Newspaper pots

I just ordered this and thought it was so cool - I figured I would share it.

http://www.seedsofchange.com/garden_center/product_details.asp?item_no=S14924&UID=2003010916102303

looks interesting - let us know how the pots are made, might be worth it to do something similar by hand.

Or you can use an Ibuprofen bottle. Just tear the paper in strips longer than the bottle, wrap around 3-4 times, squash the bottom flat. If you don't have pill bottles laying all around your house, take a moment, step outside, look up and thank your lucky stars! Oh, and pack them closely together when they're filled and don't try to move the paper pots till you put them in the hole in the ground.

Pill bottles? Makes for a pretty small pot. :-)

Most do-it-yourselfers merely use a food can (with the food still in it.

You want to wrap them a little loose, however, so that the pot will clear the rim of the can.

pardon the ignorant questions here - do you wet the paper or bind it in any other way - preventing it from collapsing or disintegrating when it gets wet?

I used a tomato paste can; I used a bit of masking tape to seal the bottom and another piece (about 2" long) to seal the folded edge. These pots are not terribly sturdy, and won't take being jostled around much. But they are a good alternative for fast-growing transplants if you don't have enough containers, and/or you're planting things that resent being transplanted (since you plant the whole thing, there's less shock to the root system.)

I've been using the paper pot maker for several years, and it's a wonderful little invention. I've not tried a can or bottle, but it would probably work fine. The advantage, however, to the pot maker is that the base presses into the bottom of the paper on the pestle to hold it together. When you get the knack of it, you can sit around of an evening and make a box full while you watch TV. Newspaper is the best, and bond melts when wet, but I've used old IRS tax booklets when I ran out of newspaper!

I use these paper pots when starting seeds indoors that most of you would just plant outside. It gives me a two week start before I set it out in this cool soil. These are the plants that have a root system that is easily broken: garden peas, nasturtium, canary bird vine, sweet peas. When I am ready to set them out, I pop the pull the bottom open and unwind. In areas where the paper breaks down more readily, you could probably just open the bottom and plant with the paper around the seedling.

Weez.that is a great idea!...by the way, did you see the article on Alaskan gdning in the Country Living Gardener??? Elaine

We use paper pots a lot in my area, and I just start with wet paper and wind it around a jar or can rather loosly. It hasn't been necessary to do anything more than set them into prepared holes and water them in. The roots will find a way out with no problem, as long as there is no adhesive to stop them. And the paper helps to keep enough moisture but not too much until the young plants are strong and well established. I suppose that might not apply in cooler areas, I never thought about it. Weez, I can picture you sitting there making paper pots while you watch ER or some other goody on tv. On a really interesting one, you might get so carried away, you would bury yourself in pots. Lazy me, I just make them as I need them.

Aimee: I sell plants in the spring, and believe it or not, folks buy peas and nasturiums in my little paper pots for 50 cents each. So, I make lots of pots and put them in plastic bags for when I need them. I could easily need 300 pots when I get ready to plant them in early May.

I read that you should not use newspaper with colored ink as some newspapers are still using colored inks that could be harmful to your plants. Also read on another thread to be careful about the newspaper getting moldy. Weez . . is it faster to make them with that little device Alyssum bought?
thanks
arlene

I got one of those last growing season. Really cool. I really like how I can just pop them into the ground when they are ready. Not as much shock that way.

One cautionary note with these pots. Do not let the top edge be exposed when transplanting, because the paper will then wick moisture away from the seedling.

I tear off the top inch or so (along with the bottom, btw) when I transplant, to assure that no paper is exposed.

Like others here, I use tape to seal them. The person who taught me how to make them says if you fill them with soil right away the tape isn't needed.

That won't work for me, though, because I spend the winter months making them, then fill and seed as needed. No way I could store them filled with soil.

However, masking tape degrades almost as readily as newsprint, and doesn't interfere with growth.

Newspaper pots are definitly cool. When I saw this little device advertised, I made one similar in my woodshop. I've got some of the newspaper pots under lights now, and little green guys seem to be coming up just fine. Now I have something good to do with all that bad news that keeps getting printed in the Wall Street Journal.

I've really got to get a digital camera so I can pop pics up here. Someone kick me so I get up and do it.
Adam.

Whoops, forgot to say...,

I wet the newspaper SLIGHTLY before I press the pot in the form. Dry, it seems to unwind. Too wet, the paper just shreds. Took a few tries, but was easy to figure it out.

Adam.

Kick, Kick, Adam. Those digital cameras are getting cheaper and cheaper, so give one a try. It opens up a whole new world of photography! Good idea about dampening the paper... how do you go about that?

Personally, I use water ;~)

I spray it with a plant misting bottle.

Adam.

Thanks, Adam, I'm so relieved that you were not! ;)

These little things ARE neat. I had one (can't remember where it is now) and could make probably 100 at a sitting easily. The bottom piece that you press into the main piece to tuck the bottom edges like Weez mentioned is definitely a benefit over the Campbell's soup can method.

In my dry area you have to water more often than if they were in plastic pots as the paper does tend to dry out MUCH faster ~ found that out the hard way. I had tomato and pepper plants in both and the ones in the plastic were twice as tall and healthy as the ones in the newspaper, all started at the same time. I think in dry areas if you just use twice as much paper and keep a closer eye on the water it would be fine. And you'd have to open up the paper more when planting if you do that.

Call your newspaper office and ask if they use soy ink. Most papers do nowadays. Even the colored printing of the newsprint is soy based for my local paper. BUT avoid the glossy inserts ~ not sure, but I think they do have some bad stuff in that ink.

