Starting seeds without peat
I only recently learned that using peat is environmentally unfriendly. So without thinking about it, I purchased a tray of peat cubes to start my tomato and pepper seeds in this year:
(The four leftmost cubes are Chadwick Cherry tomatoes, and the four rightmost cubes are jalapeño peppers.)
However, I don’t want to continue contributing to the destruction of peat bogs, so I’ve been collecting ideas for more sustainable ways to start seeds. Here’s what I have so far:
- using coir pots (made from coconut fiber) instead of peat
- cutting cardboard toilet paper tubes in half and pinching in the bottoms to make pots
- cleaning out eggshells and using them as planters (powerful symbolism, huh?)
- starting seeds in plastic sandwich-sized bags
- making pots out of old newspaper
There are many similar sets of instructions for making newspaper pots already floating around the gardening blogosphere. I’ve been making origami newspaper pots, using these instructions and modifying them slightly to suit my purpose.
Good thing my parents left a newspaper the last time they visited–we get all our news from the web web.
Posted in sustainability
March 13th, 2008 at 10:34 am CDT
I had thought I would sow seeds outside this year. Ordered a bunch from Renee’s. But I notice my Yorkies love to dig in fresh dirt. So I’m rethinking that idea. Maybe I’ll just go back to planting in containers. But my cat now thinks containers are his litter box outside. So I’m back to square one!
Brenda
Maybe your problem is an opportunity in disguise? I mean, you might have to put up a greenhouse or something in order to start your seeds without the pets bothering them…just a thought.
-Brianna
March 13th, 2008 at 5:23 pm CDT
I have one of those reuseable plastic seed trays, which I fill with coconut coir. I found a local distributor of coir, so I’ve bought a big block, and I break a piece off when I need more planting material.
Cool, maybe I’ll try that next time. Thanks for commenting.
-Brianna
March 14th, 2008 at 7:54 pm CDT
I have hundreds of 3.5-inch plastic pots left over from when I had a nursery, as well as from buying plants over the years, and I still use them for seed-starting (multiple seeds per pot at first, then one or two seedlings per pot after transplanting). Many of the pots are 10 years old or more and still in fine shape. So even though their origins aren’t very “green,” I figure that reusing them for so long has maybe helped to cancel that out, at least somewhat.
Yep, I’ve been reusing nursery pots, too. I think that’s very green, considering that otherwise they’d likely end up in a landfill.
-Brianna
March 16th, 2008 at 3:17 pm CDT
My grandfather and father used to make seedling pots out of the waxed cardboard milk boxes that preceded the plastic jugs. They would cut the cardboard into three-inch strips and fold them three times to make square compartments on top of old cookie sheets, then fill them with compost and a couple of seeds each.
We drink a lot of soy milk, so we go through plenty of those waxed cardboard containers–what a great way to re-use them! Thanks for sharing the idea.
-Brianna
March 31st, 2008 at 6:11 pm CDT
I just recently learned about soil blocks, which I may have to try next year.