What are the best cups for seedlings? Making glasses for seedlings at home

The use of special cups for seedlings makes it easy to sort young plants as they develop and not damage their delicate ones during transplantation. Every summer resident would like to reduce the cost of this first stage of growing vegetables as much as possible. The article will tell you how to make practically free individual containers for seedlings from materials such as film, laminate backing and even newspaper. And so that the process of creating cups with your own hands becomes absolutely clear, photos and videos are attached to the article.

The first home for seedlings - what should it be like?

The use of the seedling method is due to the climate in the temperate zone. When the February snowstorms are still howling through the city streets, the seedlings of future garden residents are already touchingly green on the window. They will have to survive a long journey to the dacha and transplantation into the ground without breaking their fragile stems and keeping the root system intact. This is exactly why seedling cups were invented.

Cups for seedlings can be purchased ready-made or made by yourself

The right glass must meet basic requirements:

• “excellently” protect the roots of seedlings during their growth and during transplantation;
• it is easy to release the earthen lump when it needs to be removed;
• do not fall apart in your hands when moving;
• ideally decompose, turning into humus;
• do not burden the vegetable grower’s budget, which is already spent on seed material, covering film and plant protection products.

It is this last property - the low cost of homemade cups - that makes them so attractive to lovers of greenhouses and garden beds. They can be built from any waste materials: film scraps, waste paper deposits, laminate backing.

Important! When working with transparent materials you need to think about how to block the roots from light so that the plants do not lag behind in growth.

What to prepare for work

To create cups for seedlings with your own hands, we will need very simple materials and tools:

1. The shape around which we will wrap the cup. This could be a can of stewed meat, a wooden or metal block of suitable diameter, or a glass glass from a set of dishes. Very convenient to prepare plastic bottle: it needs to be cut to the height of the future cup, and two holes should be punched in the bottom through which a rope loop should be passed. By hooking this loop, you can effortlessly remove the mold from the finished product.
2. Stapler or tape for securing seams and bottoms.
3. Scissors.

A blank for a cup can be made from a plastic bottle

A glass of pieces of greenhouse film: two minutes and you’re done

Since special beauty and smooth contours are not required here, the film can be cut “by eye”. It can be folded in half to increase rigidity. Each piece should be of such a size as to wrap a block or jar with extra space and form the bottom.

The easiest option is to make cups for seedlings from greenhouse film

Having cut the required number of pieces, we wrap the blanks around the mold and use a stapler to make a strong seam in the overlap area.

We fold the film extending beyond the mold into an “envelope” and also secure it with brackets. Since the edges of the film do not meet tightly, there are no additional holes for drainage excess water no need to do it.

Advice: containers for seedlings of increased strength are obtained if the film is not cleaved with a stapler, but sealed with an electric soldering iron. These cups can be used more than once.

Cups made from laminate backing: strong and stable

The backing for the laminate is the same polyethylene, only foamed. Therefore, the method of making cups from it is the same: wrap it around a mold, staple the seam, form a bottom and secure it. The laminate backing is also used for growing.

Seedling cups made from laminate backing - stable and strong

If the piece of backing is large enough, you can roll it all up into a cylinder and fasten it along its entire length. Cut the resulting tube into equal pieces and then work on the bottoms.

A cup from a newspaper: minimum costs, maximum environmental friendliness

Using free newspapers extracted from mailbox, is a way to make a battery of cups without spending a penny.

Option 1. We wrap a piece of newspaper folded in half around the mold so that there is extra paper on both sides. Fold the bottom and seal it with tape. We take out the mold and bend the top edge of the newspaper inward to strengthen the walls.

Cups for seedlings made from newspaper - an economical option

Option 2. You will need a special form, but the process itself will go much faster and the issue will be resolved at the same time quick filling paper cup with soil mixture.

1. Preparing the form. To do this, take a block or cylinder and wrap a strip of tin around it, which can be cut, for example, from a large tin can. We seal it. The block should move easily, but with minimal clearance, inside the metal mold.
2. We insert the block into the mold about 1 cm and fill the resulting container with pre-prepared soil. Press down with your fingers or a spoon.
3. We wrap a piece of newspaper folded in half around the mold and fold the bottom. Holding it firmly with one hand, we compact the soil (you can also use it) into the mold using a block.
4. We take out the block. We are left with a flat glass already filled with soil in our hands.

Important! Since the paper cup will quickly and completely decompose in the soil, the seedlings do not need to be removed from it when planting. Such care will be appreciated by cucumbers and eggplants, which react extremely painfully to injury to the root system.

The homeliness and thrift of a person working on his land has no boundaries. Cups for young and future tight heads of cabbage, so necessary in the early spring, can be made from literally anything, including even bushings from. This old peasant principle - everything to the house, everything to the business - works to this day, significantly saving money on the care of the household plot.