Thanks Weez, Wingnut, Adam -- everyone else. I am grateful for all the tips on using my new garden gadget!

A very good point about Soy~based inks.

Glossy inserts do use a different ink.

Adam.

It's interesting that we all have different issues to deal with. For me, the paper pots can't be crammed together in a flat, or they get moldy, Wingnut...just the opposite of your problem.

I always unwrap my seedlings, Adam. Not because the paper wicks the water, but because things break down so slowly in our cool soil. You could pull the plant out of the ground a month later, and it would still be in the paper pot! That's why peat pots don't work for us. They don't break down in the soil, yet the roots grow into the pot, making it difficult to extricate the plant.

Ah, I thought so, Weez! (See post above, "might not work in cooler areas".) Here in central Texas, those pots are just perfect for holding the little roots undisturbed. I have sent seedlings to people in cooler areas, using the smallest amount of soil possible for germinating in small paper cylinders or pots, and told the new owners to loosen the pot considerably to allow for expansion of the root system. Maybe I should have told them to remove it! I also line a trench with cheap white toilet paper to plant some seeds, because our soil is just too porous to hold moisture for some things. It works on larger seeds if I use shredded newspaper instead. But for you in Alaska, that might be the kiss of death.

Yes, Aimee, Texas and Alaska certainly have different growing conditions! Of course, like Texas, Alaska is a big state, so the climate varies considerably from place to place. Here in Southcentral Alaska, our summers are mild, and our winters are mild. When you get up to the "Interior", like Fairbanks, the summers are hot and the winters are bitterly cold. On the other hand, Southeastern Alaska has a climate similar to most the the Pacific Northwest with much milder winters and warmer summers. Even the Aleutian chain has warmer weather than we do. Is it like that in Texas?

Hehehe, Weez, most of us in The Sovereign Lone Star State would die in what you call mild! Okay, the heat is hotter, and there is a lot of humidity if you listen to the natives, but the cold here is never below zero degrees F. And if I remember Johnny Horton's words, when it's springtime in Alaska, it's 40 below! So our searing summers are as brutal on one end of the scale as your woeful winters, but not all over. (Did you mean to remind me that Alaska is bigger, or have we finally gotten over it?) I have only lived in the central Texas counties, never as far north as even Waco or as far south as San Antonio, each being about 100 miles from me. I know it's noticeably milder even 30 miles south of here, but not so much in Waco. And the coast of Texas is usually quite mild, of course, allowing for swimming most of the year. I don't think we experience the extremes you do, and we would never be gardeners with the short season. Heck, most Texans still think Alaska is frozen tundra year round, just as many from other areas think Texas is dry and barren.

I think its wonderful that something as simple as newspaper pots can produce such a wide spectrum, of ideas. I've learned a bunch from this. Thanks everyone..., and to Alyssum for putting the thread up.

Adam.

Yep, Adam, sometimes a good thread hijacking is quite informative! LOL! AFTER the OP gets their answer that is.

Yep, Weez, there are snowdrifts as big as houses up in the tip of the Panhandle while the same day people will be boating in Corpus. Pretty wild. And Aimee is so right about everyone thinking Texas is dry as a popcorn poot all over ~ few people not from here would ever think my backyard looks like this:




This message was edited Sunday, Jan 12th 1:52 PM

Or this...

(And not a half mile south from this it IS as dry as a popcorn poot! LOL!)

This message was edited Sunday, Jan 12th 1:51 PM

Wingnut -- those are really great pictures. You have the backyard of my dreams!

Beautiful pics Wingnut....

So where the devil have you been lately. I thought we were going to have to send the posse out for ya. Hope you and Kenny are well.

Donna

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack this thread.

Editing to say I just saw your thread in the parking lot.

This message was edited Sunday, Jan 12th 3:00 PM

Wow! I could live THERE! Purty...purrrrty~.

Thanks, y'all! Yeppers, I'm lucky, VERY lucky. Daddy was a smart man when he hung on to this place. ;)

SoCal, just been busy with life pilin' up. You'd think that things would calm down come winter, but not so. Cows need feedin', chickens need pluckin' and husband needs babyin'. ;)

'Shoe, come on down! I have 100 private one-acre campsites, atleast 20 of them border on this here crick! Plenty of room for you and your family ~ and Alyssum and hers, too.

Wow, Wingnut! It looks like you and Kenny live in the Eden of Texas. I love those ferns along the river. Yes, now that we've stolen the papermaker thread, maybe we should start a thread about where we live and the misconceptions about our growing conditions. The bit we've done here has been very interesting.

That would be an interesting thread as most people think all of Florida is hot, tropical and on EST...NOT.

Thanks, Weez. *Blush* I think a thread on area misconceptions would be great! I'd love to hear about all the other states. Kenny and I got a look at a few on our trip East late last winter. For instance, New York State is gorgeous! But all you hear about is the City with "all the trash and crime". When you start that thread, let us know here where it is.

Go to General Discussion! I will start the climate thread.
Bernie

Wow, Wingnut, you have all that growing in newspaper pots? I'm impressed.

Gorgeous pictures, by the way ;~)

Adam.

;) Yup, ever'one. ;) Thanks, Adam.

Paul James on "Gardening by the Yard" had these paper pots on his show this Saturday. http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/gl_lawns_maintenance/article/0,1785,HGTV_3600_1385239,00.html He also had a rather weird looking honeycomb paper product.

I rec'd a "paper pot maker" as a gift recently. Altho it works well, I don't think it is something I can use, especially considering I start/sell thousands of plants each yr. Would anyone want to try it out? It's yours for whatever shipping cost would be.
Thanks.
H.