Reuse your to go cups and it can help you in the garden, as well as helping the environment. Reuse the to go cup by saving the lid and the cup to create a mini-greenhouse. I know whenever I am having lunch out, one of my most favorite things is to ask for a to go cup of sweet tea.

This is actually one of the things I look for in an establishment to keep coming back, but that will be in a different post. This lid on this Ted’s to go cup fits the solo cups so I can use them as well.

2 – Drill Holes in the bottom of the cups so they don’t hold water. This is a 1/2″ drill bit, but even several small holes will do good.

Some cups can be used over and over, and others are a one time shot. Using this method creates an environment that does not disturb the other seedlings if they are not progressing at the same rate. This way you can take them out as they sprout and add others to that flat. Then the ones that sprouted can be taken out into the sun to get to where they can be transplanted from here.

Make sure and drill holes in the cups. Seeds won’t do well in standing water. They may sprout, but then die soon after.

3 – Creating a Mini-Greenhouse keeps the moisture in. This is more consistent than trying to keep watering them.

Once the lid is put back on the moisture stays in and then when the seed sprouts, just take the top off and it has its own small pot to get past the seedling stage. This method can be duplicated over and over, or just done one at a time. The lids are sometimes interchangeable so many different cups can be used and collected. The sun will make plastic brittle so keep this in mind.

Now that we are finished we can reuse some of them again!

4 – Once the seedling sprouts, take the top off so it can get some sun.

The seedlings that you see in these photos are sunflowers. I try to grow things that I can use, and that does not need a lot of attention. I can feed the sunflowers to my chickens, in exchange for eggs. So it is like I am growing chicken eggs.
Now these seedlings can be dealt with one at a time.

There are many different things you can do now that you have them separated. Sharpie marker can be used to identify each cup. Cross it out and write again for the next trip.

5 – Each of the seeds sprout at different times. Depending on what you are growing, there may be days and weeks difference.