Do-it-yourself cups for seedlings - photo

DIY box for seedlings

Work with seedlings is in full swing, and it’s time to talk about containers for them. It’s amazing how many simple, easy, fast – and most importantly, effective – ways to make seedling containers are offered by readers. Read and choose, friends!

For more than 10 years I have been using plastic cups from mineral water, drinks or beer for growing seedlings. I take a plastic bottle (for example, 1.5 l), cut off the upper and lower parts with a sharp knife (Fig. 1). The cut out part of the bottle should be smooth, without protrusions or ring-shaped recesses.

I place this workpiece on the table, squeeze it along the diameter, and along the edges with pressure I draw the knife handle several times along the entire length to get a clear line on both sides of the workpiece (Fig. 2). I align the clear lines of the workpiece against each other along the entire length and again draw the knife handle along the entire length of the workpiece several times (Fig. 3). The result is a square glass (Fig. 4) approximately 7x7 cm from the long, flat part of the bottle.

Then I place the glasses close together in a rectangular box with dimensions that are multiples of 7 cm (Fig. 5). Since square glasses have sufficient rigidity, the height of the sides of the box can be made half the length of the glass.

When growing tomato seedlings, I plant the sprout at the very bottom, and as it grows, I add soil on top, and the resulting seedlings have a powerful root system.

You can water both from above and to the bottom of a waterproof box lined with cellophane film. After use, I store the washed glasses in a flattened form, inserting several of them into the same flattened blanks from 2-liter bottles. In this form they do not take up much space.

Do-it-yourself universal tray for seedlings

I would like to suggest the following: take a tray of any size or make it yourself from glass, plastic or other material. We place a stencil on it measuring 4x4 cm or 5x5 cm and a height of 4-5 cm or 6 cm. The material is one that is convenient to saw.

I personally made it from plastic: length 42 cm, width 27 cm. I sawed it exactly in half - 5 cm. The longitudinal plates can be of any size, multiples of 5 cm, and at the ends + 1.5-2 cm for a bunch of cells. This tray holds 21 (7×3) cells measuring 5×5 cm. I fill the cells with soil that was prepared in the fall (a little more than half) and sow the seeds. As the seedlings grow, I add soil. When the time comes, I plant in greenhouses, and from there into open ground.

I remove the seedlings from the cells by removing one of the plates - for example, the transverse one. For this I made a device: an aluminum pipe 0 mm or 120 mm. The bottom part is like the teeth of a crosscut saw, slightly bent inward to hold the ground, and the top is wooden handle. The cut in the upper part of the pipe was bent into an “G” shape. A handle is attached to them. Three or four turns - the earth is inside, take it out - and the hole is ready. We plant together - we are pensioners with experience.

Pour 1.5-2 liters of water into the hole, about 1/2 tsp. nitrogen fertilizer, ash. Mix the soil and plant the seedlings, slightly compacting the soil. After that we don’t look back for a long time. Next comes weeding, watering, etc. We always have a harvest, but we moved here from the Murmansk region.

From personal experience

I do planting with early age. Peppers and eggplants do not like transplanting. Therefore, I plant them in cups, sow them in mid-April, lightly soak them, and as soon as they hatch, I plant them in cups in a slightly deepened hole. I fill the soil up to halfway so that I can top it up later. I water the hole, and then I put the seed and cover it with soil.

And I sow tomatoes in any container. When the first leaves appear (not cotyledons!), I replant them into what I have. Tomato roots can be pinched, but peppers and eggplants cannot. And one more thing: raspberries are not a hindrance to an apple tree, I have raspberries growing under an apple tree, they are friends. But strawberries and raspberries are not neighbors. They have the same disease. Weevil loves both.

Sewing according to a pattern

Cups for seedlings can be made from old oilcloth, an unusable plastic bag, milk cartons, salt, pieces of unnecessary film... I make a template from thick paper according to the attached drawing. With its help, I prepare a pattern and, stepping back 10 mm from the edge, sew with large stitches from top to bottom, and then from bottom to top, following the same tracks, I go back and tie the ends of the thread. The result is a tight, reliable seam. One condition: the threads must be made of synthetic yarn, as they do not rot, which ensures the durability of the cups.

Now I lower the glass onto a solid surface and pour in a handful of plain wet garden soil, compact it with my hand, and you get a bottom 1-1.5 cm thick. I move the glass onto a used tin lid and fill it to the top with prepared soil.

I plant one sprouted grain in each glass, water it, put it on a rack and cover it with a piece of film. When cotyledon leaves appear on the soil surface, I remove the film. I germinate seeds at a temperature of 20-25°.

