12 Common Household Items That Make Perfect Seedling Starters

12 Common Household Items That Make Perfect Seedling Starters



Making your own seed starting containers is a great way to repurpose common household items and get a headstart on gardening season, without having to go out and spend a pile of money at the garden center for new trays and pots. What’s more, most of these homemade seed pots are biodegradable and can be planted directly in the ground when your seedling is ready.

Here are 12 DIY seed starter pots that you can make with items you have lying around your house:


1. Toilet Paper Rolls

Toilet Paper Roll Seed Starters
Image via Minnesota Locavore

Take a toilet paper roll (or paper towel roll) and make a few long vertical cuts into one end, then fold them inwards to create a cup.

2. Citrus Peels

Seedlings In Citrus Peels
Image via My Roman Apartment

Use a lemon, orange or a grapefruit to start your seedlings. Poke a hole in the bottom for drainage, fill the center with soil, and then add the seeds.

3. Egg Carton

Turn an Egg Carton into a Seed Starter
Image via Instructables

Each egg-shaped cup in the carton is the perfect size for an individual seed-starting pot.

4. K-Cups

Reuse K-Cups to Start Your Garden Seeds Image via Fresh Eggs Daily

Coffee drinkers – give your K-cups new life as K-Cups plant starters!



5. Eggshells

Make eggshell seedling pots
Image via Squawkfox

Eggshells make awesome seedling pots because you can transplant them directly into the ground after cracking the bottom to allow roots to spread.

6. Newspaper

Newspaper pots
Image via Palazzo Rospo

Make your own DIY newspaper seed pots! They are easy to make and biodegradable.

7. Yogurt Cups

Use Yogurt Cups as Seed Starters
Image via Austin Vegan Gardener

Just wash them out and poke a few drainage holes in the bottom.

8. Milk or Juice Cartons

Milk or Juice Cartons
Image via Whiteley Creek

9. Soda Bottles

Self-Watering Seed Starter Pots
Image via Seattle Sundries

Turn old 2-liter plastic bottles into seed starter pots which will automatically hold the right moisture level for your plants most of the time.

Get the instructions here.

10. Milk Jugs

Milk Jugs
Image via The Hiland Home

11. Ice Cube Tray

Ice Cube Tray into a Seed Starter
Image via Help Ornament My Eden

12. Plastic Cups

Plastic Cups Image via Casa Mariposa


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