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Make your own Mini Greenhouses – DIY for Seedlings

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Make your own Mini Greenhouses www.lauraslittlehousetips.com

Make your own Mini Greenhouses – DIY for Seedlings

Every year I start planting my seeds very early in the house. I live on a mountain on the VA/NC border near the Blue Ridge Parkway. It is so windy here off the mountain that I needed my plants to be super sturdy before planting outside. I moved here in 2010 and its been a huge adjustment for this Yankee NY Girl to say the least. One thing that I really dislike is that people here don’t seem to recycle anything. In New York we paid deposits on bottles and returned them to the stores. Here the only place that takes them is the school at certain times of the year when they are fund-raising and even then they only accept aluminum cans (and then sell them), but  not plastic bottles.

Being a huge Green Living Lover I found a way to reuse our bottles. I have also stopped buying soda since it produces so much waste and I want our world to be around for generations to come :).

I make my own Mini Greenhouses with our bottles. These are so easy to make and work extremely well. I also love that after we plant in the garden I can use the top of the soda bottle to protect them from the wind. Or in the extreme case like this year we had frost pretty late into the spring so it kept our little starters warm and alive 🙂

As you can see above in the picture I use every part of the bottles. I even leave the lids on causing the bottles to act as enclosed green houses. I can also water them easily without the seedlings being exposed to cooler air. Don’t laugh but I also make my seed holder cups out of toilet paper rolls. I find that they break down pretty easy. I used bubble wrap that comes in packages that are delivered. I reuse that many times since I don’t want that in the landfill either and it makes a really nice insulator to hold my plants.

The very bottom that I cut off first I use to start seedlings. Many seeds I soak in the cup until they just start to sprout then move to the homemade greenhouses.You can also put dirt in the little cups and use that to root plants. It’s really just a matter of what you prefer. I also found a deal a few years ago on clearance for the Burpee Plant Markers and stocked up on them. You will want to label what seeds you have. It’s easy to get confused or just plain forget what you planted and where. Trust me I know from experience. One year I wrote on the cardboard holder and the marker I used bled. Not fun trust me lol 🙂  You could write on the plastic with a magic marker anything to keep yourself organized. I also put the date I planted.  I do grow certain plants year round in my home. I love having carrots, radishes, hot cayenne peppers and scallions all the time year round so I use my greenhouses year round. ( I know I am a bit left of center) haha.

The other thing I do with the bottoms is use them for sprouting. I am a huge sprouts lover and have found the bottoms work beautifully for my broccoli sprouts and mung bean sprouts and my latest obsessions, Adzuki Bean sprouts and Chia Seeds. But that is for a different post.

NOTE: Use gloves, Sturdy ones and be careful when cutting the bottom off the bottle. It can shift on you. So use caution!

My girls are grown but I bet if you have little ones they would love to help with these. I know I sometimes will plant a few green beans because they grow so fast and are fun to watch in the green house. Yes. Small things amuse me.

I hope you try this and I would love to hear what you thought and how it worked out for you. Til Next time…

Make Your Own Mini #Greenhouses. #Recycle

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Comments

    • Playne Jayne says

      I agree Robin… I’m going to try it too next year. I’d told Laura my challenge is my seedlings hardening off… they are always so spindly. I think this would be a solution!

    • Playne Jayne says

      Cool, Daisy! Please be sure and stop back by – let us know if you do! Kids have a great way about them – having fun with projects and even personalizing them… we’d love to hear what you all come up with!

    • LauraH says

      Oh Laurie I hope you do. It’s amazing when the seeds pop and having your own mini greenhouse is such a great way for kids to learn. Thank you for stopping by.

    • LauraH says

      Thank you Liz. It’s definitely a top used item in my home. I get such a rush when seeds pop through the soil haha. I Loved your elegance with the flowers too:)

  30. Vanessa @ Green Global Travel says

    This is a great idea to reuse plastic bottles and bubble wrap! I know what you mean about how people just don’t recycle. It’s starting to become more popular in parts of GA with the trash company also offering to take recycling, but if you don’t have this, sometimes there’s a public bin. Progress!
    Vanessa @ Green Global Travel recently posted…MALAYSIA: Bornean Orangutan Conservation at Sepilok Rehabilitation Centre

    • LauraH says

      Hi Vanessa,
      I’m glad you like the Mini Greenhouses. I use them all the time. I’m so glad that GA is starting to recycle too.The good news is they make us be creative to help our world the bad news is it needs to happen faster. I am so glad you stopped by 🙂

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