Cheap Seed Starting Containers: What Actually Works

I have killed seedlings in a $4 biodegradable pot from the garden center. I have grown perfectly healthy tomatoes in a yogurt cup with a hole stabbed in the bottom with a chopstick. Make of that what you will.

Every spring I see people spending real money on seed starting supplies and I get it, I did it too the first year. Then I looked around my kitchen and realized I was literally throwing away the answer to my problem every single week. Cheap seed starting containers are everywhere. The question is which ones are actually worth using.

Yogurt Cups (The MVP)

These are my go-to. Four-ounce and six-ounce cups are perfect for tomatoes, peppers, and anything else you’re starting six to eight weeks out. Poke two or three holes in the bottom, fill with your seed starting mix, done. I’ve started thousands of seeds in yogurt cups. The plants don’t seem to mind. The yogurt is another story.

One thing I learned the hard way: rinse them first. A leftover yogurt film plus damp soil is a mold situation waiting to happen. Thirty seconds under the tap. That’s it.

And they’re reusable. I’ve got yogurt cups in rotation that are four years old. When people ask what my secret is I tell them I eat a lot of yogurt. That part is also true.

Toilet Paper Rolls

These work great for things that hate transplanting. Peas, beans, direct-sow crops you want to get a jump on. Fold the bottom into four little flaps, set them upright in a tray, fill with soil. The whole thing goes in the ground and breaks down. No transplant shock, no fussing.

The downside is they fall apart if they stay wet too long. I lost a whole tray once because I overwatered and came back two days later to find cardboard mush. Total loss. So keep them on the drier side and get them in the ground before they start looking sad. Which, honestly, is not unlike managing myself during a grey April in the PNW.

Paper towel rolls cut in half work too, and give you a little more depth for longer roots. My daughters think this whole process is hilarious. They’re not wrong.

Egg Cartons

Okay. Honest take: egg cartons are fine for germination but they run out of room fast. The cells are tiny, which works if you’re just sprouting and planning to transplant quickly. Lettuce, herbs, flowers, things that don’t need a ton of root space to start. Tomatoes in an egg carton get rootbound before you can blink.

The cardboard ones are the better choice since they can go straight into the ground. Styrofoam egg cartons work for germination but you’re creating extra plastic waste and the roots can’t push through, so you have to pop them out. Not a dealbreaker, just more work.

I use egg cartons mostly for lettuce and basil starts when I want to get a head start in late March. Works fine. Just don’t expect to keep anything in there past the second set of true leaves.

What About Actual Seed Starting Trays?

I do own a few. The cheap 72-cell trays from Lowe’s are inexpensive and if you’re careful they last multiple seasons. I use them for onions and leeks where I need a lot of starts in a small footprint. But for most stuff I default to yogurt cups because I already have them and they’re free, and free beats cheap every time.

If you want a little more depth and drainage control, I sometimes set my yogurt cups inside a shallow plastic container I saved from a QFC rotisserie chicken. The whole setup costs nothing and holds about twelve cups. I’m not saying I’m a genius. But I’m not not saying it either.

The Mix Matters More Than the Container

Whatever you’re starting seeds in, skip the garden soil. Heavy, compacts in small containers, and you’ll have damping off problems before the week is out. I use coconut coir mixed with a little perlite. Roughly 2 parts coir to 1 part perlite. Light, drains well, and seedlings can actually push through it without a struggle.

Coconut coir bricks are cheap, expand a lot from a small block, and store easily. Way better value than bags of pre-made seed starting mix from the garden center. That’s a hill I will grow on.

Bottom Line

Yogurt cups for anything you’re growing big before transplant. Toilet paper rolls for stuff that doesn’t like its roots messed with. Egg cartons for a quick start on small plants, just don’t linger. Your seedlings don’t know or care what they’re sitting in as long as the drainage is good and the soil is right.

Save your money. Eat more yogurt. You’ve got seeds to start.

Photo by Adrian Swancar on Unsplash