Transplanting Seedlings from a Recycled Egg Carton

Two Week Seedlings Turned Sprouts | Plucky Gumption Copyright 2014

After two weeks, our seedlings have outgrown the egg carton. We had some difficulty transplanting the little sprouts into larger containers. I read that the easiest way was to spoon the sprouts out of the egg carton and carefully place them in a larger pot. I am not the most delicate gal in the world. (My nickname growing up was “Bam-Bam.”) I thought it was much easier to carefully cut up the bottom of the egg carton and transplant the entire piece into the larger container. Here is a step by step of how we transplanted our egg carton sprouts into large containers.

Step One: Separate each sprout into individual rounds for transplanting. My husband, a.k.a. Pookie is the lovely hand model. We initially cut the container with a pocket knife and separated the basil sprouts from the tomato sprouts. 

Step Two: Cut the thick edge off the individual rounds. That makes it easier to set it in its new larger home. We used regular scissors to cut the edges off.

 Step Three: Make a spot in the larger container to place the sprout. Fill the soil up around the egg carton round.  

Seed Starting with Recycled Egg Container

Egg Carton Seed Starter | Plucky Gumption Copyright 2014

          Pookie (my husband) and I started our family garden in January. We recycled an egg carton to start our basil and tomato seeds. I am by no means an expert in gardening. I am merely chronicling Pookie and my attempt to start our own family garden. We went through a rough financial spell and felt that we really needed to lessen our dependency on the grocery store for food. Here is a "How to Start Seeds in an cardboard Egg Carton."

Step One: Poke holes in the bottom of the egg carton rounds.

Step Two: Fill the egg rounds with soil. We used organic potting soil that was on sale at Home Depot.

Step Three: Make a little indent with your pinky finger.

Step Four: Place a seed in each soil indent. 

Step Five: Cover up the indent with soil.

Step Six: Water.

Step Seven: Create a tin foil tray to collect excess water.

Step Eight: Cover the seeds with plastic wrap to create a greenhouse effect.

Step Nine: Place in a sunny window.

Step Ten: Don’t forget to water your seeds. The cardboard soaks up water like nobody’s business.

After 10 days our seed babies started sprouting. The tomatoes pushed their little heads up first and then the basil. I was so freaking excited, Like a kid with the most awesome science experiment ever! EVER! I even made up a song for the plants, which I fully believe with all my heart is working and if you don't believe me check out this article at the Farmer's Almanac. We are three weeks in and just planted peanuts and tangelo seeds. Next week I’ll post on our transplanting adventures!