Free DIY seed starter pots with upcycled materials

This is how you can make your own seed starter pots with upcycled materials – free, environmentally friendly and fun to make with kids!

The gardening season is already in full force and many of us are busy starting seeds and getting the garden ready. So, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to show you how you can save a bit of money this year and repurpose items found in your recycling bins. Making your own seed starter pots isn’t just cost effective, it’s also a fun crafting session that kids can participate in. 

There are multiple ways to make your own seed starter pots and today I want to show you 3 different varieties. Let’s jump right in!

Toilet/Paper Towel Roll Pots

This DIY is perfect for smaller plants or ones that take longer to mature and thus don’t need much space initially (herbs, kale, lettuce,..). The practical thing about this version is, that once it is time to transplant your seedling outside, you can plant the entire pot directly into the soil. The cardboard breaks down as the plant matures.

Newspaper Pots

This DIY is great for faster growing or bigger plants, which require a larger container (zucchini, cucumber, tomatoes,..). Just like the cardboard roll version, it is biodegradable and can be planted directly into the soil.

While you can customize the size of these pots, I don’t recommend making them smaller than 8 cm (3.1 inches), as you should be able to comfortably fit your hand inside to layer the newspaper strips. How many layers you add is up to you, but keep in mind that the more you add, the sturdier your pots become.

This DIY is the most time intense of all 3, but is a fun craft to make with friends or kids. Or you can simply put on an audio book and enjoy the meditative process of the repetitive work. 

Tetra Pak Pots

As a vegan, I go through several plant-based milk cartons a month and decided to start upcycling them in various ways. I use them regularly for microgreens, which works incredibly well (you can find an example on my Instagram here). 

Recently I discovered that they also make great pots for seedlings – if you add holes to the bottom. I don’t add holes when planting microgreens, I do however when using them for seed starters, as they are in the tetra paks longer and thus the risk of overwatering and root rot is much higher.

In comparison to the other 2 plant pot versions, this one isn’t biodegradable due to the plastic and aluminum contained in tetra paks. You will have to carefully extract your seedlings with the root ball before transplanting them outside. 

Tetra paks make great pots for larger/faster growing plants. 

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