Kitchen Garden Forum

Hi there,
I was thinking of buying one of those newspaper pot makers.I would be interested in how anyone has got on with them with regards to their biodegradeability against robustness. It does at first glance seem to be a very environmentally sound thing to do.

I have one and I do use it. The little pots rot down very quickly, but this also means they disintegrate beforehand too. They also take some time to make if you're after lots - a good thing to do in front of the TV!

On another gardening messageboard thing, someone posted a couple of pictures with diagrams for origami pots out of newspaper. Had a fold myself and they look good. I also have a paper-pot maker thing from the Organic Gardening Catalogue.

"but this also means they disintegrate beforehand too"
Does this mean they wont last until seedling is ready to be planted? Perhaps a longer length of paper than suggested should be used?

I used to make and use them, but I also found that they disintegrated before I could plant them. When I used them for sweet peas, the roots used to grow into each other and then it was really difficult to separate them.

I have not tried paper pots but do use toilet roll inners, held in margerine type containers these seem to hold ther shape before the need to plant and rot down in the soil

I've used them for sweetcorn, courgettes and sweet peas. They've worked well, but beware because they dry out really quickly!!

I know they are expensive to buy initially but I still think that root trainers beat all the makeshift pots. We have used the same ones for many years now and, although the "hinges" eventually break, they are still perfectly usable. Most of the trays are used at least twice a year (e.g. broad beans followed by French dwarf beans, sweet peas followed by runner beans), so they really earn their keep.

I agree with Monika, rootrainers are a good buy and worth saving up for if pennies are tight.

When I use toilet roll inners I flatten them and then open them out and flatten them again so that the creases from the first flattening line up. Then when you open them out and stand on end they are squarish - I find I can squeeze 40 into a standard seed tray and they all support one another - much better than using them in their original round shape.

I also have one of the wooden formers for making paper pots, I find if I use a full sheet from a tabloid size newspaper, opened out and cut into 4 lengthways, this gives just the right amount of paper not to rot away too soon, and not so much that its still in tact when the plant is eventually dug up. I do undo the bottom slightly as I'm planting out if the roots haven't already penetrated the paper.

I have rootrainers, and I also use paper pots. The problem I was having with rootrainers was that the brassicas I planted/sowed in them, were getting their leaves tangled as if they were playing twister.

Actually thats why I started this thread, I was using rootrainers, but found them too narrow, and the hinges broke too easily making them expensive. I was also using the standard thin plastic pots that sit in a tray with shaped recesses, but found them too big! The newspaper pots seemed like a good environmental alternative

Hi Brooklynodog and Monica and others,
I wonder whether the answer to disintegration is to use thicker rather than longer newspaper pots.

mike

Hi Mike,
My thought is that people use far to much water and I feel that when using loo roll inners and paper pots the watering should be with a small watering can and individually rather than using a watering can with a rose. Watering should only be to the need of the plant. If this means little but more often
so beit.
JB.

yes, you're right, Johnboy. I slosh water all over the place! If I know I'm not going to get to the plot for a day or two it always seems to be the best solution. This year I will try to water more directly and when needed, and maybe ask for some root trainers for my birthday!

I have commented before that I have always shied away from root trainers because of their apparent frailty

Its the same with some of the small multi-section trays...I tend to destroy them when trying to get the plants out. This is a combination of large hands/fingers and clumsyness....mine

Why can't they make them a shade thicker?

I shouldn't have asked that when the answer is so obvious...they want to sell more!