How to Sow Plants in Plastic Pots
From time to time, one has to plant lots of different seeds. One of the options is to use styrofoam or similar containers with premade holes for plants – this is very useful and quick method when you have to sow one sort of plant per container (like strawberries). If you want to sow only few plants of one sort, but many sorts, you need small plastic cups.
Small plastic cups come in different sizes and colors. Usually, I take ordinary white cups with 0.1 - 0.2l of volume. First you have to make one or more drainage holes in the bottom. If you use brute force, fragile cups will probably end up crushed. So, take one lighter and in my example tweezers with two sharp ends – any sharp metallic object will do. Heat the tweezers on the flame. Note: be very careful not to burn yourself or make some damage ... |
Gently push the tweezers through the bottom of the cup. Hot sharp points will melt the plastic, not damaging the rest of the cup. If you are quick, you can make holes in five – six cups per one heating. And if you are using tweezers, you'll get two small holes instead of one. |
Fill the cup with the soil. Use good potting soil that can be bought at most garden centers and even supermarkets. |
Put filled cups in larger container (plastic, metal or made from styrofoam). Sometimes you will have to press loose soil in the cup and add it once more – practice make it perfect. |
Since I never know exactly what and how much will I sow, I write name of the plant just before putting the seeds. Usually I just make three small holes with my finger on top of the soil, add some seeds and new soil, gently press the soil, and put the cups back into the container. This is not the best method regarding spending number of seeds per cup, but it is quick and for small seeds not so expensive. |
I put larger seeds one by one, for example, 3 seeds of red hot chili peppers per cup to get one plant per cup. Add some soil over them and press it gently. |
Soon all cups are used for different plants. Don't forget to use permanent and waterproof marker, or you will soon end up with bunch of plants and guessing which one is which – been there, done that :o) |
Water the cups. Use hand sprinkler that allows you to change the size of droplets. Since there are no plants, you can use larger drops. When plants start to grow, use smaller droplets, and if you have sensitive plants, water cup by cup with water can (with small spout) – this can be time consuming. Put the container with cups on suitable place with adequate warmth, humidity and light. When young plants are large enough, transplant them onto permanent position. |
