Plastic Free Growing

PLASTIC FREE GROWING MODULES

54523862_2871025009590566_8344953918043717632_nI love to start off my seedlings indoors in modules because it makes gardening easier on many levels:

1 The plants are able to get growing sooner in the season.

2 They get a pest free environment to get established in.

3 When a space becomes free in your garden you have plants ready to go to fill the gaps.

I’m sure I’m not the only gardener who has lots of plastic trays and modules left over from previous years, and I’m still using these, but I’m also trying out other ways to grow my plants in modules without using plastic.

This year I’ve been collecting cardboard tubes from the inside of 54520793_2871025072923893_3799772023631118336_ntoilet rolls and kitchen rolls to use as modules. And I’ve been saving any plastic trays that have arrived in my home from supermarket packaging to use along side these to create a good growing system. When I have gathered enough cardboard tubes to fill the plastic tray, I tie them together with string and then I fill the tubes with peat free multi-purpose compost. The plastic tray is useful for keeping the compost in the tubes and for catching the water when watering, and can be reused or recycled after use. I guess this means that my growing system isn’t technically plastic free, but it certainly is better than buying new plastic modules which never last long, and it’s certainly cheaper.

 

The cardboard tubes make excellent modules for growing larger plants such as 54516955_2864701573556243_1927587601686986752_nBroad Bean (pictured) for two good reasons:

1 The cardboard tubes are quite deep, which means the roots have plenty of space to develop

2 The cardboard is fully biodegradable which means you can plant it in the ground with your seedling, and that means that the roots don’t get disturbed when transplanting.

This year I’m growing my Broad Beans in two different locations. I’ve transplanted a group of 6 into my tin bath container garden (read more about my tin bath design HERE) and the other 6 have been planted out into my front garden food forest.

My front garden 55609100_2878933535466380_8439716178087116800_nis now well established as an edible landscape, with lots of perennial food plants such as asparagus, rhubarb, strawberries, black currents and herbs. Do have a look HERE if you want to read more. Here’s a recent picture which I’ve added labels to so you can see what’s growing.

I post regular updates about my garden on Facebook and on Instagram so do find me there. What are you growing this year? Have you ever used cardboard tubes as modules in your own garden? If so, I’d like to hear about it, so please comment!

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