Seedlings in plastic cups. Cucumber planters

Nowadays, it is not difficult to buy special containers for seedlings. But are modern plastic cassettes so good, peat pots or tablets for growing quality planting material as their manufacturers claim? Isn't it better to use boxes, cups, kefir boxes or other improvised containers in the old fashioned way?

Today we will try to find the pros and cons of the most popular containers for growing seedlings and choose the best option.

Perhaps the most ancient way of growing seedlings is to plant seeds in a common box, followed by picking. This is how our grandmothers grew seedlings. The box can be wooden, plastic or foam. As a rule, the box is placed on a pallet, and the inside is lined with plastic wrap and filled with earth.

Pros: More seedlings can be grown in a box than in individual glasses; it is convenient to turn it over; the box does not require additional devices during transportation; it is easy to put together by yourself and save money.

Minuses: In the process of picking or planting seedlings in the beds, there is a high probability of damage to the roots (and this means a delay in growth and fruiting); a wooden box filled with earth is quite heavy.

Plastic cassettes

Plastic cassettes are small containers fastened together with drainage holes various lengths and widths. If desired, there will surely be a cassette for the entire width of your window sill.

In Russian stores, plastic cassettes are usually sold without pallets. In this case, the pallet will have to do it yourself. Otherwise, they are very easy to use: you just need to fill each cell with soil mixture and boldly plant the seeds.

Pros: Easy to adjust to the desired size by cutting with scissors; they are inexpensive and last a long time; cassettes are light and compact; already have holes for good drainage; seedlings are easily removed from the cells.

Minuses: Cassettes of "large format" are inconvenient for transportation, because they are very flimsy and can crack under the weight of the earth and plants; due to the fact that the cells are fastened together, when extracting one seedling, you can inadvertently break the earthen ball of another; not free; not every culture will have enough space in a small cell (for example, the roots of peppers and eggplants may not have enough “depth” of the cassette).

Peat cups

Peat cups are very popular among gardeners, especially among supporters organic farming, because they are made from environmentally friendly materials and easily decompose in the ground. It is often recommended to use peat pots and glasses in the second stage - for transplanting (picking) seedlings, and not for sowing seeds.

Pros: Durable and safe, do not contain toxic substances; the walls of the cups are porous, they allow air and water to pass through, preventing the roots from “turning sour”; seedlings are planted on permanent place directly in the pot, which means that the root system is not injured at all; seedlings take root almost 100%; decaying peat serves as additional fertilizer.

Minuses: Not all available for sale peat cups different good quality; have a tendency to get wet; not cheap; can “bloom”, that is, become moldy; in peat containers, the soil loses moisture faster, which means that you need to closely monitor the seedlings and prevent drying out.

Peat tablets

V last years gaining popularity special peat tablets- pressed fine peat with nutritional additives in a sheath made of a durable mesh. They are placed in a pan and filled with water. The tablets swell and increase in height several times, after which seeds are planted in the recesses from above.

Pros: Picking without unnecessary gestures: the tablet is simply buried in the ground; excellent air and moisture permeability, which is important for the development of a powerful root system; no need to prepare or buy seedling soil, at least in the first stage of growing seedlings.

Minuses: Expensive pleasure; as in the case of peat pots, constant monitoring of humidity is necessary - it is very easy to dry out the roots of seedlings.

However, resourceful gardeners will always find a way out. For example, to solve a moisture problem, peat tablets with seedlings are placed in a plastic container from under sushi, pastries or cake. The container is filled with water to the brim, and the tablets themselves take as much moisture as needed.

Plastic cups

One of the best options containers for seedlings - these are plastic cups of various capacities. They can be either specially “sharpened” for growing seedlings, or ordinary transparent ones from sets of disposable tableware. Moreover, you will need two sets of such glasses: one with a volume of 100-150 milliliters for the initial planting of seeds, and the second with a volume of 500 milliliters for the subsequent transplantation of young plants (picks).

Pros: Cups are cheap, but will last more than one year; plants are easily removed without damaging the earthen coma.

Minuses: Still worth the money; if you use transparent disposable cups, you need to remember to make drainage holes (for example, with a hot nail); difficulties may arise during transportation (usually cups are placed in shoe boxes so as not to tip over).

Homemade containers for seedlings

And yet, the optimal containers for seedlings are those that do not need to be bought. Because we always have them at hand! And instead of encouraging the production of excess plastic with your hard-earned money, you should pay attention to the recycling of all kinds of packaging materials. Abroad, this practice is flourishing, and we, I must say, are not far behind.

