How to Grow a Magic Bean in an Egg Carton

August 8, 2022

Growing plants from seeds, or magic beans, in advance of planting them in your garden has several benefits. You can start them indoors in the early spring before your garden soil has warmed up - and therefore get a head start on the growing season.

When you are looking for a pot plant to plant your magic beans or flowering seeds, there is no need to spend lots of money on a fancy container. Egg cartons made from pressed paper or cardboard are perfect for this because each individual egg cup in the egg carton is the perfect size for starting a seed.

Additionally, the entire egg cup can be buried in the ground because it’s biodegradable, and you can thus avoid disturbing the young plant’s roots during transplanting.

Things You Will Need:

Egg carton
Scissors
Pen or pencil
Potting mix or other substrate of choice
Magic Beans
Spray bottle

Creating an egg carton pot plant

Separate the lid and base of any empty pressed paper or cardboard egg carton with a pair of scissors.
Poke three or four holes into the base of each indented egg cup. Tip: Use the tip of a pen or pencil. These holes will help each egg cup drain properly.
Place the egg carton on a tray, baking sheet or similar flat surface that has a slightly raised edge around it. This will become the saucer and will catch any soil or water that drains from the egg carton.
Fill each egg cup with potting mix, coir or you choice of substrate.
Plant one seed or magic bean into each filled egg cup. Every plant species has different seeding requirements, but most do fine being buried just beneath the surface.
Give each magic bean a spray of water, or mist from a spray bottle. Keep it moist by repeating at least once or twice a day, or as necessary to keep the potting mix consistently moist until the magic beans or seeds emerge.

Transferring egg carton pots to the garden

When you’re ready to transplant the starter plants into a larger pot or out into your garden, simply cut the individual egg cup out of the carton and bury it in the ground. Bury each egg cup at a depth so that the potting mix inside the egg cup is level with the soil around the egg cup.

Planting seeds and magic beans has never been easier!

This is a fabulous activity for the kids to do too. Recycling and learning about nature cannot get any more fun!

Give it a go and please share your photos.