DIY – How To Make Windowsill Seed Trays

Guest Post by the  Chilli Ninja

This weekend I decided to cross off one of my much needed jobs of making something to put my seedlings that line my windowsills into. Its one of the downfalls that any indoor gardener will know that you are regularly transporting multiple seed trays to and from the windowsill as the day turns into evening. Some people may leave them on the sills or have their own system but I prefer to take them down into the room where it is hotter at night. The other issue is when you water them it can be quite messy and you don’t have the freedom to just spray water everywhere as you do in a greenhouse for example.

I’ve had an idea in my head for quite a while of a bit of apparatus that solves both problems. Now you can buy plastic ‘trays’ for this purpose but if you have been following my blog for a while you will know that that doesn’t appeal to my thrifty nature. I much prefer to make something from what I’ve got around me, after all I’ve got a garage with lots of wood off cuts and a tool collection that is getting very respectable.

A few months ago my wife acquired a few old bread boards from a local baker who was throwing them out, and they have been very useful for a few of her projects. As I looked around for inspiration I spotted there was one tray left and my eyes lit up! It was exactly what I was after if I could cut it properly.

I main idea was to make a tray with a lip around it that the seed trays sit into, enabling me to lift multiple items at once and it would also stop water spilling out and making a mess.

I measured the width of  my standard 6 seed tray and it worked out that I could cut this board into three – giving me space to hold 4 seed trays in each wooden tray (so a maximum capacity of 12 seed trays altogether which is perfect).

After cutting the board into 3 I cut 4 other strips of wood which I then screwed where needed so that all trays had a lip around them. This also acted as a useful way to tighten everything together again.

I now had 3 rustic wooden trays for my windowsill Chillies and they looked exactly how I wanted them to, and not often that happens I find when you are working with random materials.

All that was left was to line them with a plastic to catch the water - I cut a bit of plastic left over from repairing our greenhouse so that it snuggly sat inside the wooden tray and the job was complete. I’m really happy with these and it’s going to make my indoor Chillies so much more manageable and enjoyable to grow.

Do any of you have your own version of these trays or have you a different approach to growing indoors, as always I’d love to hear your thoughts. Chilli Ninja