Dairy boxes

By cutting off the bottom of the dairy box, it's easy to get a wonderful seedling container. It remains only to pierce the bottom in several places for drainage, put the boxes in a tray, fill with soil - and sow.

Pros: Free; lungs; may be different heights; finished seedling perfectly removed together with an earthy clod (just tearing the box is enough).

Minuses: It's easy to forget and throw the box in the trash instead of cutting it off; a pan is needed, because they let water through.

Cups of yogurt, sour cream, instant vermicelli, etc.

Free replacement for special plastic cups. With the role of a glass of 100 milliliters, packaging from yogurt does an excellent job, and in large glasses of 500 milliliters of sour cream, seedlings will feel no worse than in purchased nurseries.

Pros: The same as store-bought plastic cups, plus freebies and a small contribution to a big environmental cause.

Minuses: The same as purchased plastic cups.

Buckets of sauerkraut, cucumbers, etc.

Liter plastic buckets will cope with the role of a container for seedlings no worse than others. They are especially suitable for large seedlings. The good thing is that you can safely fill half the tank with drainage, and only then with soil.

Pros: free, large, easy to carry, because each bucket has a handle, durable.

Cons: transparent; need to be improved (it is necessary to pierce holes to drain excess water)

Paper cups from newspapers

For those who do not eat sour cream or drink milk, but read newspapers, this interesting and extremely fashionable in the West method of making containers for seedlings will come in handy.

The old newspaper is folded in half lengthwise, and wrapped around a 1.5-liter bottle or can in several layers. The main thing is not to forget to leave an allowance for the bottom at the bottom. The edges are fastened with a stapler, the bottom is simply bent inward. Ready! You can fill the cups with earth, lightly tamping it, and plant it.

For tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and cucumbers, paper cups are made with a diameter of about 8 centimeters and a height of 10-14 centimeters. Cups about 7 centimeters in height and 5 centimeters in diameter are suitable for cabbage seedlings.

Pros: Free, lightweight, non-toxic; you don’t have to take the seedlings out of the glass, just put it in the hole and cover it with earth.

Minuses: It is necessary to find time and work with your hands, which is not always possible; a pallet or box is required where to put these cups (tight to each other).

What else can be adapted for growing seedlings? There are a lot of variations here! For example, cardboard sleeves from rolls toilet paper can easily play the role of a glass.

Opaque cropped work great plastic bottles with drainage holes in a circle (2-3 centimeters from the bottom). Even "one and a half", cut into two or three parts, turn into hotbeds without a bottom. But this “problem” is easily solved with the help of a pallet or a low box, where you need to install home-made containers filled with soil. Some gardeners cut out rectangles from plastic bottles, roll them into cylinders of the desired diameter and fasten the edges with a regular paper clip. From such a container, the plant does not even have to be shaken out: he removed the paper clip, the cylinder fell apart.

The use of special cups for seedlings makes it easy to sort young plants as they develop and not damage their tender tissue 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 show you how to make almost free individual seedling containers from materials such as film, laminate substrate, 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 dwelling for seedlings - what should it be?

The use of the seedling method is due to the peculiarities of the climate in the temperate zone. When the February blizzards are still howling through the streets of the city, shoots of future garden residents are already touchingly green on the window. They will have to survive a long journey to the country house and transplant into the ground without breaking their fragile stems and keeping the root system intact. That's what seedling cups are for.

Seedling cups can be purchased ready-made or do-it-yourself

The correct glass must meet the basic requirements:

"excellent" to protect the roots of seedlings in the process of their growth and during transplantation;
it is easy to release the earthen ball when it needs to be removed;
do not fall apart in the hands when moving;
ideally decompose, turning into humus;
not to burden the vegetable grower's budget, already thrown on seed, covering film and plant protection products.

This last property is cheapness homemade cups- and makes them so attractive for lovers of greenhouses and garden beds. They can be built from any waste materials: film scraps, waste paper deposits, laminate substrates.

Important! When working with transparent materials, you need to think about how to cover 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 our own hands, we will need absolutely simple materials and tools:

The shape around which we will wrap the cup. This can be a can of stew, a wooden or metal bar of a suitable diameter, a glass cup from a set of dishes. It is very convenient to prepare a plastic bottle: you need to cut it to the height of the future glass, and punch two holes in the bottom through which to pass a rope loop. By catching this loop, you can effortlessly remove the mold from the finished product.
Stapler or tape to secure the seams and bottoms.
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 even 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 bar or jar with a margin and form a bottom.

The easiest option is to make seedling cups from greenhouse film

slicing right amount pieces, wrap the workpieces around the mold and make a strong seam in the place of overlap using a stapler.

