GardenFork – Eclectic DIY

Tag: seed starting

Cardboard Seed Starting Pots – DIY Video
These cardboard seed starting pots are made from paper towel tubes. Biodegradable plant pots made from stuff in your house. Watch this DIY video about how to make the seed starting pots and get more info below, plus links to our other seed starting videos.

You can buy seed starting pots, but I like to make them with stuff I already have. Our neighbor, Priscilla, who we call ‘The Egg Lady’ because we get our eggs from her, has a huge garden. She grows many heirloom tomatoes, in addition to some stuff I have never heard of. Unique string beans, heirloom flowers, plus she has several apple orchard around the property. Priscilla is like me, always wanting to share cool stuff she has discovered or found or grown.

Plus she has a menagerie of animals, horses, turkeys, guinea hens, cats, and dogs. You can hear Priscilla on GardenFork Radio here.

I had been saving cardboard tubes for her and then one day she showed me what she was doing with all the tubes. So I wanted to share this all with you.

Couple of important things to remember when using starting plants from seed:
- Cardboard seed starting pots are not for long term use.
- Take care not to over-water them. Too much water invites mold and fungus, as a result, bad things when you are starting plants.
- Don’t use potting soil to start seeds. Buy seed starting mix.
- You can also use coir, which is shredded coconut fiber, mixed with vermiculite and perlite.
- Do not add fertilizer to seed starting mixes.
- Use a grow light rig. Learn how to build a DIY Grow Light here.
The height of the seed starting pot depends on the plants you are growing. Taller plants need more root space, therefore, make those pots larger. Salad greens can be grown in a 2″ high pot.

Here are some of our hoop house cold frames for when its time to move the seedlings in to the garden:

So there you go, let me know any improvements or suggestions and how you start seeds in the comments below.

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March 4, 2015
Mini Greenhouse Seed Starting Pots

We have all sorts seed starting pots, but how about seed starters that have their own roofs? A neat idea that includes a solution for plastic bottles that function as a mini greenhouse for each seed starting pot. Jeremy sent me this photo and email about making these mini greenhouses with recycled bottles.

“I just want to thank you for all you have done for everyone over the years. You have been a huge help to me and an inspiration since last spring when I started gardening again after the loss of my mother.It was the best therapy I could ever hope for and You helped me more than you would ever imagine. Now I want to try and help you out if possible.

While starting my seeds this last week I had come up with a cheap way to make a little green house by just getting a 2 piece disposable baking pan with large dome lid for a dollar at the dollar store and the smaller peat pots that you could fit 16 of them into each pan. Well I had a little too much moisture in there and had to open it up and kill the fungus on a few of the pots and it got me thinking.

I drink bottled water a lot and I grabbed an empty bottle cut the top off and it fits perfectly over the peat pot and has a resting ledge on the ribbing of the bottle where it stops making each pot have it’s own personal mini green house.

You can set them on a window sill if you are low on space and line the whole thing with them. If it works out well I was thinking it would also be a good way to keep infestations contained to one or two seedlings instead of a whole tray. Here are some Pictures in case you wanted to see it and give it a try. It’s a great way to recycle some of the water bottles and keep them out of a landfill. “

Beautifully simple and something I had never thought of. I am always wanting to over-engineer everything, and make it bigger than it needs to be. A big thank you to Jeremy for taking the time to send that. Do you make seed starting pots? Let me know in the comments below!

If you live in the northern areas of the world, its time to start seed starting pots with sugar snap peas, and then some tomatoes too. Below are links to check out our how to make seed starting pots and how to start seeds videos.

March 2, 2015
5 Great Seed Starting How To Videos
How to start seeds? Watch these seed starting videos from the GardenFork video archive.

Simple Seed Starting Pots Video

Cardboard Pots Video

Origami Newspaper Pots

Our Super Easy Grow Light How To Video

Here’s how to build the grow light stand for your cheap grow lights:

Some Seed Starting Thoughts from Eric
- Do Not Overwater Seedlings or seed trays.
- Damp sponge consistency is good. Wet is not good.
- Keep the grow lights right on top of the seedlings, they tops of the plants should be touching or almost touching the bulbs.
- Keep the grow lights on 16 hours a day.
Not enough light and over-watering are the two biggest mistakes people make when seed starting. I don’t believe in using a window to start or grow seedlings, the weak light makes the plants leggy and weak, in my opinion.

If you want to save money and avoid having more plastic pots around, consider using cardboard or newspaper seed starting pots. The videos above show how easy it is to make these.

I use coir as a seed starting medium, I avoid using peat moss, which isn’t the most renewable resource we have. We seem to have a ton of coconut shells and fiber around. With coconut water being the new cupcake and all…

I add vermiculite and perlite to the coir fiber to give it some air and drainage. Easy enough to buy this stuff in the local garden shop. The exact amount is not important, use what you got, but you want a majority of the seed starting mix to be coir.

Break down the coir bricks in warm water. It helps to break them up with a hammer or some sort of smashing type object. I tend to add too much water to the coir bricks, and end up draining off a lot of it.