But seeds, especially pumpkin seeds, germinate best if you warm them with your body. My cups are durable, take up little space, and I have hundreds of them. I grow all vegetables in cups, except for root vegetables (potatoes, beets, carrots). The seedlings do not get sick; they can be left at the dacha unattended for several days.

Popular today peat cups for seedlings. Pros: durable, non-toxic, porous walls allow air and water to pass through (so the roots do not turn sour), transplantation is carried out directly with the pot (no injury root system), decomposing peat serves as fertilizer. But there are also disadvantages: not all cups in stores are of good quality, such containers are not cheap, they tend to get wet, and can become moldy. In such cups, the soil dries out faster, which means you need to constantly monitor the humidity to prevent it from drying out.

Ready-made free containers for seedlings

Walking past a pile of empty plastic beer bottles one day different color, I suddenly realized how to use them in the country. I think that there are more summer residents than beer lovers, the issue of recycling these same bottles can be partially resolved.

When sowing vegetable seeds, in order not to confuse the varieties, you can choose a different bottle color for each variety. Moreover, any bottles, both in shape and color, can be used. Dark ones - for sowing seeds and picking, if you cut off the top part and pierce holes in the bottom with a sharp object so that water does not accumulate when watering. And light bottles, if you cut off the bottom, can be used to cover pickled seedlings. With this method of growing seedlings, it is very convenient to grow them on a windowsill in an apartment, put them in bags and take them to the dacha. It will be protected from accidental damage. For the convenience of planting seedlings in holes, so that the clod of earth does not crumble when removing the bottle, I saw the bottom with a hacksaw before sowing. In this case, a narrow gap is formed, the earth does not pass through it when watering, and excess water flows out. I made a cut about a centimeter and a half along the vertical walls. And when planting, with a sharp knife in the hole, I cut the cuts upward on both sides and take out both halves of the bottles in turn.

The upper parts of light bottles can be used to cover the seedlings at night, and the lower parts of dark bottles can be used for next year, having previously glued it with tape on the sides.

Several problems are being solved at once: less empty containers are lying along the roads, in the forest, on the streets. And the most important thing for a summer resident is the opportunity to receive free containers for seedlings of any shape and any color.

“Quick” cups for seedlings

For a cup with a diameter of 7 cm, it is enough to take a sheet of paper or stiff cellophane measuring 30x18 cm. We bend one side of the sheet (30 cm) and make a cut 5 cm long on the folded edge, also 5 cm away from the edge (see figure).

Then we bend the tongue and wrap the sheet with the curved edge inside the glass (it is more convenient to twist the cups on the bottle). We press down the bottom, remove the product from the bottle and bend the tongue inside the glass. When filling the soil, the tongue will prevent the cup from unfolding.

It is better to iron the folded side and bottom of the cellophane with a hot iron through the paper. We have been making cups like this for 20 years.

We make “seedling” glasses ourselves

So, you need a thick film. From it I cut strips 30 cm long and 20 cm wide. On the long I make four 6 cm cuts on each side, resulting in 5 strips 6 cm wide. That's all - the glass is ready. There is no need to glue or fasten. You can make any sizes. In such cups I grow seedlings of peppers and eggplants without picking and sow them directly. Before sowing, I fill the cups with soil and place them in boxes in two rows. I cover the bottom of the boxes with film and pour expanded clay. And the cups are easy to make. I take a strip of film from left hand, and with the right I put the outer stripes one on top of the other. It turns out four stripes, I bend them - the bottom is ready. I put it on my palm, hold it with my fingers and pour soil up to half the glass.

I carefully put it in the box with the cut in the middle, then I put the second one next to it with the cut facing the cut. The cups must be placed tightly to each other so that they do not fall apart. When I put everything in place, then I fill up the soil.

And it’s easy to plant in the ground: I unroll the film and plant the seedlings into the hole with a lump. The roots are not damaged, the seedlings do not get sick. I wash the strips and store them until the next planting; they serve me for many years.

Two in one

Take note!

I offer containers for seedlings, which I have been using for over 30 years. These are plastic glasses for sour cream, yogurt and other products. The container consists of two glasses: an outer one with a hole in the bottom for water drainage and an inner one - cut along the center of the bottom. When transferring into a large container or when planting in the ground, you need to water the seedlings and, carefully pulling out the inner glass, spread the sides of the glass, tip it upside down onto your palm, carefully remove the seedlings with a lump of earth and plant them in the ground. Wash the glasses, dry them and use them for many years. I'll add a couple of tips:

Shovel for a pensioner (make the shovel lighter by cutting out part of the blade) (see figure).