We fold the film that goes beyond the form with an “envelope” and also fix it with brackets. Since the edges of the film do not converge tightly, additional holes for draining excess water do not need to be made.

Tip: a container for seedlings of increased strength is obtained if the film is not chopped off with a stapler, but sealed with an electric soldering iron. These cups can be used more than once.

Laminate lined cups: strong and stable

The substrate for the laminate is the same polyethylene, only foamed. Therefore, the method of making cups from it is the same: wrap around the mold, chop off the seam with a stapler, form the bottom and fix it. The substrate for the laminate is also used for growing.

Seedling cups made of laminate substrate - 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 identical pieces and then work on the bottoms.

Newspaper cup: minimum costs, maximum environmental friendliness

Use of free newspapers extracted from mailbox, is a way to wind up a battery of cups without spending a dime.

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

Newspaper seedling cups - an economical option

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

Preparing the form. To do this, we take a bar or cylinder and wrap a strip of tin around it, which can be cut, for example, from a large tin can. We solder. The bar should move easily, but with a minimum gap, inside the metal mold.
We insert the bar into the mold by about 1 cm and fill the resulting container with pre-prepared soil. Press down with fingers or a spoon.
We wrap a piece of newspaper folded in half around the form and fold the bottom. Holding it firmly with one hand, we tamp the soil (you can also use it) in the form with a bar.
We take out the bar. We have in our hands an even cup already filled with soil.

Important! Since the paper cup quickly and without residue decomposes in the ground, seedlings can not 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 housekeeping and frugality of a person working on his land has no boundaries. Much-needed cups for young and future tight heads of cabbage in the early spring can be made from literally anything, including even bushings from. This old peasant principle - everything in the house, everything in business - still works to this day, significantly saving money on caring for the household plot.

Do-it-yourself seedling cups - photo

For growing seedlings at home, containers are first of all needed. Seedlings feel best in cups, in which the roots of plants are not intertwined as in plants planted together in one box. When planting seedlings from cups in the ground, the roots of the plants are not damaged, since the plant extracted from a separate container with a clod of earth is transferred to the hole without damage, so seedlings from cups take root faster. Crops such as peppers, eggplants do not like transplants and get sick for a long time if the root system is damaged, it is recommended to grow their seedlings only in cups.

There are many types of glasses on the market. different sizes and from various materials. The most popular cassettes or cups are made of dark plastic. However, many do not have the opportunity to spend additional funds on the purchase of containers for seedlings. Therefore, they collect tetra packs from juice, plastic bottles, then cut them into desired height for planting.

The easiest and cheapest way to make do-it-yourself paper cups . It is best to use glossy magazines. You can use newspapers, but they need to be folded in several layers, because after heavy watering, newspaper cups get soaked and may tear. Glossy magazines have thick glossy paper, besides, the size of the pages of magazines printed in A4 format is perfect for twisting cups - this is an ordinary landscape sheet.

How to make seedling cups:

To work, you will need a couple of magazines, wide tape and a glass or tin the desired diameter. According to the size of the glass, you will twist the cups, for example, for tomato seedlings we use containers up to 400 ml, for this we take a glass with a diameter of 8-10 cm, for seedlings of pepper and eggplant, the diameter of the cups should be about 6 cm. the process of twisting them.

From the center of the magazine, tear out the sheets in pairs, so you get paper in two additions.

Put the glass to the bottom edge and wrap it in paper.

Seal the edge with tape, in several pieces, starting from the top.

Move the cup in the paper to the desired height of the seedling cup. Crumple the remaining free edges of the paper tube along the bottom of the glass inward and seal with a piece of adhesive tape.

Place a paper cup and use the glass inside to press down on the bottom to make it stable.

The seedling cup is ready, place it in a box or box. It is better to place paper cups tightly together in a box or box with high sides so that they do not lose balance.

Do-it-yourself cups are covered with earth, then you can proceed to transplanting or sowing seedlings.

Seedling cups from magazines are well preserved until disembarkation, do not soak, do not tear even when moved. There are holes in the bottom between the leaves through which excess water flows after watering to prevent waterlogging of the seedlings and rotting of the roots.

With the approach of the new summer season, gardeners are again starting to think about what to use for seedling pots or how to make them with their own hands. There are really a lot of container options for the temporary cultivation of a small plant, you just have to choose.

Seed container options

It so happened that various containers that were already in use for food and other products are traditionally used as pots for seedlings. It is extremely rare for gardeners to turn to an assortment of stores for these purposes simply because the opening of the summer season already entails considerable expenses, so if you can save money, it is better to take advantage of this opportunity.

