Having just moved into a new apartment, I’ve been super excited about growing my own plants. Unfortunately, start up costs can get pretty high for many hobbies, and gardening is no exception. As a part-time tutor and incoming full-time graduate student, I don’t have much of a budget to work with, so I started thinking about all the ways I could save money.
One thing I decided to skip buying was seed-starting trays. Although I found some beautiful seed starting trays that were really tempting, I realized that many existing items in my apartment would work just fine. Although having a tray specifically designed for growing new plants would probably be much more convenient, I’ll wait until I have a steady income before splurging. If you’re in a similar situation, here are five household items you can use to start seeds and house smaller plants.
1. Used coffee pods
I was inspired by this blog post to use empty Keurig pods to start some greens. In the photo below, the light green sprouts are salad bowl lettuce, while the darker green sprout is a dwarf blue curled kale. To do this, I just poured out the coffee grounds, rinsed the empty pod, and refilled it with seed starting mix. So far, they’ve been working great! One downside, however, is that they are rather small, so this wouldn’t work as well for larger plants.
2. Old seedling planters
The day after I moved into my new apartment, I bought an English lavender plant and a swamp milkweed plant. Since I’m pretty new to gardening, I wanted to have a couple somewhat-established plants that would need less maintenance than the ones starting from seed. Both of these plants came in very small seedling pots and were root-bound, so I had to transplant them into bigger planters. Once I had done that, I had two empty, perfectly fine seedling pots, so I decided to use them. As you can see, I planted some green onions in one of them.
3. Empty dessert containers
A few years ago, I ate some pudding that came in a jar, and I kept the jar. Today, it’s become a pretty vase for plant cuttings. Many desserts that you can buy at a grocery store also come in aesthetically-pleasing jars or containers, and they are usually small, which makes them great for keeping plant cuttings hydrated for propagation. The cuttings in the photo are from rosemary plants back home, and I flew them across the country when I moved from California to North Carolina. So far, they’re still alive and kicking! Just waiting for them to grow roots.
4. Disposable drinking cups
I did a lot of eating out during the week that I was moving, and during that time, I collected a variety of disposable drinking cups from the various restaurants and coffee shops I visited. They’re a great choice for plant propagation or for growing a plant in soil. If you choose the latter option, be sure to poke some holes in the bottom for drainage (a sharp pair of scissors will do). The cup in the photo below is being used to propagate succulents. It’s hard to see, but I’ve filled the cup about 80% with water, and the plastic wrap over the top keeps the moisture in. The succulent leaves are sitting in slits I cut in the plastic wrap. Here’s another helpful blog post that explains succulent propagation in more detail.
5. Fresh produce containers from the grocery store
In the past week, I’ve been doing a lot of cooking because it’s so much cheaper than eating out. (Do you see a trend in my decision-making here?) As a result, I now have many empty produce containers, which are the perfect size for larger seedlings like the mung beans I’ve planted in the photo below. The container was previously used to store sliced baby bella mushrooms. I did have to poke quite a few holes in the bottom, which was kind of annoying, but the end result is a well-draining, sturdy planter for my sprouts. Additionally, containers for fruits like tomatoes, blueberries, and blackberries have drainage holes built in, so you don’t have to do any extra work.
As a caveat, none of these containers can serve as long-term planters. Eventually, your plant will grow too large and need to be transplanted. Using these containers does save you some money and time though, so for me, it’s worth it. Happy planting!