Spring is here, and for many of us, this means it’s time to start sowing seeds to fill our gardens with fruit, veg and flowers later in the season. So, it feels like a good time to tell you that a humble shoe rack is a great way to quadruple the amount of seedlings you could be growing this season.
Sowing seeds and waiting for them to germinate can take a little time and a lot of space. However, on social media, many savvy gardeners are upcycling old shoe racks – whether that’s a free-standing rack or an over-the-door hanging rack- to increase the available space for sowing seeds at home.
So, while you ponder what to plant in March this weekend, here’s how a shoe rack should be part of your gardening kit.
What’s the hack?
The shoe rack seedling hack is exactly what it sounds like. It is quite literally using an old shoe rack as a stand to grow seedlings on, whether that is in a greenhouse or by a window in your home.
‘Free-standing shoe racks are designed to provide you with loads of organised storage space, and this is their best feature when it comes to using them when you’re growing seedlings. Depending on how many levels they are, you can be doubling, tripling or quadrupling your space, vital in spring when you can be sowing lots of seeds within days of each other,’ explains Lucie Bradley, gardens and greenhouse expert at Easy Garden Irrigation.
‘Shoe storage, which is designed to hang over a door, allows you to use every available space, and when you use the pockets to hold small pots with seedlings in, you have space to hold lots of plants whilst they have room to continue to grow without becoming entangled with others.’
Is this a good hack to use?
The shoe rack hack is a cost-effective (and basically free if you’re repurposing an old rack) way to grow seedlings and keep them safe when at a delicate stage of growing.
‘Using a shoe rack allows you to grow seedlings vertically, so you can fit more seedling trays than you could using only a windowsill,’ says Richard Barker, horticultural expert and commercial director of LBS Horticulture. ‘The shelves of shoe racks are the perfect size to hold seedling propagation trays.’
If your shoe rack has compartments, this can make it easier to organise your seedlings by species or variety. However, Richard does point out a couple of drawbacks.
‘Seedlings placed on solid shelf shoe racks can suffer from improper drainage if water pools, leading to waterlogged soil or potentially killing seedlings. If the shoe rack is made from wood, consistent dampness from watering pots causes the wood to rot or go mouldy,’ he says.
‘The top shelves of the rack may receive more light, which can cause lower seedlings to grow leggy. Shoe racks are best used only for the early stages of germination within the first few weeks of planting, and should not be used for long term growth.’
Where to put a shoe rack to store seedlings
‘If you use a shoe rack to store seedlings, place it in a warm, bright and stable location, such as near a south-facing window, in a greenhouse or against a sunny wall,’ suggests Richard.
You should avoid any areas where the temperature isn’t consistent or can change quickly, like doorways and hallways, and you should also avoid placing them near heat sources like radiators.
‘When using shoe storage hung from a door, you need to be careful that you select a door which isn’t being used as much, so a spare room door is great, whilst a kitchen door would simply be opened and closed too often and the draughts caused would affect the health of the seedlings,’ says Lucie.
Argos Home
Argos Home Karee 5 Shelf Shoe Storage Rack – Pine
Vencier
Vencier Bamboo Shoe Rack
Argos Home
Argos Home Jorn 4 Shelf Shoe Storage Rack – Black
‘Using a shoe rack to store seedlings is recommended because it saves space and allows for easier seedling management. If you are repurposing an old shoe rack, this can be cheaper than buying specialist nursery equipment,’ Richard concludes.
Don’t let a lack of storage prevent you from growing the garden of your dreams this year. The shoe rack hack provides lots of extra space for your seedlings, so get growing.
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