I second. But styrofoam is not P.C. here in California and all I find in the store is paper.

Try placing your paper egg cartons in foil lasagna or roasting pans. Then add a quart of water and it will soak up into the carton and stay moist longer. Watering is much easier than trying to splash a few drops into each cup.

I grew all my seedlings in small (8 oz) styrofoam cups. You can get a pack of them at the Dollar store for a dollar.

I use used yogurt containers with a hole drilled in bottom

What kinds of seeds did y'all grow in your egg cartons?? I am working on a lesson plan for diversity. An activity is growing different kinds of plants and flowers in an egg carton to show how different they are but they all can still live together. Any suggestions?
Thanks
Karey

Tom, I like the idea of putting paper egg cartons in pans and letting them soak up water from below. But do the cartons get soggy and fall apart?

i have also heard of growing seeds in eggshells. too messy for me, but to each his own.

I too have used styrofoam cups and yogurt containers. I often save my styrofoam from my fountain dr. peppers I MUST HAVE daily and reuse them for seeds. Works great if you can keep em watered...lol

Jules from Okla

i just buy a pack of 100 7oz plastic "solo" cups from k-mart. my beautiful g/f and i melt holes in the bottom with a nail held over a flame. they work great and since i just built a new light rack, i will be starting many seeds soon! good luck ~Ryan

I found that egg cartons dried out too fast.I have used the plastic and styrofoam cups(recycled from my church) and really like them for tomatoes and plants that you grow on pretty big.I like to water from the bottom and use an ice pick heated on my electric stove to make holes in the plastic ones.Posy Pet

I found egg cartons much too small. They shouldn't fall apart in water, at least not right away.

I have had good luck w/ TP rolls cut in half, or thirds. Holding 6 together with a rubberband makes a dandy 6-pak. I keep them in a foil tray and water them by pouring water into the tray. The cardboard stays damp for many days, wicking up from the tray. Then transplant the whole thing.

I find this easier than making newspaper pots. Have trained family to discard tubes into brown grocery bag. Maybe have a hundred so far. Spring is coming, will need to use them up before family gets wise as to qty and stops saving them. hee hee

wildrose

wildrose - I really like the idea of using the toilet paper cardboard rolls. do you put anything on the bottom of the roll or leave it open? I think I will have to try this process. Does the cardboard stay in-tact or does it seem to fall apart by the time they are ready to transplant? I am wondering if I combined the 6 rolls then divide again when putting into the ground for items like tomatoes that need to be spread out.

Thanks for the ideas!
Hannah

I use the 18 pack Styrofoam egg cartons, poke holes in the bottom of each cell and set them into foil baking pan with 1/4" of water. the seed starting medium will soak up the water from the bottom. I have used the same egg cartons for the past few years. once the seeds start to sprout. prop the lids open a bit until all have sprouted. then once the seedlings have true leaves I transplant into 3" coir pots. using the foam cartons I can remove the seedlings easily with a plastic spoon as the soil they are started in does not stick to the foam.

wildrose, I like that idea of using toilet paper / paper towel rolls cut to size, and banded together in a foil pan.

I'm assuming you put a mix of peat and perlite in there.

Spring is coming and for the first time in my life we have 1.5 acres on which to plant. YEP! We are fighting gophers, but we do have a concrete raised bed, and this is the first choice for my new seedlings.

Thanks for the idea!

Suzi

News flash: we are a nursery trying to be environmentally friendly. We r stuck with plastic flats and trays. We have hundreds of egg cartons. We tried them but with the heat in the nursery they dry up almost instantly. You cannot economically grow hundreds of flats in turkey roaster pans. Our nursery is packed on every shelf with flats. This is a very unfortunate that I can even believe I am saying that styrofoam egg cartons work better. What is wrong with this picture? Other nurseries struggle with similar issues. The so-called eco-friendly seed flats are made of egg cartons. They're a dollar more each, there HAS TO BE A WAY TO USE EGG CARTONS. Someone on another site suggested buying plastic silverware trays to put underneath the egg cartons bc they fit in between the slats. That may work and it may not. Growing seeds in paper towels works because they're made of trees, so are egg cartons. Someone out there has the creative juices to figure this out. I just haven't yet. I'd be grateful if they did. I don't buy eggs in styrofoam but I suppose I'd have to go dumpster diving at the dump for them if they allow you to dump styrofoam or hit craigslist. Geez we'd need a ton, but they never wear out.

starchild2008: Where are you? I could donate a few dozen. I'm the only egg grower at church and the ladies love to share what they dislike throwing in the trash.

I also use my Styrofoam egg cartons ,but I use a spray bottle to water my seedlings. It works very well for me.