DIY: egg shell planters

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:

1. 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.

2. Empty out the eggshells completely.

3. 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?!?