What are your seed starting practices? Thoughts? Let us know below:
February 6, 2014
Seed Starting in a Hoop House Cold Frame : DIY Video

Starting seeds in a hoop house cold frame is like putting a greenhouse on your vegetable bed. The hoop house warms the soil and then you drop seeds right into the soil. No transplanting or grow lights, no transplant shock. This is our cheap PVC hoop house that can be made with salvaged or recycled materials, and then you can grow vegetables in the hoop house. What I love is how the cold frame warms the soil to 15F above the ambient soil temperature.

Plants that do well for seed starting in a hoop house are those that are cold tolerant. What the cold frame offers is a warmer soil and air temperature, which aids in germination. Yes, peas can be planted in snow, but they germinate much better in slightly warmer soil, same for lettuces and cabbages like kale, just a bit warmer and they sprout better. For this video I put sugar snap pea seeds in and radish seeds. Radishes are one of those seeds that are kinda fail-safe, so you feel ok even if some of the other plants didn’t take as well.

We have several videos on how to build a hoop house cold frame and how to use a plastic greenhouse like this, here is the video of us building our first cheap hoop house. I think its key to have the thermally controlled vent, if it gets too hot, you might consider putting a vent on each end of the hoop house. The PVC we use in this cold frame could be salvaged or recycled from another project or job site. The plastic we use is 3 mil plastic from the hardware store. With care this plastic will last several years. In the middle of summer, I hang my hoop house on the back side of the woodshed, and the plastic stays in good shape for a few years.

Salad Greens Grow Really Well In A Hoop House

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April 9, 2013
Repair Of Our Hoop House Cold Frame : GF Video

Setting up our simple cheap hoop house greenhouse for seed starting. This PVC hoop house cold frame works well for us and it was easy to build, here is the video of us building our the hoop house. The hoop house greenhouse allows you to get a head start on planting vegetables and seed starting. We started this in February to start warming the soil. This can be made for free if you find some scrap leftover lumber and PVC pipe. This plan uses short lengths of PVC pipe, which you may find laying around your yard, or your neighbor’s yard.

My hoop house plans for this mini greenhouse are simple. Some 2x4s, some PVC pipe, and a piece of plywood. The thermal actuated vent keeps the hoop house from overheating. Link to buy the thermal greenhouse vents

I use 3 mil clear plastic from the hardware store, it lasts a few years with care. I hang our mini greenhouse on the back of a shed when i am not using it. To attach the plastic to it, I fold the plastic over on itself and use lots of staples. You could also use a piece of lath or thin wood to hold the plastic to the wood. For the ends, I staple the plastic to the plywood end with the thermal vent and then cut off the excess plastic. For the other end of the cold frame hoop house, I simply bunch up the plastic and staple it to the 2×4.

After a few days on your vegetable bed, this portable greenhouse will start warming the soil. Its amazing how warm it is inside the hoop house compared to the outside temperature. We have a video showing how a hoop house greenhouse can defrost your garden soil coming soon.

In the video, the plywood I used for the end of the greenhouse, OSB, is not the best kind of plywood for outdoor uses. Use a better piece of plywood and paint it with a few coats of latex paint, it will last much longer if its painted.

Click here to watch our How To Build a Hoop House Cold Frame Video

Click here to watch How to build a cold frame video.

Learn how to grow food year round, read Eliot Coleman’s Four Season Harvest book and Nikki Jabour’s Year Round Vegetable Gardener.

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Do you use a hoop house greenhouse? let us know comments or questions below:

April 2, 2013
Cheap Grow Light Stand : GF Video

Easy grow light stand made from scrap lumber! Don’t buy one of those $100 grow lights, build this grow light stand to go with our DIY grow light video. Homemade grow lights have always been funky, but with this grow light stand, and our easy grow lights built from cheap shop lights, you won’t have to have this mess of lights and cords and rope to hang grow lights above your plant seedlings.

I built this light stand out of scrap lumber I had in the garage, if you don’t have any, ask your neighbors or walk around the neighborhood on trash day, I bet you’ll find free wood to build this. You’ll need some chain as well, which you can get from the local hardware store.

What I like about this grow light rig is that you don’t have to hang lights from the ceiling or some kludged together mess of ropes and wood. The side braces allow the light to be adjusted up as the seedlings start to grow. I’ve also got an idea for a stacked version of the grow light stand, so you can put one on top of the other and save space. neat.

What kind of bulbs should you use in grow lights? I use regular old warm white or cool white fluorescent bulbs. Other may disagree with this, but here’s my thinking, we’re not growing plants, we’re starting seedlings, and the light output of these inexpensive lights works fine for me. Its been suggested not to mix the kinds of bulbs you use in a grow light made from shop lights, it can make the ballast wear out faster.

Check out our special Seed Starting How To page here.

What are your ideas for grow lights? let us know below:

February 14, 2013
Paper Seed Pots – great photo!

GardenFork viewer Rich sent us this photo of the paper seed pots he made after watching our how to make paper seed pots video. He’s got a ton of them here. Great to see people making cool stuff for starting seeds! thanks to Rich for sending this.

