These biodegradable eggshell planters are perfect for starting seeds!
When the plants get too big for the shells, you can transplant them straight to the soil, shell and all.
Want to make your own?
You will need:
-egg carton
-empty eggs
-potting soil
-seeds
-spray bottle
-small spoons
To prepare the eggs:
- Carefully crack the top third of the egg. You can do this by tapping the egg on the edge of a bowl, or tapping with a sharp knife.
- Empty out the eggshells completely.
- Wash the eggshells out well.
Next steps:
Take the empty eggshell, and poke a hole in the very bottom to provides drainage, so the roots of your plant don’t drown.
Using a small spoon, fill the eggshell with moist potting soil.
Add your seeds then cover with more soil.
After you have planted the seeds, you can simply put the eggshell planters back into the carton.
The carton provides a stable base with room for drainage and looks super cute.
When the plants grow too big for the shells, gently crack the shells and plant them straight into the garden or a bigger pot.
The shell will eventually biodegrade, and the roots will grow out of the shell. The shell also supplements the calcium in the soil.
We chose this as a perfect Mother’s Day activity and they will be a excellent starter in our flower garden.
We chose “butterfly” friendly seeds so I’m excited to see what grows.
Anyways, I wrangled all my little ones together that morning.
Here they are filling up their eggs.
…and now we have the seeds planted!
Here they are 3 days later when the seeds are just starting to sprout.
The morning of day #4 there are only a few egg shells that are “shy”.
Afternoon of day 5:
The morning of day #6
The description on the seed packet said that it would take 7 to 11 days for everything to Sprout and I’m pleased to say that we are early!
I think we will wait at least another week before we transplant them.
I just want to make sure that the threat of frost is completely gone before we plant them outside.
This activity can be used a bunch of different ways.
I have seen the egg shells with cute little faces drawn on the front.
I have seen people use half of the egg and tucked in a mum seedling and used them as a centre piece for a spring breakfast.
How fun is this idea?!?
I love the eggshell planter idea. Seeing your photos reminds me of when the kids were small and we would do crafts. Enjoy your time with them – they grow so fast.
This is such a great idea. Pinning for later!
I think it’s difficult just to crack the eggs on top like that! Looks like so much fun though! Plus there’s enough for everyone.
These are so cute and a great way to upcycle and reuse food scraps!
It’s such a nice reasonable size for a little project. It’s quite perfect for kids!
This looks like such a great thing to do with the kids. I would love to do this project with my boys
What a great idea, sounds like a nice thing to add to my bucket list to do with the kids during the summer.
What a creative way to garden with the kids. Mine would love it, especially cracking the shells.
This looks like a great project for kids! We put eggshells in our compost but have never thought of this.
Everytime I see stuff like this I always say I’m going to do it, such a great idea! My mom would always put eggshells in her plants too! 🙂
This is such a great idea! Sharing with friends
I love the idea it can be great for herbs too, thanks for sharing!
I forget to crack the eggs only on top to make these holders so we end up mashing them and putting them in our veggie garden.
I truly love and do this all the time. I am so glad to see you got the kids involved. I loved your pictures 🙂
Awesome way to teach kids to be eco-friendly & it’s cute 🙂
This is such an awesome idea! I never thought to use egg shells like this. It would be a fun summer project to do with my daughter – she lives anything that has to do with gardening.
I love this idea and will be passing this one to my son’s teachers!
What a neat idea! My hubby spent the weekend working on our large planters! Love getting the kids involved with the gardening!
What an awesome idea, never would have thought to do this! I love that it’s all recycling too!
That is such a clever idea! Very creative.
Those are adorable and so easy! I love the way they look in the box together when they all start blooming!
This is an awesome idea. Very fun and creative!
Oh my gosh, I love this idea! I am definitely going to try this one with my kids, thank you 🙂