Seedlings in yogurt cups?

13 years ago

Trying to put minimum new spending into my garden this year, I saved up 6-ounce yogurt cups for awhile and used those as pots to start seeds in bagged seed starting mix. I thought I could get to transplant size in them, but now I'm unsure.

My first set of seedlings is 4 weeks old (from date seed was planted) and are 4-5 inches tall and getting their third set of true leaves. I am wondering if the yogurt cups are large enough to sustain them another week or two - I could start hardening them off this weekend. Or should I plan to pot up?

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Comments (5)

taz6122
13 years ago
6oz just isn't big enough for a good root system IMO. My minimum would be a 4 inch pot but I like the 24oz yogurt/cottage cheese containers better. The roots still swirl around the bottom of those but they are easily teased free and far from root bound. 18oz sour cream containers might work ok. I'd definitely pot up from 6oz and I do use them for starting seed.
plantslayer
13 years ago
I grew seedlings in yoghurt cups once, but like Taz6122 says they are a bit small. If you want to save money, buy some large 18-24 oz disposable Styrofoam or opaque plastic party cups and use those. They are very cheap, also it is easy to punch drainage holes in them and write the name of the variety on the side. A lot of people use them; I guess the only disadvantage is that they might fall over if you are not careful when moving them.
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Hi.. thanks everyone for the feedback. I guess I will have to be more careful with the tranparent cups. I had seen Ray (from the praxxus channel) do this but also thought that it was probably ok b/c soil blocks are an acceptable means of growing seedlings as well and in that the root are pretty open to air as well. I guess you keep those pretty close together and don't let it too much light. It is simple enough for me to just place my cups in another opaque cup... so I may do that. Waste of cups but oh well you live and you learn.
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I've used yogurt cups for some of the annuals and veggies in the Spring. They are usually the last seeds I sow - the ones that require the warmest temps to germinate. I put them into a plastic box (actually an old refrigerator drawer) and place it up against the foundation on the south side of the house - the warmest spot in the Spring. Easier to water that way too - I can fill the box with water. One drawback - the yogurt cups are small and dry out quickly - so last year I started using Cup-O-Noodles cups, instead of yogurt cups, which are a little bigger and hold more soil. These containers have tomatoes, basil, parsley, and Yvonne's salvia -
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Image by: hyperdoggie Yogurt cups revamped "Plastic Pot Recycling - Using Yogurt Cups" Again, Member hyperdoggie share another idea this time using plastic yogurt cups and a blue and white theme: The picture details out the steps of the project and here are some additional hints and tips: They are for my kitchen, which is blue/white themed, so I decided I'd try and make them look like blue white pottery. Basically it's the same technique as the black plastic pots, but I did more hand painting of the colors and added in some silver gilding color before clear coating, and I also used a glossy clear coat so they would look glazed. I also poked holes in the bottom for drainage. It will be ugly after the application of glue, but as you can see, it doesn't matter at the point, jus how it looks in the end. I don't have much qualms about using the hot glue for outside pots, I have used it for other applications outdoors and it has stood up fine to our New Mexico sun, but my potted plants here are usually in shade anyway. I am going to try using silicon sealant to get some wider designs on the larger pots. The "seal" look is where I applied a circle of hot glue and pressed a large bead that had a nice bas relief into it. I let it cool, then peeled the bead away. The hot glue kind of "melts" a little into the plastic, on these cups and the pots, it doesn't want to peel off once it's on. Also on the blue pot, you can see a little bit of a "crackle" on the side, I put what I call "poor man's crackle" on it, instead of buying the craft store crackle mediums, I painted on thin stripes of sligtly thinned elmer's glue. Paint over it, and it crackles.
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Hi Malcolm... I follow amost the same steps that you do. 1- I started mine in cell tray.2- I put the tray on heating pad. Keeping temps around 80F. So far 50% germinated after 4 day. The mix i used is standard potting mix. Peat moss based, with perlite. 3- Once they get couple of true leave pairs, I pot up into 4" pots (square and round) I have save a lot of them. 4- Depending on the plant out schedule, I might repot again into bigger pots. 5- a week to 10 days prior to plant out , i start hardening off process. That will be like 5 weeks from now. Sey
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tomncath
13 years ago
...buy some large 18-24 oz disposable Styrofoam or opaque plastic party cups and use those. They are very cheap, also it is easy to punch drainage holes in them and write the name of the variety on the side....

I agree, not that they have to be Solo but I find both inexpensive to use. I start the seed in 3oz Solo bathroom cups and pot up at three weeks, then into 20oz Solo opague cups for the next 3-5 weeks. The base of their (Solo) 20 cup is larger in diameter so more stability, and by being able to see the sides I know when they are ready to set because I can see the root growth....
another_buffalo
13 years ago
Actually, I think you are on the right track, just need a larger container. I use my cottage cheeze containers, but with a twist. I first take the cardboard core from toilet paper rolls, cut slits in the bottom so they can be folded in to make a container. This is easy to keep moist from the bottom and an ocasional spray.

Next, I take the cottage food container and cut the bottom out. Put the lid on and turn upside down. I transplant the seedlings into this when they have a couple of true leaves, burying the plant as deep as possible. As the plant grows, I add more soil until the top is finally reached. The good thing about this system, it is easy to take the lid off the bottom for transplanting. But the best thing is the roots have more room to grow in the wide base and will not get rootbound before being set out.
Carol
geeboss
13 years ago
Depending on the weather I'll start with small yougurt cups transition to 18oz cups and if needed move once more to 1/2 gal milk/juice carton.

Moving to 18oz cups I'll place the seedling at the bottom and add mixture as the plant grows along the stem. By the time of my plant out the roots are now growing along the stem and at the bottom. Place the plant at a 45 deree angle in its final hole and watch it take off.

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Seedlings in yogurt cups?

Comments (5)

taz6122

plantslayer

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tomncath

another_buffalo

geeboss

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