The cost of gardening can add up pretty quickly. When the costs go up, it can take away from one of the experiences of gardening; which is to save money by growing one’s own crop. One way to save on costs on is to re-purpose containers that you would otherwise toss in the trash as seed starting pots.

Before the supply of plastic containers was attained from the major landscape work on the front yard, cardboard cartons of all sorts were used to start seeds. Half gallon milk and orange juice containers were cut in half and used. Pint size ice cream containers, plastic yogurt and tofu containers were among the top choices of containers to start seeds in.

Even though there may be plenty of landscape purposed containers to start seeds in, some applications work better with re-purposed toilet paper rolls. Leeks, for example, have tap root that make them difficult to transplant from standard containers. A tap root is a single root that looks to grow downward. Unlike standard roots which stay relatively shallow and branch out. The branching of roots holds the soil together and makes transplanting easier. With tap roots, paper roll containers  are the ideal choice. They are long, narrow, and can be entirely planted into the ground. As a bonus, they can be written on. Marking what is being seeded is quick to do.

Here, some ‘King Richard’ leeks from Botanical Interests are being grown.