It’s Time To Start Seeds!!!
Buying enough plants to fill a whole garden can be very expensive. If you are like me, you are always eyeing that tempting rack of seeds at the supermarket. So inexpensive, so many varieties. And yet, you buy the little packet and it goes into the cabinet with all of the other packets you’ve purchased over the years, never to be planted.
In this article I will show you how to make a self-watering seed starter. Afterward, all you have to do is add seeds and place it on the windowsill. If you forget about it for a while don’t worry the cup will care for the baby plants until you have time to re-pot them.
I want to thank my friend Raines, because he is the one always asking “How do you do that?” And, he inspired me to write all this down.
The things you will need are probably in your recycling bin:
You will need a plastic beer cup, a 6-to-8 inch piece of cotton clothesline (available in some grocery stores and most hardware stores), an individual size yogurt cup, a scoop of moistened good-quality seed starting mix and some water. That’s it!
Classic red beer cups
Cotton clothesline and an old yogurt container
Any decent-quality seed starting mix
Step One: Make a hole in the bottom of your yogurt container. I am using a drill with a 1/4inch bit but you can also just poke a hole big enough for the clothesline to pass through with a sharp knife.
Step Two: Pre-soak a 6-inch piece of the clothesline in some water.
Step Three: Once the clothesline is soggy, poke it through the bottom of the yogurt cup, leaving enough inside the cup to wrap halfway around the bottom. Moisten the seed starting mix and fill the yogurt cup, covering the clothesline wick. Fill the red beer cup with water until it is half full. Place the soil-filled yogurt cup in the larger red cup so that the clothesline drapes from the bottom of the yogurt cup into the water. The line will work like a wick, bringing just the right amount of water up to the plant without over watering.
Now, all you have to do is add seeds and place the cup somewhere with good light. The cup shown here is ready to have the tiny plants separated and transplanted into individual pots! You’ll need to make more garden friends so you can find homes for all the extra baby plants!