Vertical bed:

1 – box made of any material (board, metal, plastic, h = 250 mm);

2 – pipe made of any material, perforated at the bottom;

3 – before filling with soil, lay compost in the form of a cone (grass, kitchen waste, cardboard, paper, sawdust, manure), water through a pipe.

Movable bottom

I bought plastic transparent disposable cups for drinking kvass and various drinks. One hundred pieces with a capacity of 200 and 500 ml. I take a glass and make a cut at the bottom, but I don’t cut the bottom completely, leaving 2 cm uncut.

Then I take newspaper paper, fold it carefully in several layers and make a circle on it slightly larger than the bottom of the cup. I immediately cut out a batch of circles and notches (see figure). Holding the glass in my left hand, I insert two paper circles inside the glass, holding its half-cut bottom. Then I fill it with soil and put it in plastic boxes and water it. The soil does not spill out of the cup, because the bottom is made of newspaper in two layers.

I plant one seed at a time. When transplanting seedlings into open ground, I water the cup well. I move the bottom to the side (it is attached to the glass by 2 cm), using a wooden masher I gently push the half-rotted paper circle up - the seedlings easily come out of the glass with a lump of earth. Now I lower it into the previously prepared holes.

This is how I plant tomatoes without diving. Having planted tomato seedlings, I put the cups in a large box, and at the first opportunity I wash them with a brush in a solution of potassium permanganate. I dry it in the sun and put it away until next season. Individual seedlings are easier to transport and plant.

For cucumbers I take 500 ml cups. The technology for processing the bottom is the same as for tomatoes. But when transplanting cucumber seedlings into the ground, I bend the bottom to the side and place the seedlings in a glass in the hole, and press the bottom, pushed to the side, with earth. And I place the cups so that when watering the water does not touch the stem of the plant. Cucumbers do not like transplants. In the fall, I dig the cups out of the ground, wash them and store them until the next season.

Microchamber for seedlings

I tried many ways to grow tomato and pepper seedlings. Lately I've been using cake box lids. I take two lids: one is smaller, the other is larger. I make holes in one of them to drain excess water. I fill 1/2 of the volume with pre-prepared soil. I sow seeds in the furrows, and stick price tags on the walls with the name of the variety: each variety has its own color. Covering larger lid from above - a microchamber with light walls is obtained.

I put these double lids in the third one, bigger size(so that water does not leak out). I install it on the battery, laying foam rubber to avoid overheating of the ground. As a result, you can always see how the seeds germinate, and if there is a threat of dampness due to condensation, then by tilting the cap I rid the seedlings of excess moisture. The temperature is always the same.

Top 7 cheap containers for seedlings

You can save on cups for seedlings if you use equally convenient containers at hand instead of store-bought ones...

1. Cut off milk, kefir, and juice bags. Will also fit plastic cups from yogurt and sour cream. Wash and dry all this.
2. Place toilet paper rolls in a tray and fill with soil (photo 1).
3. Around tin can(bottles, glasses, etc.) wrap a thick sheet of paper or newspaper folded into several sheets (photo 2, 3, 4). Secure with tape or paper clips, place in a tray and fill with soil.
4. Cut rectangles 20 cm long and 10 cm wide from black film. Fold them in half to make a square. Seal the edges with an iron or fasten with a stapler.
5. Cut 1.5 liter plastic bottles in half. Upper part Place the neck down into the bottom one, which will serve as a water reservoir (photo 5).
6. Wash the eggshells with the tops neatly broken off, place them in an egg carton and fill them with soil. Use for growing seedlings before picking.
7. For the same purpose, cut off the top of used tea bags, rinse them and dry them.

When it’s time to plant seedlings of tomatoes, cucumbers, etc., very often, especially among beginning gardeners, the question arises: “What container should I plant the seedlings in?” Cups for seedlings can be completely different: peat, paper, plastic, polyethylene, etc. Sometimes people use unusual ways: planted in egg shells, helium balloons, etc.

I want to talk about the most popular types of cups for seedlings, which are used by many gardeners. Each of them has its own pros and cons, and at the end I’ll tell you what we’ve been planting seedlings in for many years.

So, the most popular pots for seedlings

1.Usage peat tablets and pressed cardboard cups

Until recently, summer residents widely used peat tablets. It is possible that at one time they may have been High Quality, however, many low-quality copies have now begun to appear.

The advantage of such tablets is their convenience and compactness, so there is no need to dig in the ground and fuss around the container. The soaked tablet is able to take shape liter jar(depending, of course, on the size).

Their disadvantage is that the seedlings need frequent watering, since the tablets have high moisture retention. Seedlings can dry out within a day if they are left on the windowsill in the morning without watering and under the sun's rays.

Tablets Bad quality It is risky to use - there is a danger that the seedlings will die in the summer if they are planted in the ground. The reason for this is the lack of development of the pepper root system due to the fact that peat pot I couldn't decompose properly.

