Easy & Cheap Seed Starting Gardening Tips ((Spring has Sprung))

Several weeks ago, I excitedly ordered my seeds for this year’s garden. Now, the garden isn’t quite ready for planting, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have plenty of gardening work. Many seeds love to get a jump start on the growing season & I am more than happy to help them get ahead. One thing though, I don’t want to spend anymore than absolutely necessary to sprout these seeds.

Every dollar I spend to grow these seeds cuts into the money I will save by growing my own veggies. So I am continuously looking for ways to save a penny, or three.

When my seed order arrived, David offered to purchase seedling trays for me. I immediately ((and kindly)) told him “Real gardeners don’t buy their seed starting equipment. We reuse, recycle and repurpose every bit of garbage to build a garden. Free…I am going to try to do this for free.”

Aside from my organic soil seed starter mix & the seeds, this has ((so far)) been a free project! Amending my garden soil & framing out the beds will cost some big bucks. Fencing would be outrageous — but my neighbor is getting a new fence and is GIVING me all of her old cedar/wire fencing. Boom!! Looks like I will be able to keep the neighborhood squirrels and bunnies out of my garden after all!

I am so pleased with my homemade seeding trays. Every bit of the seedling supplies came from materials commonly thrown away. After years of gardening and sprouting seeds, I must say, these have been the most effective seed starters I have ever used.

There are several items I collect to start seeds:

• toilet paper and paper towel rolls
• clear strawberry containers ((shallow raspberry/blueberry/blackberry will work for certain types of seeds so save those too))
• clear cupcake packaging, veggie packing, milk jugs etc
• egg cartons ((both cardboard and clear plastic))
• used gardening containers, especially 2″ and 4″

Simply snip the toilet paper & paper towel rolls into 2″ sections. Carefully fill each section with organic seed starting mix and place in a strawberry package. One strawberry package can hold up to 6 cut cardboard rolls. I label the lid to identify the date the seeds were planted and the variety of seed planted.

Now for the important tip: use an Exacto knife to cut a small X in the lid over each seed/ soil filled tube. Until the seed sprouts, this allows for easy watering by simply pouring water over the lid and use a pencil to depress the cut. Water will gently drip through in such a way that the seeds will remain undisturbed. 

The strawberry packages also have drainage holes on the bottom which allow for bottom watering. Bottom watering is the easiest way to ensure you are not over watering & you can certainly use this watering method the entire time.

Clear cupcake packaging and salad tubs are some of my favorite items to reuse for greenhouse purposes. I have been known to scavenge these items out of the trash after church dinners, hah! I cut holes in the top and bottom to allow for ventilation & drainage and place my seedling rolls inside. As soon as the seedlings sprout, I simply remove the lid ((setting it aside for the next round of seedlings)). From this point forward I only bottom water.

Egg cartons are perfect for seedlings. I prefer cardboard but all types of cartons are useable. The best use I have found so far: I remove the lid of the carton and cut the tray in half ((2 wells x 3 wells)). This portion of the carton fits perfectly into a strawberry container. Just fill with soil, plant the seeds, label appropriately & bottom water.

When it comes time to plant, just cut the carton into 6 sections and plant according to the specific requirements listed on the seed packet. The cardboard will degrade so no need to disturb the seedling by removing it from the container.

How great is that??

One last tip – plant the tops of your organic carrots,  and the root end of organic celery & green onions. I have found placing the carrots and celery in a shallow dish with a few tablespoons of water for 5 to 7 days helps ready them for planting. Green onion ends can go right into a 2″ to 4″ container.

This year’s garden will include organic, nonGMO heirloom varieties of squash, tomatoes, carrots, eggplant, peppers & cucumbers. I will also have several varieties of hearty herbs, a French melon similar to a cantaloupe and some reportedly delicious French breakfast radishes. I have a long list of greens and cabbages & have also included several pollinator & pest controller attracting flowering plants.

I am sure hoping and praying for a bountiful harvest! If the crops are large enough I will be offering weekly harvest baskets for purchase. I will put out a sign-up as the season progresses. Feel free to let me know you are interested in being on the notification list by leaving a comment on this post.

Hope these little hints are helpful in encouraging you to start growing! May your gardens be healthy & productive.