Tag Archive for: tomatoes. marigolds

Do you love visiting your local Starbucks for that perfect cup of coffee?  Or maybe you prefer an iced coffee like I do.

 coffee cup containers

 Well, my mother absolutely LOVES coffee and Starbucks is a frequent stop of hers.  The other day, she brought over a bunch of used coffee cups and sleeves.

 coffee cup containers

She had the great idea of using the sleeves for starting seeds in.

Of course when my mother has a good idea, I usually listen 😉

So I got to work….

 coffee cup containers

coffee cup containers

The kids helped me plant the seeds.

Then I started looking at the cups and I thought that they would make great planters too.

So I cut them in half and then cut out the bottom of the lower  part of the cup using a knife.

 coffee cup containers

Because there are no bottoms to the planters, it is important to place the containers before you fill them with soil.

I think it turned out pretty good, don’t you?

Tomato, Bachelor's Button and a Marigold plant

Tomato, Bachelor’s Button and a Marigold plant.

Once your plants are ready to be transplanted, simply plant the cardboard coffee sleeve in the soil.  The cardboard will break down.

The coffee cup containers won’t break down easily, so place the plant and container in your prepared hole and then simply cut down the side of the container and carefully remove it and finish filling in the hole with soil.

So the next time you stop your local coffee house, don’t throw away your cup – save it and use it for starting seeds.

**To learn more about how to start seeds indoors, you can read my earlier blog post.