Similar properties have been observed in pressed cups, except that they must be planted with soil.

If you choose this method, do not separate from the seedlings, but before planting them, achieve good swelling and accelerate the humus of the container by placing it in a tank of water. It wouldn't hurt to make a cross-shaped cut at the bottom.

2. Use of plastic cups (from tetrapacks, ordinary disposable ones)

This method is convenient because the container can be easily placed on the windowsill. Before planting in the ground, water the soil well in a glass, then carefully turn it over and tap on the bottom to allow the bush with the soil to fall into the dug hole. Its roots will not be damaged. The cups can be used for more than one season if they are then placed in a potassium permanganate solution.

One unpleasant nuance is that the cups with dacha seedlings are very unstable (in cardboard box) while traveling by car or train. So be sure to push foam or newspaper between them to prevent them from falling. However, is it worth doing this when there are plenty of other ways.

3. Using newspaper to make cups

This is the simplest method, once massively in demand among summer residents. So, in order to get identical cups, you need to make them according to a template, the dimensions of which are determined by your wooden box, which can hold up to 50 cups. A wooden box needs insulation, for which the bottom is tightly wrapped with waterproof polyethylene to prevent water from leaking out of it after watering.

You can use any tin can as a template in the form of a square frame. A wooden nozzle of such a size is inserted into the base of the frame that it acts as a damper inside (to prevent the soil from spilling out). Next, several newspapers (the more, the better) are wrapped around the template and the inside is covered with earth. Then we take out the damper, support the bottom of the glass with our hands and secure it in a wooden box. The glasses must be tightly and compactly fixed to each other.

I’ll show you a short video on how to make such a cup, or rather, one of the ways to make paper cups with your own hands.

The disadvantages of such a box are that you cannot plant tomatoes and overgrown seedlings in it. Another disadvantage is that such a box would be best placed on a warm balcony or on window sills with low windows. Cabbage and peppers really like this type of planting.

4. Wooden boxes

This planting method was popular in the old days and may still be in use somewhere among village old-timers. Of course, modern conservative summer residents also resort to it, who like old country methods and do not like new ones. The essence of it is that the box is filled with earth, you plant your seedlings there and they grow there until the time comes to plant them in the garden.

home negative side method - when the seedlings begin to grow, their roots may become entangled with each other. Due to the shallowness of wooden boxes, the root system will be poorly and superficially developed. Seedlings that have been transplanted may end up being undersized, since it will take time to restore the integrity of the roots, and the condition of the grown plants will be at risk in summer heat.

5. Application of soft plastic bags(from dairy products, for example)

If you have a lot of milk, sour cream, and kefir bags at home, you can bypass the second method and use this. The ends of the bags are tucked and turned away as needed to allow the plant to grow. The soil is also added. This is optimal for nurturing tomatoes, since their root system will lengthen, and the stems located in the ground will soon produce root shoots. On hot and dry days, the long roots, of course, will not dry out from dehydration, but will find water.

The disadvantage of this method is that soft bags require strong fixation in a reliable container, for example, in wooden boxes, to avoid accidental tipping. To lengthen their edges even with the height of the packages, lining the perimeter with durable cardboard will help.

6. Plastic containers

Once upon a time there was a whole craze for using such containers at dachas. Plastic cups are conveniently placed on window sills due to their stable structure, do not leak, and have a wide variety of volumes. But their main drawback is that the root system of seedlings can emerge with roots into cracks at the bottom and be injured during transplantation.

So it’s better to play it safe and wrap the bottom of the container with plastic. However, there are still some perplexities: how safe can it be? inner part such container? Some believe that due to the presence of antibacterial protection, the development of beneficial components characteristic of the soil is suspended, which is why seedlings may not grow well.

7. What kind of cups for seedlings do we make with our own hands?

In one of the articles I already wrote that we plant our seedlings in cups made of film. We made them from film bags of fertilizers, which were left over from the times when collective farms were. Making a cup from film is very simple:

1. Cut strips approximately 10 cm high and 30 cm long. It is better to use a thicker film for the pot, then it will be stable.

3. Scroll the second end around the fingers, forming a glass.

4. Place the resulting pot in wooden box, the joint to the wall and pour a couple of pieces of earth.

5. Fill the box with cups like these. When the pots are made, take some round thick stick and compact the earth. Then fill the glass to the top.

I like the last method of making cups with my own hands the most. Of course, you will have to tinker, but when the time comes to plant it in the garden, you simply unwrap the pot and plant the seedlings without damaging the roots and the plant. Which method do you like? What kind of pots do you use?

