Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Seed starters the easy way

Last fall I started saving cardboard toilet paper tubes. We had guests for Thanksgiving and guests for Christmas, so we went through a whole lot of toilet paper. Which means I have a whole lot of toilet paper tubes.

I thought I might save them to give to the kids for crafts later. Then I stumbled onto this idea - using them to make seed starters!

You can purchase trays to start your seeds, or you can use material you've already paid for when you bought toilet paper. I know which one I'd rather use.

It's really very simple. All you need are toilet paper tubes and a pair of scissors.

Start by cutting the tube in half width-wise.


Then make four 1-inch .cuts around the tube.


Fold the cut cardboard down like you would to make a box.


Press the folds down firmly.


Here's what it looks like on the inside.


If you're going to make several of these, do each step for all the tubes at one time. Cut all the tubes in half, then cut slits in all the tubes, then fold them all down. It saves so much time instead of doing each one individually. In no time at all, you'll have a pile of seed starters.


Now you're ready to fill them with potting soil and get those seeds started! Spring will be here before you know it, so now is the time to get ready.

I'm going to start some tomatoes, peppers, beans and sunflowers this weekend. And the kids are going to help. It's just that easy to get seeds started.

For more helpful tips, head on over to We are THAT Family's Works for Me Wednesday.

10 comments:

  1. What a GREAT!!! idea. THANKS!!!
    Come by and visit so you can receive your NEW!!! HAPPINESS!!! award.
    Geri

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  2. What a terrific idea! I NEVER would have thought of this but it's so simple and frugal - fabulous!

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  3. Sounds like a great idea! Would you plant these directly in the ground? I haven't been starting seeds indoors, but I might be able to try this in the mini-greenhouse that my DH built.

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  4. Melissa, you can plant these in the ground. They degrade and make a little compost for the soil.

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  5. Great idea! We still have another month before we'll be starting anything indoors...but I'm antsy to get planting!!

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  6. This is such a great idea! I want to start seeds, but I don't want to spend the money to buy those "seed trays", and have been stuck on what else to use! My thinking is done!

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  7. Love It! I just went down and pulled all the tubes (plastic wrap and foil too) out of the recycling bins! thanx!

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  8. This is such a great idea! I love projects that involve recycling. Thanks for sharing this!

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  9. this is a really great idea...at first I didn't know how you would do the bottom, but that is perfect! I have a soil block maker but this would be really great to use with my son.

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