Skip to content
Uncomplicate.
  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • About Me
  • Search Icon

Uncomplicate.

in pursuit of a simpler, more sustainable creative life.

Garden Hack: Plastic Tubs as Mini-Greenhouses

Garden Hack: Plastic Tubs as Mini-Greenhouses

May 9, 2021 Beth Comments 2 comments

This gardening hack is something I started doing way back in my much more complicated life. For 14 years my business year started and ended in May: my Art Licensing contracts pretty much all came from and led to exhibiting at Surtex, an annual tradeshow for the Surface Design industry. My focus and obsession for months leading up to the show was booth displays, handouts, portfolios full of new art. Must. Have. All. The. Art. Springtime, instead of a time for planning and planting my garden like I’d done all those years before, was my annual mad-scramble to finish all the extra last-minute stuff I decided I had to have done. I rarely took days off anyway back in those years, but spring was the worst of all when it came to any kind of self-care or real-life stuff.

All the local annual plant sales as well as prime planting time in my area happened anywhere from 2 weeks before I left to the week I was in NY for the show. After I got home, I’d hit the ground running with show follow-up, sending out samples, and starting newly requested projects. By the time I was ready to come up for air long enough to think about planting my little vegetable garden, most garden centers only had a few sad, dry, leggy starts stuffed into a back corner – if that. I might get plants at a discount this way but my beloved garden had become an afterthought and I hated that.

After way too many years of this I finally decided I needed a compromise and a way to grow what I wanted around my busy work schedule. I started going to my favorite plant sale the first weekend of May with no spare moments to actually do anything but keep the little plants safe and healthy as possible until I got home later in the month. Doing this meant I’d be forced to take a day off as soon as I got back to plant them. An actual day off. This was me taking baby steps toward a healthier less-complicated life – gotta start somewhere, right?

I needed a setup that was simple for me during a stressful & busy time and something my house-sitter could deal with fairly easily the week I was gone, so I bought some clear plastic storage tubs with clear lids to keep them in for those few weeks. The tubs were large enough the seedlings could fit inside with the lid closed to stack in my tiny living room by the front door at night, then move out to the porch during the daytime for fresh air and sunlight. This became an easy way to harden them off slowly to be ready for planting a few weeks later.

Fast-forward what feels like a thousand years to my new life and my bigger garden, where I’m back to starting everything from seed: my plastic tub method has been a great way to manage seedlings until I get a proper greenhouse (someday!).

They’re like mini-greenhouses early in the season, and portable cold-frames when it gets closer to planting time.

When the seeds are first planted, the tubs can get moved around, taking turns between warm windows and the couple heat mats and grow lights I have inside. With the lids closed, it provides a nice humid little space for them to germinate.

planting tomato seeds on a snowy February day
cat-proofing indoor tubs with stuff I have on hand

When it starts getting warm enough during the day, I can start transitioning them outside to the patio with the lids on or off depending on weather. Good air flow is important for these tender little babies, but spring weather can be a little harsh: hard rain or direct sunlight on those rare hot early spring days can sometimes be too much, and their leaves may get sunburned. Leaving the lids on, propped up with a stick (or whatever else is handy) works great for protecting them while still letting in sunlight and air.

Then, late in the day while they’re still warm from the afternoon sun, I’ll lid them up and bring them inside for the night, stacking the bins in a safe place until morning. As their final planting day gets closer, I start leaving them out during the day without a lid overhead for protection, and to harden them off to outside temperatures I’ll usually leave them outside for a few nights first with lids on and then without, before planting them in the garden.

When it’s finally time to plant, I can just carry the tubs out to the garden. Easy peasy.

I haven’t done this yet, but turning a tub upside down over tender direct-seeded starts could provide extra early-season protection from cold, or even emergency-coverage in hard rain or hail. Clear plastic tubs for the win, right?

Someday I’ll have a real greenhouse, but until then, my plastic tub method has been an excellent way to keep my babies safe and healthy from the time the seeds are planted until they’re moved into their beds.


DIY, Gardening, Homesteading
cold frames, edible gardening, extending the growing season, garden advice, kitchen garden, mini greenhouse, planting the garden

Post navigation

PREVIOUS
The Veggie Garden: Scheduling Plantings

2 thoughts on “Garden Hack: Plastic Tubs as Mini-Greenhouses”

  1. Carole says:
    December 29, 2024 at 11:58 am

    Do you put any holes in the tub for air to circulate, and for plants to breathe?

