Five Free DIY Seed Trays
- Egg cartons
Cardboard egg cartons can be used to start a dozen seedlings, and then cut apart to plant each one when it’s time to plant them in the garden. There’s no need to remove the plants from the pots before planting as the cardboard will break down in the soil as the plant grows.
2. Toilet Paper Tubes + Paper Towel Tubes
Cardboard tubes are perfect as small seedling pots. There are two different methods of making pots:
- Cut from the bottom of the tubes for one inch and then fold the resulting flaps in wards to form a bottom for the pots
- Leave the tube bottoms open but hold them together with elastic bands or twine before standing them on a tray
3. Single Serve Yogurt pots
Pierce the bottom of the containers to allow for drainage. Remember to remove the seedlings from the pots before planting up.
4. Paper coffee cups
Punch some small drainage holes in the bottom, and when you’re ready to plant them in the garden, you can pull off the bottom of the cup and plant the rest.
5. Take Away containers
Take away containers with a clear lid make great planting trays for seedlings. Simply punch a few holes in the bottom for drainage, fill with soil, plant the seeds, and use the clear lid as a mini-greenhouse until the seedlings have emerged.
***Planting seeds into trays like this is best suited for starting a lot of plants that you can then re-pot into individual pots once they have their first true leaves, or for growing micro-greens for the kitchen, such as mustard seeds, pea shoots, sunflower sprouts, buckwheat and wheatgrass.