Green and Cheap Plant Starters

I have been experimenting with making seed starters and planters using materials I would otherwise throw out. I wanted it to be something that would be disposable, as I am getting tired of finding space for all my plastic containers. I also wanted it to be something that I could possibly just plant in the ground with the plant. Here are a few of my creations.

I have seen some people using paper rolls for planters, so I decided to give it a try. I used mostly toilet paper rolls. I cut them in half, took a small square of paper, pushed the paper into the bottom using a tall glass that was just smaller than the inside diameter of the roll, and...	voila! A small plant starter!
I did find the paper roll planters tend to get moldy, which was disappointing, but it ultimately didn't seem to affect the plants that much. Although the mold is gross, I haven't lost a plant yet, and all these tomatoes were started in the roll planters.
I tried my hand at origami. Origami is very difficult to do with newsprint!	So I improvised a little on this one, using a few cuts and one staple. It works, and is a great size for starting tomatoes.
Paper mache seemed like it might be easier, so I gave that a try. I used flour as glue. Although is was fun and did give me some good results, it did take about 15-20 minutes to make each one - and it was messy!	And although these I wouldn't plant directly into the ground, this was the fastest and easiest of all - fast food containers! Rather than throw them out, just wash them out and plant!

Simple Pleasure

I like to hide happy meal toys around my garden so that when I'm weeding I get a happy surprise.