So, containers for seedlings can serve:

Tetra-pack boxes for dairy products, juices and more.

Such a half-liter bag can be used as a pot for one plant, and if a two-liter box is placed horizontally and the side wall is cut off, then at least three plant roots will fit in it.

Plastic glasses from sour cream, ice cream.

They can be used without cutting. Glasses from under fruit yogurt and various curds of a small volume are still too small for growing seedlings.

Disposable cups, both small and "beer".

Due to the different volume and low cost, plastic disposable tableware is chosen for seedlings, perhaps most often.

Plastic bottles of any size.

Plastic bottles from carbonated drinks up to two liters can be cut off, stepping back about a third of the height from the bottom. And here are the big ones plastic cans from under drinking water with a volume of 5 to 10 liters, it is more rational to cut along and plant in them large quantity seeds.

Cans for food and beer.

Using such containers for growing seedlings, the most important thing is not to get hurt on the sharp ends of the wall.

Shoe or similar boxes made of thick cardboard, sheathed on the inside with polyethylene.

In them, you can not only plant the plants themselves, but also use them as a box or tray for several cups with seedlings.

Usually, from the whole variety of options, those containers are selected that are at hand at the time of planting the seeds for seedlings.

How to make cups from improvised materials.

Of course, recycling food packaging brings more than just cost savings. No less important is the environmental component, when the garbage is not just thrown away, but it has an excellent use.

But if a person does not eat, say, store-bought dairy products, cups and boxes from under which could become pots for seedlings, or he fails to save up over the winter required amount containers, that is, a simple way out is to make cups for seedlings with your own hands.

From paper (newspaper)

Paper cups are made according to the same principle: a cylinder or bar is taken as the basis, which is wrapped with a strip of paper, preferably without traces of printing ink. Then the base is removed, and the resulting cup serves as a pot for seedlings.

This simple mechanism can be supplemented and improved with various small devices, for example, a loop at the bottom of a glass cut from a plastic bottle.

You need to fill the glass with earth for the future plant, and then wrap it with a strip of paper, and make a bag on top.

After that, turn the cup on the palm of your hand and pull the plastic cup out of the paper one by the loop. The earth will remain in the paper cup and it will be possible to plant the seeds of the plant in it.

Thus, you can use a plastic or other base indefinitely and make as many cups as you need.

Paper cups are good because sometimes you can plant seedlings in the garden right in them without taking them out. If this is not required, then they cannot be reused either, because during the time that seedlings grow in them from the ground and watering, they become unusable.

Film

The principle of making cups for seedlings from polyethylene film the same as from paper, if not even simpler, and they can serve for more than one year.

For such a cup, you will need a transparent film that is used for greenhouses, as well as a stapler or paper clips. From a strip of polyethylene, you need to make a cylinder, and from the bottom - a bag, fix the walls with a stapler and use it as a container for seedlings.

Thus, if it was not possible to accumulate the required number of boxes and cups for growing seedlings during the winter, you can always make them out of paper or polyethylene using quite simple fixtures and without spending a lot of time.

Do-it-yourself seedling cups (video)

With the advent of the new calendar year, every fan of growing vegetables in his own garden is again preoccupied with finding containers for sowing. Almost all gardeners have abandoned the habit of growing seedlings on the windowsill in bulky wooden boxes- they are too inconvenient when transporting to the country. In addition, the tender young seedlings have time to grow into the roots of neighboring plants. The optimal solution in the choice of containers for sowing is a glass for seedlings.

Buy from a store or make your own?

Of course, production technologies do not stand still, and every hypermarket that respects its customers keeps in its assortment convenient containers for peat seedlings, which will not only not damage the root system young plant, but also simply dissolves in the soil. Why build your own cups when you can buy ready-made ones? The answer to this question is extremely simple. Experienced gardeners are accustomed to planting more than a dozen and even more than one hundred seeds of various vegetable and flower crops. Can you imagine how much it will take to invest in order to stock up on containers for all the seeds? Therefore, we will save and make peat cups for seedlings on our own. In the meantime, let's determine if there are any improvised materials that could become a container for seedlings.

Simple solutions from improvised materials

Even during the winter, gardeners collect plastic bottles, juice boxes, milk bags, and sour cream containers. Literally everything is used: from paper to a dense greenhouse film. And the fantasy of gardeners knows no bounds. The film is sewn together with threads, chopped off with a stapler, wound in several layers. There is another simplest way to design containers. Two-liter bottles of drinks are cut at the right height and turned into a container for planting. Plastic cups for seedlings, made in such a way in a simple way, have one small minus. Nevertheless, when transplanting, the root system will have to be disturbed a little. Painlessly, only the excavation of those plants that, during the time spent on the windowsill, did not have time to acquire long and strong roots, occurs.

