Case O' Beer Seed Tray

Ever since I was a kid I tried finding fun uses for things we would normally just throw away. Most of the time I just made a mess and it ended up in the bin anyway. But sometimes I’d actually make something work. I’m hoping this is one of them. It’s my case o' beer seed tray and this is how I made it.

Take an empty case of beer and cut it down to the divider inside. Take the pieces you cut off and put them, glazed side inwards, inside the box to secure the divider in place. Also place one on the bottom to prevent soil from falling through the opening and the box from getting saturated and falling apart.

Then fill with potting compost and a gritty seed sowing compost for proper drainage. I chose an all-purpose potting compost for the bottom 2/3 and the grit for the top to help the seeds germinate.

After sowing all the seeds in my new beer box seed tray I watered them with tepid water and covered it with plastic wrap for a greenhouse effect. Just remember to take the plastic off as soon as you see them start to germinate. Otherwise you’ll get stringy stems that aren’t strong and will most likely succumb to cold weather. (Learned that one the hard way)

The tray is roughly 4 ½ inches (11cm) deep. I’m going to use it for beets, corn, borlotto beans, and broccoli.

Once I've repotted the seedlings from this tray I'm going to throw it into the compost bin. By that time the box should be pretty broken down and ready to rot. Just hope it holds out until they're ready to replant. If not I've got plastic pots on standby.

I’ll keep you posted on if this beer box seed tray works out and how I’ll get the seedlings out of there once they’re ready to be replanted. That should be interesting.Wish me luck!