Spring is a busy time for gardening lovers, which primarily involves working with seeds. Modern stores offer gardeners a whole range of different containers for seedlings, but to save money, most gardeners prefer to make do with improvised means and materials. There are many ways to make cups for growing seeds with your own hands, and below we will talk about the simplest and cheapest of them.

Cups made from metal and plastic jars

The classic option is a container made from metal cans for canned food. Several holes should be drilled in the bottom (preferably from the inside), and to make it easier to remove the seedlings from the container, several cuts are made on its walls. If the cups are intended to be used more than once, it is better not to cut them, but simply put a strip of thick paper or polyethylene on the bottom - in order to get the earthen lump and not damage the roots, you just need to pull it. In a similar way, you can use tin beer cans, cut off at the top, as well as plastic bottles and toilet paper rolls.

Plastic yogurt cups can serve as containers for seedlings of vegetables and flowers. First you need to cut out the bottom of the jar, and instead put a suitable size circle of tin or cardboard.

When the shoots need to be planted, it will be enough to press on the improvised bottom with a stick. It is important to note that transparent disposable cups are the worst choice for seedlings, since the roots in such containers do not receive enough light and shoot growth slows down.

Cups made of paper or newspaper

Containers for seedlings from paper or newspapers are made in several ways. For the first, you will need a suitable cylinder (you can use a plastic bottle or a tin can, cut off at the top) as a base, as well as strips of paper of a suitable width. If the paper is thick enough, three strips will be enough to make one cup, and if it is thin, it is better to add 2-3 more. The paper strips must be attached to the base so that they protrude beyond its edge by at least 5-6 cm (depending on the radius), then wrap it in paper (not too tightly so that the cylinder or jar can be easily removed) . The protruding edges must be pressed well, thus forming the bottom of the cup. After this, the base can be removed and the seedlings can be planted in the resulting container.

Cups for seedlings can also be made using the papier-mâché principle. To do this, you will need several glass glasses, a bowl of water and old newspapers or even toilet paper. Soak the newspapers well and form the future container on a regular glass. If you will be using toilet paper to make cups, use a spray bottle instead of a bowl of water. Toilet paper is wrapped around the mold, after which it is well moistened with a spray bottle and pressed well against the walls of the glass. The workpiece is dried for 24 hours, after which it is removed in a circular motion.

Paper or newspaper cups are convenient primarily because it is very convenient to plant seedlings in the ground later. You can simply tear the paper and throw it away, or even plant the shoots along with the container (the paper will break down naturally over time), without damaging even the smallest roots.

Film cups

To make cups for seedlings from polyethylene film It is best to take film that is used for greenhouses. In addition, you will need a base of a suitable shape and a regular office stapler. The film is cut into strips, wrapped around a base and fastened with staples, after which a square cup is obtained. A simpler option is to make tubes out of film, bend the top edges for rigidity, place them in a box or pallet and fill them with earth. In this case, the most important thing is that the film is thick enough, otherwise it will simply lose its shape.

If there are a lot of bags of fermented milk products accumulated at home, they can be used for seedlings. The bags are folded, seeds are planted in them, then the edges are turned away and sprinkled required amount soil as shoots grow. The only drawback of this method is that the bags are quite unstable and require additional support. For greater rigidity, it is recommended to strengthen their edges around the perimeter with cardboard strips.

Which cups are best to plant seedlings in?

It is quite difficult to answer the question of which cups are best used for seedlings, since it depends on the characteristics of the crop that you plan to grow and other factors. Today in gardening stores you can buy different containers for growing plants: peat cups and tablets, as well as plastic containers different forms and sizes.

Peat containers

Containers made from compressed peat have a number of very valuable advantages. Firstly, they ensure maximum survival rate of young plants, since they can be planted in the ground directly with the container, without injuring even the smallest roots. This is especially valuable when growing delicate crops that do not like being transplanted to a new location. Secondly, the material from which the container is made is not simply destroyed naturally, but turns into a nutritious fertilizer.

Peat cups come in both round and square - the latter are very convenient as they do not take up much space on the windowsill.

When purchasing such containers, it is important to remember that to reduce costs, some manufacturers add cardboard to the material, and such containers are not suitable for growing seedlings - when planted in the ground, the roots of the shoots do not pass through the thick cardboard layer well, which is why the plants begin to grow poorly . In addition, planting seeds in peat pots requires knowledge of some rules:

• containers must be placed on expanded clay or sand;
• the soil must always be moistened, since water from such pots quickly evaporates, as a result of which the seedlings will grow poorly (however, excess moisture can lead to the appearance of tribes on the walls of the cups);
• As the shoots grow, they need to be moved away from each other so that the roots of young plants do not intertwine with each other.

There are also peat humus tablets on sale, which are no less convenient for planting seedlings - when wet, they can significantly increase in size. If it is not possible to buy such tablets, they can be replaced with nutritional cubes made by yourself.

