20 Free DIY Seed Starting Pots
Starting seeds indoors doesn’t have to be expensive with these 20 DIY ideas to creatively repurpose, reuse and upcycle a variety of items around the house for easy DIY seed starting pots!
We’ve been using a wide variety of free seed starting pots over the years. There are so many things you can creatively repurpose or reuse without spending a dime!
I’ve been gardening for most of my life and have had a lot of experience with trying out a variety of seed starting pots.
I’m also a frugal mama so I’m always looking for ways to save money on the homestead. We love to reuse and repurpose things on the homestead in our DIY projects.
It’s amazing what you can reuse and repurpose when you get creative and think outside the box!
Here’s a list of free DIY seed starting pots:
- Plastic clam shell containers from store bought lettuce. These make a great mini greenhouse with the lid fitting on top.
- Plastic yogurt, cottage cheese or sour cream containers; drill small holes in the bottom for drainage
- Egg Cartons; If you use paper egg cartons instead of plastic the carton will eventually break down and compost
- Waxed paper milk cartons with the tops cut off
- Soy or almond milk containers with tops cut off
- Plastic milk or water jugs with the tops cut off
- Coffee cans or large soup cans; you can paint the outsides in fun colors to make them decorative too!
- Plastic drinking cups; these can be saved and reused each year
- Small paper cups; these work great for cucurbit seedlings that are very sensitive to transplanting since you can gently tear the cup away and plant the seedling without disturbing roots
- Toilet paper or paper towel tubes repurposed into seed pots in a few easy steps; These are also great for seedlings that are sensitive to transplant shock since the paper tube can be planted with the seedling and will decompose
- Newspaper soil pots, you will need an inexpensive tool like this one to make these
- Muffin or cupcake plastic packaging from the grocery store or bakery
- Plastic garden pots repurposed from plants bought at a nursery. I have a huge stash of these we reuse and every year I see lots of free ads in the community where people are giving them away.
- Seedling trays, these are one of my favorite freebies I hang on to! We grow extra food to donate to the local food bank and occasionally have other gardeners donate free seedlings to our cause. Sometimes folks ask for their seed trays back and other times they say to keep them-score one for our future seed starting!
- Plastic containers from rotisserie chicken bought at the grocery store, works similar to the mini greenhouse like the clamshell lettuce containers
- Plastic water, soda and juice bottles with the tops cut off
- Plastic canister from frozen juice concentrate
- Paper coffee cups
- To-go take out containers
- Egg shells, these are fragile but a great natural seed pot that will compost and add nutrients to the plant!
More DIY, free or upcycled Garden Pot Ideas
Now that you’re gathering all these great DIY seed starting pots for seedlings, you may need ideas for garden pots for bigger plants too! Here are a few ideas to inspire your garden creativity:
-5 gallon buckets
-big tree planting tubs from the local nursery
-old tin pails-we have a couple of these on our porch and I love their rustic look!
-old tin wash tubs
-livestock water troughs-around here people give them away once they get a hole in them and can’t be used for their original purpose
-Check out this great list of garden pot ideas from Kris over at Attainable Sustainable