water every other day. Again, some guides say to use warm water; however, cold water out of my tap has worked just fine.
4. Thinning
Once the seedlings have germinated, you may consider thinning each pod so that there are only 2-3 seedlings per pod.
5. Planting
After the seedlings have formed a couple sets of true leaves, they can be individually potted, but don't place outdoors until all danger of frost has passed. Once you're ready to plant, simply dig a small hole, place so that the dirt levels are the same as before, and water thoroughly to force out any air bubbles and let the soil settle.
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(Images: Trent Johnson)
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Read the seed packet label. Cold stratification (the fridge) may truly be necessary to get the seed to develop into a nice plant. Also, if you just put one seed per cup, there's no need to thin the plants out.
FYI- if you use the paper egg cartons, those can be directly planted into your garden once danger of frost has passed. That worked pretty well for me last year with basil & parsley.
@tallsarah- you just answered my question :) I have tons of paper egg cartons, saved for rainy-day projects with the kids. It would be so easy to plant them!
Thanks for a great tutorial :)
If you have kids, this is a fun alternative to this, they get a kick out of it.
http://driedfigsandwoodenspools.blogspot.com/2010/02/snow-and-seeds.html
Just a tip: toilet or paper towel roles (cardboard) work even better:
- you can leave the seedlings in the cartons when planting them out and that way you don't damage the roots
- because they are deeper you will get a better established root system (works especially well for tuber veg like carrots and parsnips!)
Just put them side-by-side in a big container for easy watering and moving. With very warmth sensitive plants, start them up indoors and move to a cold frame later and from there on, plant in the ground or in pots.
PS: to anyone wondering when a sprout turns into a seedling; it's usually when you have at least 2 new leaves on the stem.