February 11, 2013
Simple Paper Seed Pots : GF Video

Learn how to make simple paper seed pots, the best paper seed pots, I think. These paper pots are for those of us who can’t make origami paper plant pots, OK? Simple method to make paper pots for your seedlings and seed starting trays. If you want to make a pack of paper pots, just glue or tape them together, use what you got.

Most newspapers print their paper with soy based inks now, so I’m ok with using regular newspaper for vegetable paper pots. And the newspaper will break down in the garden soil; you just open up the bottom of your paper pots just before planting to allow the roots to easily grow out the bottom of the paper pot.

You can use different size jars to make different size newspaper pots. I used a peanut butter jar to make paper pots for tomato seedlings, and used a small mason jar for lettuce transplant paper pots.

Its best to bunch the paper pots together under grow lights, as the paper can wick away moisture from the seed staring soil, packing the pots close together cuts down on that evaporation. You can watch our how to build a simple grow light video here, and our other seed starting videos here.

How do you start your seeds in the spring, what kind of pots or trays do you use? Let us know below:

January 16, 2013
Seed Starting How To & Email Reminders GF Radio

How to start seeds using a heated seedling mat starts the show, using plastic sheeting to build a hoop house within a greenhouse, and using a heating cable buried in the ground starts GF Radio this week. You can watch our seed starting videos here.
Eric has a healthy respect for electricity, and despite Eric reminding everyone to change the batteries in the smoke alarms, he forgets himself. You should change your smoke alarm batteries every 6 months.
You can use the calendar in your computer to email yourself reminders to do these things, like flip your mattress, clean your fridge coils, etc.
The buildup of dust in your computer starts us on a tangent talking about how to clean your computer, Mike gives some computer cleaning suggestions. Keeping your computer on your desktop instead of on the floor will keep the insides of the computer cleaner.

USB powered outlets are new on the market, and for home offices this might be a good idea. Eric wonders how much vampire power is used by these USB outlets, and you need a deep outlet box to accommodate these USB outlets.
Valentines day comes up, and mike wants to know why can’t he be romanced. Having Valentines Day at home is a theme at GardenFork.
If you don’t have enough time, stop watching TV is a quote from this Holstee.com Manifesto poster that Eric likes. “This is our life, do what you love, and do it often”
The website redesign comes next, be prepared for more changes as we redesign the site.
Mike is going to buy a used Ford F150, and Eric gives tips on buying a used car or truck.

February 10, 2012
Drip Irrigation System with Soaker Hose – GF Video

I use this homemade DIY drip irrigation system with soaker hose for my raised vegetable beds. Its easy to build and works great. Watch the video to see our first take on a soaker hose system. If you want to build a simpler version see my video for PVC connected soaker hose system.

The drip irrigation system I built uses copper pipe, which can be expensive, you can also use PVC pipe to build the manifolds that feed the soaker hoses.

I dug a slot into the ground and pushed the garden hose into it to hide the hose feeding each raised bed. This makes lawnmower much easier too, no chance of running over a garden hose that way.

Key to watering your garden with drip irrigation is to not water it too much, i know its fun to watch the water ooze out of the soaker hoses, but you want the beds to dry out a bit between waterings. I water my vegetable beds every 4-5 days. Tomatoes, especially, grow best when the soil dries out between waterings. Too much water is just as bad as not enough water, it makes it easy for fungus and disease to grow.

How long do soaker hoses last? I’ve had these in the ground year round for about 10 years. Some hoses have leaked, but not a lot. And its obvious when they are leaking, and easy to fix. All you do is cut out the leak, and connect the two pieces back together with a piece of pipe.

If the water pressure going into the hoses is fairly low, or if you use an inline pressure reducer attached to the garden hose, you can use cable ties instead of clamps to put the lines together.

Water timers for garden hoses have improved a bit lately, below is one i recommend. Some of these timers are awful to try to program.

September 27, 2009
How to start seeds at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Learn here how to start seeds in pots or trays with the experts. In the city we live near the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and they showed us some great seed starting tips. By starting your own seeds, you can get a lot more plants for less money, and you get to grow plants that are not available at your local nursery. neat.

The Brooklyn Botanic Garden uses bark as a seed starting medium. I can’t seem to find that stuff, so i use coir, which is compressed coconut fiber, and mix in vermiculite or perlite to add some air to the mix.

One of the keys i think, is to not have the seeds too wet, over-watering your seed starting trays can cause a bunch of problems and kill the seedlings. Its also important to have the seed trays in direct sun, I use a grow light, you can watch our how to build a grow light video here. Having the seeds in a window will cause the seedlings to get leggy – spindly.

Other GardenFork DIY seed starting videos you may enjoy:

How to Start Seeds and Make Seed Starting Pots

How to Start Seeds the GardenFork Way

How to Build a Grow Light

Here is a book on seed starting basics you might like to check out:

Buy From An Independent Bookstore
Buy From Amazon

September 15, 2009