Egg Carton Plant Starters

Growing a garden and starting your seeds yourself are great ways to both save money and help the environment.   Why spend all that money on the plastic trays and starting pods when you already have the perfect containers in your house.  Save your biodegradable egg cartons and use those intsead!


What you need:

• Biodegradable egg cartons 
• plain dirt 
• Compost
• perlite or coarse sand
• seeds
• water 
• tray
• light (grow lights for inside and/or sunlight

What you do:

• In a large bowl, mix together 4 parts soil, 2 parts compost and 1 part Sand or perlite 
• Fill both the top and bottom compartments with your potting soil and water well from the top.
• Add seeds as directed on the package
• Set outside or underneath grow light (vegetables need 14-18 hours of artificial sunlight)
• Once you have planted the seeds, do not water from the top!! Instead, pour 1/4 inch of water onto the tray to water seedlings until the plant have come up and have their first set of real leaves.
• You can plant the seedlings when they have their second set of real leaves.  Simply cut out the individual compartments and plant them, egg carton and all into the ground. 

If you cant get biodegradable egg cartons you can use Styrofoam.  Before filing with dirt, use a sharp pencil or a small stick to poke several holes around the bottom and sides of each compartment.  When it is time to plant, you will need to take the plant out of the carton.  Do NOT plant the styrofoam into the ground!