As you may already know: using plastic in your garden is not an eco-friendly affair. All those plastic pots, bottles, etc. lose microparticles which can be very carcinogenic. That's why I'll give you 5 alternative ways to plastic pots. (more info under picture)
1. Egg cartons
Sowing your seedlings in egg cartons is one of the easiest ways you can probably imagine: it's fast, biodegradable, cheap and you can sow plenty of plants at a time! Just fill an egg carton with soil, sow your seeds and that's it!
Egg cartons are perfect for vegetables such as beans, peas, cucamelons, cucumbers, pumpkins, beetroots, flowers such as echinaceae, nasturtiums, sunflowers, a.s.o.
2. Soil blocks
Soil blocks are my favorite ones: you don't need anything except soil and a Soil Block Maker. These are available in different sizes: you have the single block maker (see picture). This one can be useful if you don't need to make plenty of soil blocks. But if you want to have a real army of plants, then I'll recommend you to buy a multi soil block maker.
This one is made out of aluminium, which is much more solid than the single one. And another great advantage: you can make 5 soil blocks at a time!
Both soil block makers create blocks of 4cm x 4cm. Of course you can buy other ones that create bigger blocks, but the 4x4 ones, are the standard dimensions.
You can use soil blocks for nearly all kind of seedlings: tomatoes, beetroots, zucchinis, flowers, beans, a.s.o.
3. Newspaper pots
This one is also a great replacement for plastic pots as it's biodegradable, cheap and easy to make!
How to make a newspaper pot:
1. Take a sheet of a newspaper. Make sure that the ink is biodegradable. How can you check this? Slide your finger over the newspaper. If your finger becomes dark, this means that there's petroleum in it, which is NOT biodegradable at all.
2. Roll a glass into the newspaper. (see picture below)
3. Fold the surplus of paper back into the glass. (see picture below)
4. Take away the glas.
5. Press firmly against the bottom of the pot to make sure that it won't open again.
6. Your newspaper pot is ready! The only thing you'll need to do is to fill it with soil and sow your seedlings in it!
The newspaper pots are perfect for plants such as tomatoes, cucurbitaceae, beans, sunflowers, etc.
4. Terracotta pots
Small terracotta pots are not only fancy, but also very heat absorbing. Then, why are they so usefull? Well, as they are quite heat absorbing (when there's sunlight for example), it'll heat up the potting soil, which will favor the germination of the seeds. This means the germination time will significantly decrease.
These terracotta pots can be used for more 'exotic' plants that need a lot of warmth during their germination such as tomatoes, peppers, luffas, mediterranean herbs such as rosemary, thyme, sage, a.s.o.
5. Toilet rolls
Toilet rolls, easy to make, biodegradable, cheap and... less waste in your garbage bag!
To transform a toilet roll into a small pot, you need to make 4 cuts of about 1,5cm at the bottom of it so that you'll become 4 flaps. Then, fold the 4 flaps back into the toilet roll to close the bottom. That's it! Now fill it up with potting soil and sow your seeds!
These toilet rolls are perfect for plants such as beans, peas, sweet peas, cucamelons, sunflowers, ...
That's it for today! Hope you enjoyed this blog! If you have any requests, feel free to ask them below and of course, feel free to share, comment and like this blog! See you next time!
