If I plant seeds next spring in a styrofoam egg carton, should I punch a small hole at the bottom of each for a water drain or not? Seems I would want to so they don't hold too much water and rot, but having never planted seeds early nor used a hot frame, I'm unsure. TIA
Having tried the egg cartons, I have to agree. If you want to go with something on hand, you'd be much better off with small yogurt cartons and margarine tubs.
Cheryl
Depends on the kind of seed -- ones that need to stay moist should have intact cups and less frequent watering -- but, in general, yes. However, may I earnestly encourage you to actually invest in some biodegradable starter pots rather than egg cartons; the cartons don't hold enough volume for successful root development.
Chris Owens
John DeBoo wrote:
Thank you both, I'll heed your advice.
Without drainage, you may have problems. I'd punch holes.
I've had a lot of luck with a series of seed-starting 'mini-greenhouses' from Gardener's Supply Co. :
gardeners.com
Click on 'seedstarting' in the left-hand column, then take a look at their APS products. They're 3X as expensive as they were when I bought them, but the pages *do* have a good diagram of how they work, which you might be able to apply to other arrangements. You may also be able to find something similar elsewere for cheaper. The advantages of the setup were that the matting wicked up enough water to keep things moist, but not wet, and the seedlings were fairly easy to remove and transplant.
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