DIY nutritional cubes

To make cubes you will need:

• humus (5 parts);
• turf land (1 part).

• peat (3 parts);
• humus (1 part).

The components need to be mixed together, then for each kilogram of the resulting mixture add 15 g of ammonium nitrate, the same amount of potassium sulfate, 50 grams of superphosphate and water so that the mass has the consistency of thick sour cream. It needs to be placed in a tray in a layer of 8-10 cm, then cut into cubes with a sharp knife required size. For convenience, the cubes are slightly moved away from each other and the seeds are planted.

Video - Tablets, cubes for seedlings with your own hands

Plastic containers

Plastic containers for growing seeds can be of two types: ordinary pots and cassette containers, which look like cells fastened together. Pots are more suitable for house plants, since replanting shoots from them is quite difficult - the roots are very tightly intertwined with each other, as a result of which they are severely damaged. If the seedlings are planned to be grown in plastic containers, it is very important to choose the right size.

Paper cups, in this moment, more relevant than ever, since it is a cheap way to transport the same seedlings. Of course, you can use the plastic cups that are familiar to everyone, but there are times when the cups are not at hand, or they do not fit in size. In such cases, this method of making cups (pots) from paper (newspaper will also work) with your own hands comes to the rescue.

To make a paper cup we will need:

• newspaper;
• cone (in in this case, spray paint);
• scissors.

First, let's take our cone. The size of the cup directly depends on the size of the cone, so this must be taken into account. We cut the newspaper to the size of a cone, fold it into 2 layers so that the cup does not tear in the future.

We twist the newspaper around the cone and bend the bottom (bottom) of our cup.

That's all. You can use the cup to suit your needs! This method is suitable, first of all, for those who sell seedlings. By the way, if you are engaged in growing and selling seedlings, I recommend looking at the articles “How to make a box for seedlings” and “Mini greenhouse for seedlings.”

The first question we ask ourselves before sowing seeds for seedlings is: in what containers should we plant the seedlings?

There are many ready-made seedlings on sale, but for various reasons we choose to make homemade glasses. We can make them the right size, volume, and arrange them as conveniently as possible for ourselves. This is their main advantage.

How to make glasses for seedlings from paper and film, read in this article.

Making containers for seedlings with your own hands is quite quick and not difficult. Moreover, you can do this in advance, on long winter evenings.

Glasses made of film.

The first year we grew tomato seedlings in “diapers”. When the seedlings grow up, the diapers must be unrolled and filled with soil.

But since last year we have simplified and changed this process a little. We will not unroll the film and add soil, so we immediately make a glass from the film of the required depth.

For example, for tomatoes – 18 cm, for plants with short roots – 10 cm is enough.

• We use a film that is thick enough so that it holds its shape well. Or you can not unroll the thin film. It is usually sold folded in half.
• We cut the film into rectangles, approximately 15x20cm, and wrap them lengthwise around a handle or tube with a diameter of 3.5-4cm (approximately). The diameter depends on the container in which you will then place the cups. It may be a little more or less.
• We fasten the edges with tape. We bend the bottom by 4-5 cm and also fasten it with tape. We pierce the bottom several times with an awl to drain excess water.
  You should get narrow, long cups made of film.

• We fill it with earth, not reaching the top 3-4cm. We compact the earth. If you fill it almost to the top, there will be nowhere to pour water when watering.

  DIY paper seedling cups

  Very uncomfortable.

• I place glasses in jars in three rows, close to each other. Otherwise they collapse.
• Such narrow glasses must be installed in any container with high walls. Can be used in flower pots.

What do I like about the diaper sowing method?

• Compact placement of seedlings on the windowsill. Narrow rolls of film take up little space, pressing tightly against each other. At home, this is a big plus.
• The roots, accustomed to growing downward, once in the garden bed, continue to reach deeper in search of moisture and nutrition. Such plants require less watering.

We made containers for pepper seedlings and tomato seedlings from film. But when there were free stems left, we used them for greens, basil and celery. You can pick flowers and other plants in them.

These glasses will serve you for many years. After planting the seedlings, be sure to save the film until the next season.

Paper glasses.

In order to save space and money, last year we made paper cups using the same principle, only square ones. They took magazine and newspaper sheets and wrapped them around wooden block, the bottom was bent and secured with tape.

But I didn’t like these glasses because the seedlings refused to grow in them. Something was wrong with this paper.

The photo shows how frail the seedlings are in paper cups and how large they are in plastic cups. The land and growing conditions were the same.

And the second inconvenience with paper cups is that they began to fall apart from moisture while growing seedlings. Watering became difficult; moisture flowed into holes without moistening the soil.

