AWESOME AppleBee's Carside To-Go Container Seed Germinator / Starter!!!!!!

 by thenear1send
Featured
Eat at AppleBee's Lately??? Had any food to-go?? Stuck with that cool dome-like food container?

Well if you are in posession of one of those food container things, with about 2 minutes of work, you can make your self a neat little seed germinator that is sturdy and reusable, unlike many of the other "seed germinators made from recycled garbage" instructables, this one is actually cool! So read on and saturate your brain with semi-useful information brought to you through Instructables!

This green solution to all the worlds problems brought to you by Thenear1send.

CHECK OUT MY OTHER INSTRUCTABLE
How to grow PEPPERS!!!
 
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Step 1: Acquire the Container

This process is fairly easy.

First, eat at AppleBee's.

Second, be sure you don't eat all your food, and request a take out box.

Third Step, BAIL OUT of the place!

Alternative:
Note, if you are "smooth" enough, you could just straight up ask if you could have a couple containers, having eaten your entire meal anyway. It never hurts to ask, the worst they could say is no.
AtlantaTerry says: Dec 28, 2012. 9:33 PM
Any similar container will work. Sources: fast food restaurants (Wendy's, McDonald's, etc.) who have salads to go. Grocery stores that have prepared meat or bread or whatever to take home. Really, if you look around you can find similar trays with a black lower half and a clear upper half. Free or with food...

BTW, the "$" should go before the number.
georgeshtc says: Sep 1, 2011. 4:03 AM
This is one of the best Instructables I have come across, 10 out of 10 on the humour and good work on the guide on the greenhouse :) I had to read the whole instructable.
annamaria1231 says: Sep 2, 2008. 4:25 PM
I wsan't hoarding. I knew I saved all these containers for a reason :-) You just showed it's for the good of the earth. Thanks for making it funny.
csantiago3 in reply to annamaria1231Aug 8, 2011. 10:10 PM
soo true, my mother says I collect garbage, I say I collect magnificent seed starters
Solderguy says: Aug 30, 2008. 9:20 PM
I would leave the lid a little open to get air circulation and prevent mold from forming on the seeds.
thenear1send (author) in reply to SolderguyAug 30, 2008. 10:31 PM
I actually do that every now and then, and mostly i just don't lock the top onto the bottom. In my case, since its like 110 degrees, it not only allows air circulation, but it allows the insides not to boil. As for mold, never had a mold "problem", BUT, my jiffy peat pots do mold, but i figured, its not bothering anyone, hopefully it will speed their decomposition.
bFusion in reply to thenear1sendMar 26, 2010. 10:34 AM
The new Applebees containers actually have a 1/4-inch hole poked in the top.

I just ate Applebees leftovers for lunch and I had an apple for a snack earlier. I popped onto instructables to see if there were any guides on growing seeds. What a great coincidence :D
bFusion says: Mar 26, 2010. 10:30 AM
1/3 virmiculite, 1/3 compost, 1/3 peatmoss, and 1/3 cheap soil!

I think your math is a little off  :)
blondeeboi says: Feb 15, 2010. 11:39 PM
Honestly dude i love how this instructable was written, absolutely hilarious, but for your next eco-friendly-able, maybe you should learn how to grow a riddelin tree? Just sayin
It's worth a try
ReCreate says: Jun 20, 2009. 9:26 PM
A plant? O RLY? Laugh out loud, especially at the last image :P
canno says: Mar 28, 2009. 11:47 PM
great instructable love the i'm with stupid pic 5/5 funny xP
willie Davis says: Mar 17, 2009. 7:17 PM
I really enjoyed this Instructable. Very funny, and educationally great. Will be teaching my grandchildren this one i betcha.
temp says: Oct 18, 2008. 2:50 PM
okay... I need a controlled environment for growing a couple of seeds. I need a need a controlled environment because the seeds I am trying to grow have been to space. I'm serious. I need to do a scientific experiment trying to show a difference between the space seeds, and the seeds that remained on earth that act as a control. Would anybody recommend this for a controlled environment I could use? I need a reliable and controlled area for growing my seeds. Thanks you. Any help or tips are welcome to be said. I will document what I find and try to post it on the web, NASA might even put it on their website if I give a good report and have reliable data. All help is welcome! p.s. I'm not someone really smart or scientifically famous. This is just a science olympiad/ school/ I saw this guy giving a powerpoint about a science olypmiad event and he gave me some seeds that have been to space sortof experiment thing. I'm with stupid... lol.
thenear1send (author) in reply to tempOct 20, 2008. 10:54 PM
Hey Temp,

your experiment sounds way awesome!

A good control soil (or as you said, environment/area) would be about 3 parts peat moss, 2 vermiculite, and 1-2 parts compost (depending on its thickness, ive had some store bought composts as thick as clay [not good =(] )

And if your going to get serious about your project enough to get all these things, then do NOT use my garbage food container germinator. This instructables was really more of a --less than serious project i did in my spare time.. if you didn't already catch that drift.

I would suggest purchasing some seed germinating trays. You can spend a load of cash at stores or hardware depots getting these, BUT i have found a good resource of these things in my area. The Dollar Store! w00t!

I spent an entire 2 dollars and got 2 12 celled 1"by 1" by 3" deep seed germinators, complete with hydration domes. xD

They have worked nicely.

Also, if your really confused on soils. Just get a bag of standard potting mix. They work well for about everything, especially controlled experiments. The only thing about them is that they are expensive, have a bunch of weird stuff inside of them (like time released fertilizer pellets), and break down into dust in a few years, rendering them as significant as sand.

Be sure to buy something with a good deal of peat and/or vermic/pearlite. They arent necessary, but provide for good seed germination and aeration. (untill they start to decompose)

Well, hope that helps you!

Good luck on your experiment!

Post pics if it turns out!!!
iMac says: Aug 31, 2008. 6:20 PM
Does it have to be AppleBees container? I have a Jack in the box one will that work?
pcfrost232 says: Aug 30, 2008. 3:55 PM
I knew I was saving those kinds of containers for a reason! Thanks for helping me out. =]
cowscankill says: Aug 30, 2008. 12:49 PM
This is cool. Must try.
FreshPineSent says: Aug 30, 2008. 10:00 AM
I wonder how many people are going to use this to grow pot.
Mr. Rig It says: Aug 29, 2008. 9:35 PM
Another great instructable, you are on a roll! Good Job!
thenear1send (author) says: Aug 28, 2008. 8:52 PM
This is my 2nd Instructable, I hope all who come and check it out enjoy it!!! =)

-thenear1send
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