fibre pots

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Myrkk
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Was wondering about other peoples experiences of these fibre pots you can buy in the garden centre? Since we are in the middle of moving and all my gardening stuff is still in my house in Wales and I now live in Scotland... I thought I'd buy some of these pots and sow my seeds this way this year. What a disaster! Keeping them at the correct level of moistness was difficult, some persistently dried out and others went mouldy. I've only managed to germinate around 10 or 12 seeds and tbh they are well behind where they should be and I'm going to bin them.

Is it just me being useless this year or is there a trick with these pots I'm missing somewhere?
Westi
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I didn't like them very much, they do dry out quite quickly. They don't break down when planted either which is what I was led to believe they would do & because it was hard to keep them constantly wet the roots could not break through the pots & the plants were sickly or failed completely.

Won't ever use them again.

Westi
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Elaine
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Hi Myrkk. We had the same experience with them as yourself and Westi. We were disappointed to say the least and went back to trays/cells and compost.
Cheers.
Happy with my lot
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Pa Snip
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Add my name to list of those who has found them useless, and I'm not basing that on one attempt at using them.

The danger when people start to believe their own publicity is that they often fall off their own ego.

At least travelling under the guise of the Pa Snip Enterprise gives me an excuse for appearing to be on another planet
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Myrkk
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Phew, thanks everyone. Glad it's not just me. Will never buy them again. I bought them a few years ago but couldn't remember what happened with them, so I thought I'd try them this year... now I know why I didn't keep buying them.
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dan3008
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I had the same with fibre pots... So now I make all my own paper pots using one of these

Although, I made mine myself from scrap wood, they dont cost much to make :)
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Westi
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Hi Dan

I've been looking at getting one of those for quite some time but remain undecided based on other's opinions. My concern is them not lasting long enough to get the seedlings into the ground, as others report that the newspaper soon perishes with the watering and the plants & compost leak out.

Is there a special technique they are not using when making them maybe?

Westi
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dan3008
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To be honest westi, its not a problem I've had. Yes the pots fall apart quite quickly, but I've only had a few where its been a problem. The only 'trick' I've found is to fold the newspaper in half and wrap it round twice. That way, you have 4 layers of paper so it's less likely to split.

That or I did once try it with some heavy craft paper, that worked well
Once the game is over the king and the pawn go back in the same box. Anonymous

Exploring is like walking, where the walking decides where we're going. Bob the dinosaur from dinopaws
Westi
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Thanks!

That can go on my Xmas list then! :)

Westi
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