How to Recycle Plastic Cups for Seedling Pots

Table of Contents

If you’re like me, you have a pile of old plastic cups from the coffee shop laying around. I knew there just had to be a productive way to reuse and recycle these plastic cups, but how? One day I was in my garden and ran out of small pots to plant my seeds in. I usually use those biodegradable pots that you can just plant the whole pot when it’s time to transplant. But why would I spend my well earned money on those when I have all of these small plastic cups laying around begging to be used. So, I decided to start using these starbu… I mean coffee cups to plant my seeds in.

Step One

The first step is to cut holes in the bottom of the plastic cups to allow drainage. If you don’t have proper drainage your plants will drown and get root rot, which of course will kill your plants.

Step Two

Next you should add the dirt to your cup, I fill my cups to about a half inch below the rim. This helps prevent spillage when watering your seedlings. 

Step Three

Now it’s time to add your seeds to the dirt. Press your finger into the dirt to the depth that’s appropriate for your specific seeds. Each plant has a different depth that their seeds need to be planted. You can find the correct depth to plant your seeds on the back of the package they came in. Or, if you don’t have the package anymore, you can do a simple google search for your plant and find out the correct depth.

Step Four

Cover your seeds with a little bit of dirt and sufficiently soak the dirt with water until some water comes out of the holes on the bottom of the cup. All you have to do now is wait for your seeds to sprout!

Plastic Coffee Cup Planters

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