    Reply
    1. Beth says:
      December 29, 2024 at 2:09 pm

      I haven’t ever put holes in them, because I often reuse the tubs for other things when they’re not being little greenhouses. I do prop the lids up with little sticks (or whatever I have handy) to allow air in/out, and that seems to be enough. My setup is low-tech for sure, I bet if you did drill air holes your little plants would appreciate it 😉

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Categories

Tags

average frost dates buying seeds canning and freezing change cold frames covid life DIY edible gardening extending the growing season fermented foods ferns freezing tomatoes fruit trees garden advice gardening garden paths garden planning garden structures growing tomatoes hardscaping inspiration kitchen garden mini greenhouse native gardening native plants nature organic gardening organization pandemic life pest control planting seeds planting the garden quarantine life raised bed garden real life roasted tomatoes sauerkraut sketchbook smoked tomatoes sustainable living tomatoes tomato recipe tomato sauce vegetable garden wildlife

bethlogansart

Just eating real food, that’s all. 😍 simply g Just eating real food, that’s all. 😍 simply grilled pasture-raised local lamb from @coffeecreekcommunityandgardens with what’s in the garden now: lightly dressed mizspoona, basil, mint, strawberries & peas…
🌱🍓
Gah. Food is good. It’s a celebration, and a blessing. And it should be. So grateful for amazing local farmers and stuff that actually grows in my own yard 😍 this is how it should be, right?
.
.
.
.
.

#eatlocal #growwhatyoueat #eatwhatyougrow #eatrealfood #sogood #whatsgrowingnow #localfarmersrock #pastureraisedlamb #mizspoona #gardensalad #simplefood #slowliving #uncomplicate
And now, your Moment of Zen. 🌿🐝🦋 Happy F And now, your Moment of Zen. 
🌿🐝🦋
Happy Friday, friends!
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
#yourmomentofzen #stopandlisten #lookup #butterfly #bumblebee #sageblossoms #mybackyard #justbreathe #quietlife #summer #slowliving #justgooutside #uncomplicate #pollinators
Hi local friends! It’s that time again: when I p Hi local friends! It’s that time again: when I post super last-minute about the pop-up this weekend 😉
Whether you’re riding the new-improved trail or just visiting the area on a gorgeous day, swing by the brewery for a lovely beverage & cool local vendors + the one and only Miss Fer from the Pe Ell pub will be grilling burgers (and vegan ones too!). 
@joedaddydesigns & I will be there with our artsy stuff and the weather’s going to be amazing. 
Yay!
Check out @jonescreekbrewing and @ridethewillapa for more details 🌲🚴🍺🚴‍♀️🌲 see you Saturday!
Summer said to tell you hi. 🍓 🌞 🍓 This i Summer said to tell you hi. 
🍓
🌞
🍓
This is about an every-other-day haul right now 😍 not enough to get all crazy making jam or anything, but plenty for us to eat and there was a yummy berry crisp the other day with the last of the rhubarb. So, the new bed is kind of a success so far: more than I’ve ever been able to grow in a season. Now, next year……
😉
The girls got a special Solstice treat yesterday ( The girls got a special Solstice treat yesterday (swipe for the whole thing, this documents about 5 hours of snacking in under 4 minutes) sound up for the happy eating sounds
💜
Funny TMI extra for you: I totally expected to be scooping purple poops after this, but wow…electric teal…if I were to draw them with a Prismacolor pencil I’d use Parrot Green 😆
Happy Solstice, friends! How are you celebrating t Happy Solstice, friends! How are you celebrating the longest day of the year today? ✨🌿🌞🌿✨
Good morning, teeny tiny messy webs and the teenie Good morning, teeny tiny messy webs and the teenier tinier spiders that inhabit them ☺️💕
Good morning from my happy place: just a quiet wal Good morning from my happy place: just a quiet walk through my little gardens, checking on all the things in-between watering (swipe for the mini-tour). So many works in progress…so many weeds, stuff that still needs planting, big projects to finish, stuff to clean up and put away. It will never all be done at once and that’s ok. And I need to remind myself that 5 years ago these garden beds were dense messy globs of snowberrry, thistle, bracken fern and 6’ grasses woven together with inch-thick blackberry vines all growing out of piles of scrap wood and random garbage on a ridge of railroad ballast. And every year, all that stuff tries to take it hack 🤣 it’s a never ending project but it makes me happy. 🌱
How’s your spring/summer shaping up?
#truestory I never knew I loved June or cottonwoo #truestory 
I never knew I loved June or cottonwoods so much until I lived here in June. 
It’s quiet now. The sound of the river has been replaced by the white noise of wind in the leaves and a gazillion bees, and the fluff floating about makes everything feel fakey and dreamlike and every so often I kind of lose track of time and space in the midst of it all…
✨
Friends, stop for just a moment and breathe in this magic time of year…what is it that’s making you smile right now?
✨
#springandsummer #cottonwoodsnow #fieldsofdaisies #smellsummer #justbreathe #livequietly #justgooutside #thismoment #uncomplicate #natureismagic #livetheseasons #cottonwood #pnwonderland
Load More... Instagram

What I’m Reading:

© 2025   All Rights Reserved.