Making paper cups for seedlings

Some plants are so capricious that they do not withstand transplantation, they get sick for a long time and do not take root well. As a result, while the seedling is acclimatizing in a new place, the precious time allotted for growth will be lost. Therefore, we will make cups for seedlings from paper. During the winter, you can collect unnecessary newspapers. Pressed pulp obtained from recycled materials is used for printing publications. It will easily rot in the garden, serving as food for omnivores.

We cut the newspapers into pieces of 10x30 cm. Newspaper sheets are quite thin, and in order for the process to go faster, you can fold them in half or three times. We take an ordinary glass and wrap it with the resulting blanks in several layers. We leave a small protrusion, which will later be needed to form the bottom. Now we dip the bottom edge of the paper in a small amount of glue and wrinkle it well, forming the bottom and fixing it tightly at the bottom of the glass. We press down the newspaper blank with a glass and let the glue dry. We repeat this simple manipulation as many times as we plan to receive blanks. Paper cups for seedlings are ready! Now they can be put away in the pantry until the sowing time.

Peat container for planting

If we are not sure about the density of newspaper sheets, then we can use a more sophisticated technology for manufacturing a landing container. A peat cup will bring even more benefits to a painlessly transplanted plant. After all, it, dissolving in the soil, actually becomes good fertilizer. You can make peat containers under own order. We will determine the right dimensions cups and fit a conical steel billet under them. We take into account the fact that in order to obtain more early harvest it is necessary to sow the seeds in a spacious spacious container. root system it will develop well in it, the transplant will be painless, and the plant will immediately be able to proceed to fruiting.

To make a peat cup for seedlings, we need:

steel conical shape of the required size;
blank for forming cups;
circle with rod.

The composition of the nutrient mixture

Having found all the components of the form for the design of future cups, we proceed to the manufacture of a peat base. We will need the following proportions: 50% peat, 40% cow dung and 10% chernozem. Instead of black soil, you can use any other fatty soil. Mix well and add azotobacterin, phosphorobacterin and water to the composition. The mixture should be quite thick in consistency.

Responsible stage of production

To begin with, we lower a circle with a pin to the bottom of the steel glass and fill it with the prepared peat mixture to a thickness of 2 cm. We thoroughly tamp the future bottom with a blank. Now, without removing it, we will fill the solution along the edges, filling the entire gap between the steel glass and the blank. A glass for seedlings will not dry out if the mixture is immediately carefully tamped when pouring. The blank can be immediately removed as soon as the peat composition fills the voids up to the very top. It is not scary if the liner is difficult to remove, it can be slightly rocked from side to side. Now it remains to carefully pull the rod and remove the finished glass.

Time for experiments

Not all peat cups for seedlings are of perfect quality the first time. Sometimes home-made containers are able to disintegrate and dry out - perhaps the point is the insufficient density of the mixture. Sometimes too dense and hard products are obtained, which are difficult to dissolve in the ground during planting. The necessary skill and flair will definitely come, even if it requires multiple repetitions.

Seedling pot made of polyethylene

To make a container with a height of 10 cm and a diameter of 7 cm, you will need a piece of dense film 33x15 cm in size. We find or cut out a rectangular bar to fit the size of the future cup. In the two faces of the bar responsible for the bottom, we make grooves in such a way that a stapler is placed in them. We cut polyethylene blanks and proceed to the design of the landing container. Then we wrap the blank from the film around and fix it with a stapler and 5 staples. With two of them from above and below we fix the side face, and with the rest we form the bottom, folding the ends of the film with an envelope. It's okay if more staples go to the bottom. In this way, cups of various sizes can be modeled.

Conclusion

We learned a lot about how to make seedling cups. Of course, peat or paper containers are seen best solution compared to homemade polyethylene glasses. The idea of planting plants in the ground along with a natural glass that dissolves with water in the soil was revolutionary at one time. But it is up to gardeners to decide which of the presented methods for making containers for seedlings is the most acceptable for them. After all, not everyone will be able to find steel blanks for peat cups, and not everyone will have enough time and patience to painstaking work with glue and paper. Therefore, the manufacture of cups for seedlings is a purely individual matter.

Perhaps you will use the proven method and sow the seeds in disposable plastic containers, besides, they clearly show the state of the root system and the degree of soil strait. Also, this container can be used multiple times. Whatever container you choose for sowing seeds, we wish you a rich harvest!