Plant The Seed: A Potless Approach to Spring Gardening

In your garden, do you want stronger plants, earlier blooms and a longer growing season? Then start your seedlings inside! Wind, rain and the occasional hailstorm can damage sensitive young plants, making them weak and potentially killing them. Your dreams of turning your neighbors green with garden envy will die along with your seeds. So, purchase a few seedling bags from your local nursery or grocery store, and follow these best practices for a better garden.

Photo: Seakettle

Best Practices to Plant Seeds:

• Plant your seeds three times as deep as the size of the seed.
• Water them early and often.
• Put them in a warm, well-lit space with natural light until they sprout.
• Don’t transplant a seedling until it has grown at least two “true leaves,” the leaves resembling the parent plant. The first leaves your plant will sprout are just seed leaves, which supply nutrients to the young plant.
• When your seedlings have grown about 3 inches, they’re ready to be transplanted.

Seedling Planter Options:

Eggshells 

Save your shells! They can be used to plant seeds. First, crack the eggs carefully to ensure that more than half of the shell is still intact. Clean the eggshell so it’s empty. Be careful! Eggshells are fragile and will break under pressure. Plant the seeds you’ve chosen according to the packages’ instructions. To keep track of your new seedlings, use wooden coffee-stirrers to label what you’ve planted.

Tea Cans

Old tea cans work well as seedling planters. If drinking that much tea isn’t appetizing, scour your local thrift store. Vintage tea cans often show up as decorative items. Clean your cans thoroughly, and then plant the seeds you’ve chosen according to the packages’ instructions. Because tea cans are deep, you will need more potting soil than you would with eggshells.

Citrus Peels

Cut your citrus in half, and thoroughly clean the fruit out of the center. Eat it. You only want the peel as a planter. Drill a small hole in the bottom of the citrus with an ice pick for drainage, and then plant your seeds according to packages’ instructions. Bonus: You can plant the peel right along with the seedling!

Toilet Paper Rolls

Americans use an average of 23.6 rolls per ca-pita a year. Instead of throwing them away, use them to plant! Cut your toilet paper rolls in half. Place your halved rolls in a plastic or wooden container. We recommend you write your plants’ names directly onto the toilet paper rolls with pen before you start planting. When you’re ready to grow your seedlings, follow the instructions on the seed packages you’ve chosen. Be sure to only sow one seed per roll. When you’re ready to plant in your garden, you can plant your toilet paper roll, too! It will decompose.