I have made several of the soda bottle hot houses but have found that they take up a lot of space and when the seeds get to the edge they start to die so I was thinking about how to make a hot house cheaply.

I realized that after a recent move I had several of these plastic bins that were just being stored away in the attic and I thought maybe it would work as a larger hothouse.

Step 1: Materials Needed

I went to a home improvement store and got one of the light diffusers for a fluorescent light fixture and started to cut it up into sections that fit the lid of the container. I use this so that the pots donât sit in the water and I put water in that area so that it creates a very humid environment.

I have also done this with smaller containers but am finding I am enjoying the larger containers

Step 2: Closeup

This seems to keep the seeds growing well and become well established so that I can eventually remove the bottom area of the bin and harden them off and get them ready to transplant.

Step 3: Putting It All Together

I was using this method to grow plumeria seeds and the methods I had were at best marginal on the success rate but this new method has become very successful in growing the seeds and not over watering them.

Plumerias are a tropical plant for those of you who donât know what they are so they thrive in this environment. I have tried other seeds and they seem to do well in the hot house but I have to take them out sooner than the plumerias.

I use a potting method for the seeds similar to the ones described in this site but I purchased an item from Burpee seed catalog that is really a large wood cylinder that you wrap a 10 by 3.5 inch piece of newspaper around and press into the base to make a pot.

As you see I put the top of the container as the base and put the clear container over it.

I put water in the area of the lid so that it doesn't go over the diffuser and keeps a himid environment. (see humidity on the sides of this container.)