Mini-Greenhouses from Taco Bell salad take out bowls

Some of you have probably already discovered this bit of recycling. I sometimes pick up the taco salads from Taco Bell (minus the meat, I'm primarily vegetarian). I realized the take out bowls and clear plastic covers were remarkably similar to the "mini-greenhouse" seed starters I had wasted good money upon by purchasing them from some of the gardening catalogs.

All I did to start seeds successfully was to punch a few small holes in the bottom of the styrofoam bowl, add some of my seed starting potting mix, water it well after planting the seeds, and put the plastic lid on the bowl. The clear plastic lid is about 3 inches in height and works well to keep the humidity high and speed germination from added warmth trapped under the lid. The taco salad bowl lids actually close more securely than the catalog supplied mini-greenhouse lids! The bowls themselves are about two inches deep, comparable to the mini-greenhouse planting trays. I've started several different kinds of seeds in the bowl and there is ample room for root growth until the first true leaves appear and the seedlings are ready to pot up. I started eating more taco salads in order to collect these containers from Taco Bell. I've reused them over and over and they still are holding up. I used masking tape and markers to identify what seeds were in the seed trays.

But let me share one bit of stupidity on my part. I labeled the clear plastic lids instead of the bowls containing the seeds. When I took all the lids off to water all the seed trays at the same time, the lids got mixed up and I had no idea what bowl had what seeds! I had to wait for the seeds to germinate and try to match up the seedlings with what I knew or thought might be the I.D. for the young plants.

To quote Homer Simpson: DOH!

Jeremy

This message was edited Jun 24, 2005 1:40 AM

This message was edited Jun 24, 2005 1:40 AM