How to make seedling boxes with your own hands

Preparation for the summer cottage begins in winter, when you first need to take care of sowing seeds. That is why the question of selecting boxes for seedlings is one of the most popular. There are several options for solving this problem: you can buy ready-made options in the store, or you can make boxes for seedlings with your own hands. Each option has its own characteristics and advantages.

What should you focus on when choosing a box?

In order to get a good harvest, you need to take care of the seedlings, which can be placed both in a common container and in an individual box or glass. When choosing a container, it is necessary to take into account the size of the plant and the characteristics of its growth. If it stays in a small container for a long period, this can damage its root system, which will affect the development of the plant as a whole. If the root system cannot develop normally, then the growth of the plant itself will stop. That is why one of the most important criteria when choosing a container for a plant is its size.

In addition, depending on the specifics of the plant, it is also necessary to pay attention to the following criteria:

• The box must have drainage holes.
• The walls of the container must have optimal thermal conductivity for the plant to protect the seeds from sudden temperature changes.
• It is better to make the choice in the direction of containers made of opaque materials, since in this case sunlight will not act on the roots of the plant.

As for the material, the container can be either standard plastic or wooden, or made from scrap materials.

Buying ready-made boxes

You can buy seed containers at almost any hardware store. Plastic boxes for seedlings or their wooden versions have the following advantages:

• Saving time. You do not need to make anything yourself, since the container is ready for use.
• Large selection of sizes, shapes and colors.
• Reusable.
• Ease of transportation.
• These containers are easy to clean and disinfect.
• The boxes are easy to store.
• The container has a low thermal conductivity and an opaque color, which is great for almost any plant.
• Ease of use.

This option, however, has some disadvantages. The price of such boxes is relatively low, but if there are a lot of seedlings, the purchase of containers can be quite expensive. That is why many summer residents are looking for alternative ways to solve this problem and find ways to independently make a box for seedlings from wood or other scrap materials.

Wooden boxes for seedlings

Wood is one of the most popular materials for the construction of seedling containers. It is an environmentally friendly material that can be used many times and is quite easy to use.

As for how to make a box for seedlings from boards, you must first determine the size of the structure. Traditionally, the size of the container depends on the size of the window sill or other location of the box.

Since in most cases the seedlings in such boxes do not dive, it is necessary to plant seeds at a certain distance from each other. This will protect the plants from impaired root development.

In order to make boxes for seedlings of this option, you need to prepare the necessary materials:

• boards;
• corners;
• loops;
• self-tapping screws;
• plastic wrap.

You will also need a screwdriver, a hacksaw, a tape measure and a furniture stapler to work.

In order to make boxes for seedlings from wood, you must take the following steps:

• Pick up bars and boards of the required length.
• Build a rectangle from the material using corners and self-tapping screws.
• Attach the bottom of the structure using self-tapping screws or nails.
• You can also take care of the roof structure. For these purposes, you will need door or window hinges and self-tapping screws.
• The top of the structure is made of plastic wrap, which is attached with a furniture stapler. All excess film pieces are removed.

Such a container is easy to use, and it will not be difficult to make boxes for seedlings from wood with your own hands. However, this option also has its drawbacks. Firstly, it is quite difficult to clean such a container, and exposure to moisture leads to the fact that the material begins to swell, change its shape and rot. In addition, unlike plastic options, wooden structures are less durable, so over time they will need some repair or replacement.

Other alternatives

In addition to common plastic and wooden boxes, materials at hand are also widely used, which are distinguished by simplicity, ease of use and, importantly, minimal financial costs. In particular, we are talking about paper.

Before making paper seedling boxes, you must first prepare all the necessary materials and tools. This is paper, in particular old newspapers, scissors, a plastic bottle, sticky tape are suitable for this.

To manufacture containers in this way, the following should be done:

• Cut newspapers into strips. In this case, the length of the strip should be greater than the girth of the prepared bottle.
• The paper strip is twisted around the bottle and fixed with adhesive tape, while part of the newspaper remains and will later serve as the bottom of the glass, which is also fixed with tape.
• After everything is fixed, the finished glass is removed from the bottle and is completely ready for use.

In addition, you can also make containers from used foil containers, such as bags for milk, juice, etc. At the same time, despite their cheapness, foil paper containers are one of the most optimal options for growing seedlings.

Due to the presence of an additional reflector, the plants will not stretch. In addition, the advantages of such a container are the following:

• Low height, suitable for growing a wide variety of plants.
• The presence of additional reflective walls, which is especially important in winter, when solar energy is supplied in insufficient quantities.
• Convenience in location. Compact boxes can easily fit even on small windowsills.
• The paper base of the structure makes it easy to mark different plant varieties with a marker.
• A budget option.

To make such a container, you need to take an empty bag of juice or milk, wash it with running water without using detergents and cut it into a "box".

Drainage is laid at the bottom of the container, then a pre-prepared substrate. In this case, it is necessary to leave a gap to the top of the container by approximately 1 cm. As soon as shoots appear, the container is placed so that its "lid" reflects additional light on the plants.

In addition, unlike newsprint, foil containers can be reused; they only need to be rinsed with water and dried.

Instead of juice and milk bags, you can use baby food cans, and you can also apply plain foil to cardboard boxes with a stapler or duct tape.

There are several ways to prepare containers for seedlings. The choice depends on personal preferences, the characteristics of the plants grown and financial capabilities.

Video: how to make seedling boxes