Intro
Germinate Seeds in this cheap mini-greenhouse that can be made from recycled materials found in your home kitchen.
Background
Sembradores Urbanos is a nonprofit urban agriculture demonstration center and outreach group in Mexico City started by three women living in Mexico. There vision is to transform urban soil into green, productive, and sustainable spaces. They opened the The Center for Urban Agriculture Romita, one of the first urban agricultural community spaces in Mexico. The center demonstrates a variety of urban agriculture and organic gardening techniques as well as serving as a space for workshops and courses. This is one page in a series of urban agriculture and urban sustainability projects at Sembradores Urbanos.
Materials for Mini Greenhouse
- transparent tray with lid (like those that come with strawberries)
- egg carton
- cutter or scissors
- substrate (50% soil + 50% compost)
- water
Process for Making the Mini-Greenhouse
- Cut the egg carton to fit your transparent tray. With a pencil pierce the base of each cone to make a small hole in order to facilitate irrigation through absorption.
- Fill each egg compartment with a substrate of 50% soil and 50% compost.Place between 2-4 seeds in each compartment, at a depth of 2 times the seed’s size.
- Fill the pan with 2 cm of water, place the egg carton inside the pan so that water is absorbed by the substrate. Leave the lid slightly ajar by 1.5 cm to maintain ideal humidity and temperature. Be sure to note the type of plant varieties you are germinating and the sowing date.
- Place your mini greenhouse in a place that you can visit frequently to keep an eye on the seedlings and so you can monitor the soil moisture.
Care for Mini Greenhouse
- Once seeds sprout, plants need to be exposed to direct sunlight (5 hours ideally) to ensure proper development of its structure. You need to ensure that they have water and sunshine to allow the plants to grow strong, productive and happy.
- The baby plant is ready to be transplanted when you see three to four leaves and it is about 10 cm tall.