Indoor Egg Carton Greenhouse | Gardening With Kids
Starting seeds indoors can get expensive if you are starting from scratch. We found an easy and inexpensive way to start our seeds indoors using recycled egg cartons and plastic wrap. In fact, this project was so fun, that the kids got involved and learned a little about green houses and how they work along the way.
We first gathered our supplies. You will need: a cardboard egg carton with the lid cut off, plastic wrap, garden soil, seeds and clips or something to mark your seedlings with.
Poke holes in the bottom of each space in the egg carton to create drainage for your seedlings. We used a skewer, but a pencil or scissors would work too.
Cover the egg carton lid with plastic wrap. This will become the drainage tray for your greenhouse. Set the bottom portion of the egg carton into the tray.
Fill your egg cups with garden soil. We used one part garden soil to one part compost.
Plant your seeds according to the directions on the seed packets. We planted a variety of melons, peppers and herbs to be transplanted to our garden. This would work well to start and herb garden for the patio for those who are limited to gardening in containers.
Label your clips with permanent ink, and attach them to the egg carton to mark where each set of seeds is planted.
Then, give all the soil a good mist, and your brother too. Be sure to keep the soil moist while the seeds are germinating.
Cover the egg cartons with plastic wrap and set them in a sunny location. We put out clips on the outside of the plastic to help hold it in place.
Lift the plastic and mist the soil each day, or as needed.
Remove the plastic when your seedlings start to outgrow their roof.
To transplant, simply tear the whole portion of the egg carton holding the seedling, and plant it in the garden. The cardboard of the egg carton is biodegradable and will break down in the soil, and help keep it moist as the plant matures.
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LorriLJ on Mar 27, 2021
Yes. If the plants grow well you will have to pot up. I use the same red solo cups each year. Poke holes in them, line them with newspaper, add extra potting mix. They should slip out easily when it's time to transfer them to your garden. Don't forget to harden them off.
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Log & Mitten on Jun 29, 2021
I love this idea of using egg cartons to grow plants indoor! I'm planning to experiment with indoor gardening in the future and I'd definitely try this out. Thanks for sharing!
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