Gardening is one of the best things you can do for your mental health and to spend time in nature. However, certain aspects of growing plants can create excess clutter and waste you aren't sure what to do with.
One gardening expert shared their tips for what to do with plastic pots to give them a second life after your plants no longer need them.
The scoop
In a viral video, TikTok gardener Ish (@gardening.with.ish) explained the many things you can do with plastic gardening supplies at the end of the growing season.
@gardening.with.ish Don't throw away your plastic pots! You'd be surprised what you can do with them. Old pot trays work fantastic as large seed trays, small pots can be used to start garlic, broadbeans and salad onions and reuse old plug trays to make… well. More plugs! Quick tip: Sometimes you never know what was used in the pot before - so give them a good wash beforehand! #gardeningtips #gardentips #recycling #recycle #plantpot #gardeningforbeginners #gardenproject #plantcare #gardencare ♬ original sound - Gardening with Ish
"Don't throw away your plastic pots!" he wrote. "You'd be surprised what you can do with them."
He demonstrates how to use small pots to start growing new garlic plants and old plug trays to grow broad beans and salad onions. He reuses these plastic pieces as starter vessels before later planting foods directly into the soil.
At the end of his video, Ish suggests that if you don't already have plastic pots around your home, you can visit a local garden store to ask if they have any you can take off their hands.
How it's helping
Ish's plastic pot hack is helpful because it promotes healthy, sustainable gardening while saving money.
There's often no need to buy new pots to start your new plants, so you can reduce your gardening investment by reusing what you already have. When you grow your own food in used pots, you save even more money on your grocery bills.
Meanwhile, reusing plastic pots keeps them out of landfills and is an excellent solution for containers that can't be recycled. Using plastic that would otherwise become trash prevents it from ending up in the ocean or releasing harmful microplastics into our environment.
🗣️ Which of these factors would most effectively motivate you to recycle old clothes and electronics?
🔘 Giving me money back 💰
🔘 Letting me trade for new stuff 👕
🔘 Making it as easy as possible ⚡
🔘 Keeping my stuff out of landfills 🗑️
🗳️ Click your choice to see results and speak your mind
What people are saying
Fellow gardeners loved Ish's hack and shared their experiences with plastic gardening pots in the comment section.
"I have soo many and I reuse them for everything," one TikToker said.
Another wrote, "I always reuse mine for seedlings."
"You can recycle pots and old compost bags at most garden centres; no need to ever put them in landfill," someone else commented.
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