How to Start Seeds Without Plastic Pots - DIY Eco-Friendly Seed Starting Pots

Spring has a habit of being a pricey time of year. You need to buy everything for new garden season: plant labels, growing trays, heat mat, CFL bulbs, LED bulbs, pots, seeds, timers...

But it's easy to make your own pots (plant trays) from nothing more than egg trays, toilet tubes, and newspaper. And I want you to have the best chance of success because that way when the weather warms up you're gonna have some transplants that you grew indoors for about four to six weeks ready to plant out in the garden. It's gonna save you a lot of time and save you a lot of money.

This is so exciting now if you've never started seeds indoors before, especially in DIY non-plastic pots. You might be wondering why in the world do I want to start my seeds indoors???!!!!

There's a couple of different reasons -

First of all - it's going to give you a six week jump on your garden you're going to be growing these beautiful plants inside. And that way when the weather is warm enough you're gonna have these lovely transplants to get out in the garden and it's gonna save you a lot of time.

The second reason why you want to start seeds indoors - is because it's gonna save you a ton of money.

It's really the secret to gardening on the cheap. Its quick to do super simple and it's very inexpensive now, when you go and buy the transplants at the garden center. They're gonna cost you three or four dollars per plant! When you start from seeds indoors you're gonna be able to grow four pennies per transplant

Don't be intimidated at the thought of starting seeds indoors, it's super super easy and I'm gonna show you how newspaper pots are easy to make. And like all of these home-made seed starter pots they're environmentally friendly as well as free.

So, I hope you are ready to get started

old newspaper

some scissors

a jar, which will act as your mold

It's important to only use newspaper for your pots.

It rots down quicker than glossy magazine paper, and is less likely to contain ink with traces of toxic heavy metals.

Prepare your newspaper by cutting it into strips about an inch (3cm) taller than your jar.

With your strips stacked up, you're ready to roll.

Take your jar and place it at one end of the strip so that the open end sticks out. Tightly roll the strip around the jar. Holding the paper closed, turn the jar on its end and fold the loose ends of the paper like this to create the base. Push down, and pinch along the edges to firm them up.

Now, holding the bottom flaps, pull out the jar, firm up the base, then fold it along the crease to create the rim of your pot. And there we go - a newspaper pot!Don't worry if the pot looks a little wobbly -

once they're filled with potting soil they become much more stable

Nestling your pots side by side within a tray like this will help them to remain secure as the paper becomes saturated. By using different size jars, you can create a range of different pots tailored to different seedlings.

When it's time to plant your seedlings out, simply dig a suitable sized hole into prepared ground and plant the pot as it is. There's no need to unpeel the newspaper - it will completely biodegrade within a matter of weeks.