'I Always Save Old Storage Bins to Use in My Garden' – 3 Clever Ways Plastic Totes Can Help You Cut Costs & Grow More
Here's how you can use those extra plastic storage bins you have lying around as affordable alternatives to expensive gardening gadgets.
As a thrifty gardener, I’m always looking for free alternatives to more expensive tools and gadgets. One of my favorite low-cost swaps is a plastic storage tote. You probably have a few extras lying around your basement or garage. And even if you’ve lost the lids or the totes have cracks in them, you can still use them as alternatives for several gardening products that can be quite costly.
I always save old totes that I'm no longer using to store clothes, extra bedding, or holiday decorations inside anymore. There are few ways to recycle these items in the garden that require minimal modifications. They’re low-cost, easily available, and you can put them to use in your garden in just a few minutes.
In this latest installment of our Dirt Cheap Gardening series, I’ll show you my favorite ways to give a plastic storage tote a second life in your garden and save money in the process.
1. Mini Greenhouse
This is my favorite way to use a plastic storage tote in the garden. It requires no modifications to the tote at all and costs nothing! The only caveat is that you need a clear plastic storage bin, like this one from Walmart. Obviously, a colored tote will not be able to let light through to reach your plants.
To turn a plastic tote into a mini greenhouse, all you have to do is flip the tote upside down and vent it. Vent your tote by placing a brick or rock under one side of it to allow airflow and let heat escape. Close it up at night to protect tender plants from freezing temperatures and reopen again in the morning. You can either use the lid as a base to hold your seedlings or small, tender plants or if you’ve lost track of the lid, you can simply place the tote directly on the ground.
A lid can come in handy when using your mini greenhouse for seed starting. It can act as a sort of water catch tray that waters your delicate seedlings from the bottom as an alternative to overhead watering. Just pour water into the lid and let the plants soak it up through the drainage holes in the bottom of their containers.
Make sure to vent your plastic storage tote greenhouse, so you don’t accidentally fry your plants inside. I had this happen one morning when I slept in late and forgot to crack open the lid.
By 10am, the sun was blazing down on my greenhouse and my plants were literally smoking when I opened the tote. Luckily, my plants recouped quickly and that was the best year I’ve ever had in my vegetable garden – I think partially thanks to the early start I was able to get with my plastic storage bin greenhouse.
Once your seedlings are big enough to plant outside in the spring, the tote makes it easy to carry them out to the garden.
2. Seed Starting Tray
If you have some smaller plastic storage bins like these ones from Target lying around, they make wonderful seed starting trays. This DIY seed starting tray idea takes a little more work than the greenhouse idea, but it only takes a minute to do.
Use a drill or a hot metal skewer to make several drainage holes in the bottom of your tote. How many holes you need to make depends on the size of your tote, but aim for at least a handful per square foot of area. Be careful when making the holes not to poke yourself as the tool goes through the plastic. Trying to make a hole with just a knife or scissors is not a good idea because it’s easier to hurt yourself that way and you’re more likely to crack the brittle plastic bottom of the tote.
Once you’ve made your holes, it’s time to fill your new seed starting tray with a good seed starting mix – I always have good results with this mix from Miracle-Gro. Then plant your seeds, water, and watch them grow. If you have a lid, that’s definitely a bonus for this project. Place the lid under the tote to catch any water that leaks out when watering your seedlings. Or you can try bottom watering using the lid.
If you have another plastic tote of the same or larger size as the one you turned into a seed starting tray, you can place that over the top to create a mini greenhouse to help seedlings stay warm on a drafty windowsill or outside in the late winter to early spring months.
3. Mini Raised Bed
If you can plant seeds in a small plastic tote, then you can certainly grow bigger plants in a large plastic tote like this one from Home Depot. Use a drill to make holes in the bottom of your tote to turn it into a small DIY raised bed that can fit on almost any porch, patio, balcony, or backyard.
For this project, you don’t need a clear tote – any color will do – and you don’t need a lid either. Simply make your drainage holes, fill the tote with your preferred raised bed potting mix. I like to use a mix of potting soil and organic compost, which you can get at the Home Depot. Then all you have to do is plant!
Plastic totes are great for growing a variety of vegetables. Potatoes do very well in these containers! Just make sure to use a large enough tote to allow for good root growth. Your tote should be at least 15 inches (28 cm) or so to let plants sink their roots deep into the soil.
Plastic totes aren’t as durable as metal or wooden raised beds, so they will likely only last a few years outside in the sun. But they’re a great alternative for gardeners who are short on cash and space.