We no longer use this method of creating glasses.

But since some gardeners recommend this method, perhaps there are subtleties that we did not take into account.

In general, containers for growing seedlings can be any:

• transparent jars with lids (for cookies, cakes, vegetables, salads)
• cardboard boxes for dairy products
• plastic bottles
• and even egg packaging

You can buy 200 ml disposable glasses and place them in a vegetable drawer, the bottom of which is lined with film.

Prudent summer residents prepare this valuable container all year round. And over time, any container is seen as a container for seedlings. As you can see, there is a huge field for imagination here.

If you have any questions that I did not take into account in the note, ask in the comments and be sure to share your experience.

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All gardeners know that the summer season requires financial investments. Here you need to buy seeds and seedlings. Let’s say you can grow seedlings yourself. But, again, the question arises - what to grow in?

How to make convenient cups for seedlings

Buying special cups for seedlings is also expensive, especially when you plan to grow on a large scale. So, at this stage you can save a lot by making cups for seedlings with your own hands. And you don’t need to buy material - you can always find old newspapers, cans, bottles, packaging, and film at home. And in winter there will be something to occupy yourself with.

Material for cups for seedlings

The starting materials can be either ready-made containers or improvised means, namely:

Since the finished container can already be used, we will focus on the last two points that require human participation.

Paper cups for seedlings

In order to make paper cups, you will need paper (newspapers, magazines) and a blank (base) of the glass. The following is used as a preparation:

• a cut-off plastic bottle with a loop on the bottom (to make it easier to remove the blank from the made glass);
• cut off top of a tin can.

Cut strips of paper up to 40 cm long and 20 cm wide. Wrap them around the base for the glass so that the paper protrudes 5 centimeters beyond the edge. Then tuck this protruding edge and make the bottom of the glass. Now the base can be carefully pulled out, and the cup itself can be secured with paper clips or glued together for strength. Ready! All that remains is to pour the prepared soil and you can plant the seedlings. If you use toilet paper, then it is first moistened abundantly and then dried well.

The advantage of paper cups is that they can be planted in the ground along with the seedling; during the growth process, the paper will decompose and will not interfere with the growth of the root system.

Cellophane cups

These cups are made using the same technology as paper cups, but with careful use they will serve you more than once. To do this, roll the film strips into a cylinder and secure the bottom and walls with a stapler.

You can do it even simpler and buy cellophane bags for packaging in bulk. Immediately fill them with soil and place them in a box for stability. Such bags are pre-pierced at the bottom so that moisture does not stagnate.

For more information on how to make cups for seedlings with your own hands, watch the video:

As soon as summer residents begin to have seasonal troubles with seedlings, all sorts of containers are used for germinating seeds of vegetable and flower crops.

What are the best cups for seedlings?

But it is not always possible to purchase ready-made containers for seedlings. We suggest making bags for seedlings from spunbond with your own hands: quickly, inexpensively and very convenient.

Spunbond is a popular covering material non-woven material, known to any summer resident. To make bags, you can purchase medium-density or denser spunbond, preferably black, although white is also suitable.

Spunbond is inexpensive, about 50 rubles per linear meter. The width of the canvas is 1.5 meters. From one linear meter you can sew a bunch of cups for seedlings different sizes. In order to make bags from spunbond, it is not necessary to purchase new covering material; an old, already used one will do.

Many people order similar bags made of spunbond from China, but their size is very small - 8*10, this volume is more suitable for seedlings of flowers or cucumbers, but not for tomatoes or peppers, larger bags are needed here. And you need to order these bags in advance, since you have to wait a long time for your order. Let's try to make bags for seedlings with our own hands, especially since it is not at all difficult.

It is necessary to cut out rectangles of the required size from spunbond and fasten the sides with a stapler. If there sewing machine- it’s better to stitch, it will be even faster and more reliable.

The resulting bags must be turned out and covered with soil. Spunbond bags are ready for planting seeds or picking seedlings.

What are the benefits of making your own spunbond seedling bags?

• Spunbond bags are an ideal solution for growing seedlings with further planting directly into the ground, since plants can be planted directly in cups without damaging the root system.
• Spunbond can be used to sew bags for seedlings of any size, suitable for any crop;
• Spunbond, unlike plastic containers, allows air to pass through, which allows plant roots to breathe and also protects the soil from waterlogging;

• Soft spunbond bags take up little space in drawers or boxes;
• Black spunbond attracts solar heat, which makes plant growth more comfortable;
• Dense spunbond does not transmit light to the roots;
• Watering seedlings can and should be done directly into the container in which the spunbond cups are made. This saves time because you don't have to water each plant individually.

As you can see, hand-made spunbond seedling bags have many advantages, and sewing them is very easy and simple.