Many gardeners love having a greenhouse to protect plants from the elements and grow food and flowers even in the off-season. But building and maintaining them can be expensive, making the idea much less appealing.
Thankfully, TikTok gardener Simon Akeroyd (@simonakeroydgardener) found a way to create a cheap mini-greenhouse for seedlings, using something you probably have hiding at the back of your closet: a plastic storage box.
@simonakeroydgardener Recycle a cheap storage box and transform it into a mini greenhouse with latest ventilation technology ! #gardening #gardeningforbeginners #vegetablegardeningforbeginners #growyourownfood #growyourown ♬ Flowers - Miley Cyrus
The scoop
"Are you running out of space for all your seedlings? Don't panic!" the creator wrote in the video, showing at least a dozen plants sitting on his windowsill.
Every gardener knows you can never have too many plants. If there's no more room, you make room somehow.
For this hack, you only need a medium-sized plastic storage box and a brick or some other sturdy object. Gather all your baby and young adult plants, place them on the box lid, and cover them with the box.
On sunny days, you can put the brick between the lid and the box to create an opening for ventilation or cooling.
Simon had some of the plants in trays, most likely to make them easier to transport.
"Lay [the] brick on its side and enjoy the adjustable ventilation technology," he added, showing how he'd moved it.
"Enjoy your free/cheap greenhouse this spring," he said.
How it's helping
This gardening hack boasts the "latest ventilation technology," as Simon joked in the video's caption.
Jokes aside, the affordable mini-greenhouse saves you a ton of cash and time building your own greenhouse from scratch. Lawn Love reported that, even on the extreme low-end, most homeowners pay at least $1,000, but as much as $5,000, for a DIY greenhouse.
It's also a creative way to protect plants since it doesn't require buying anything, helping to reduce strain on the Earth's resources. Plus, if you grow your own food, you'll save even more on groceries and minimize the environmental impact of buying mass-produced, globally shipped produce.
Last but not least, getting your hands in the dirt can greatly boost your mental and physical health. Gardeners usually have lower stress, higher self-esteem, and eat more fiber.
There's no shortage of clever ways to repurpose items for tiny greenhouses, such as old takeout containers, gallon jugs, or even plastic produce containers.
What everyone's saying
Commenters were grateful for the effortless hack, showing their approval with plenty of hearts and happy-faced emojis.
One person simply said, "Brilliant idea."
"This is genius!!!" another added.
"Thank you! And that isn't even bad-looking, either! Positively doing this!" someone else declared.
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