You probably already use plastic wrap to keep cooked food fresh in the refrigerator, but did you realize you can use plastic wrap in gardening? The same moisture-sealing qualities that make it work for keeping in food odors make it possible to start gardening with plastic wrap. If you’d like a few DIY garden plastic wrap ideas, read on. We’ll tell you how to use cling film in the garden to help your plants grow.
How to Use Cling Film in the Garden
That plastic wrap you use in the kitchen, sometimes called cling film, is very useful in the garden. That’s because it holds in moisture and also heat. Think about a greenhouse. Its plastic or glass walls hold in the heat and allow you to grow plants inside that would have to struggle to thrive outdoors. Tomatoes are a great example. They grow best in a warm, protected environment. A cool climate, frequent wind, or too little sunshine can make it hard to grow these heat-loving plants, but tomatoes usually grow well in a protected greenhouse. Plastic wrap in gardening can do something similar.
Plastic Wrap Garden Ideas
Gardening with plastic wrap can mimic some of the effects of a greenhouse. You just need to know how to use cling film in the garden to accomplish this. One way to give a tomato a private greenhouse is to wrap the clingy paper around the bottom part of the tomato plant’s cage. First, anchor the plastic wrap around one of the vertical bars of the cage, then wrap around and around until the lower two horizontal rungs are covered. When you use this DIY garden plastic wrap trick, you create a greenhouse effect. The wrap holds in the warmth and protects the plant from the wind. If you prefer, you can create a mini-greenhouse from an entire raised bed. Use two-foot bamboo poles placed a few feet apart all the way around the bed. Run several layers of plastic wrap around the poles, then run more plastic wrap across to create a roof. Since plastic wrap sticks to itself, you don’t need to use staples or tape. Creating a mini-greenhouse is cool, but it isn’t the only DIY garden plastic wrap fix you can use. When you are germinating seeds, topping the planter with plastic wrap holds in the moisture the plant requires. Seeds are sensitive to overwatering, which can dislodge seedlings. But too little water can also damage them. One of the best plastic wrap garden ideas is to stretch plastic wrap over the surface of the seed planting pot to maintain high moisture. Remove it regularly to check the moisture levels.