A temporary grow box made from humble cardboard provides a suitable container for seedlings or annual herbs, vegetables or flowering plants. Cardboard boxes are versatile and come in a variety of shapes and sizes. A cardboard box requires some modifications, however, in order to provide the correct growing conditions for plants and to ensure it is strong enough to last until the end of the growing season.
Fold a cardboard box's top flaps into the inside of the box. They will help reinforce the box's sides. Tape the box's corner edges and bottom flaps closed with plastic or paper packing tape. The tape further reinforces the box so it doesn't fall apart before the end of the gardening season.
Line the interior of the cardboard box with a plastic bag, folding the edges of the bag over the top edge of the box. Poke six or more holes in the bottom of the bag. The holes are for drainage. Plastic helps protect the sides of the box from moisture so the box can retain its shape in a garden.
Fill the box to within 2 inches of its rim with potting soil. Alternatively, combine three parts potting soil with one part compost, and put that mixture in the box to within 2 inches of box's rim. Water the potting medium until it's evenly moist to the bottom of the box.
Plant seedlings in the box's potting medium, placing them at the same soil depth as the soil depth at which they grew in their pots. Space the plants at one-half the bedding distance recommended on their plant labels.
Set the cardboard grow box in an area that receives the amount of light recommended on the plants' labels. The recommended amount of light is usually six to eight hours per day for annual herbs, vegetables and flowering plants. Water the box's potting medium when the top 1 inch of it feels dry to your touch.
Things You Will Need
- Plastic or paper packing tape
- Plastic bag
- Potting soil
- Compost (optional)
- Watering device
- Dress up a plain cardboard grow box by gluing twigs, reed mats or cork tiles to its sides. The sides also can be wrapped in decorative plastic, but leave the box's bottom uncovered to allow drainage. If you use a cardboard grow box indoors, then set it on a drip tray to catch draining water.
- At the end of the growing season, add the cardboard box to your compost pile, after removing tape and plastic from the box.
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