Comments on: Making Paper Seedling Pots

By: Bentley

Bentley — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 16:17:54 +0000

Thanks John / Angelina!
I am definitely REALLY pleased with these pots thus far. I’ve been starting a LOT of plants this year and I can only imagine how much of a pain (and expense) it would have been to do it with peat pellets!
8)

By: Angelina

Angelina — Mon, 31 May 2010 18:58:53 +0000

Thanks for taking the time to show us how to make pots. I tired this once and I think my newspaper was too thick. I will try it with the old phonebook next time.

I had to giggle seeing a spoon in your dirt mixture. I agree with you….try not to let your wife see this video. We women get upset seeing our flatware used for other means than eating purposes! 🙂

By: John Duffy

John Duffy — Sat, 29 May 2010 02:35:02 +0000

What a great idea! I think my grand kids would have a blast making these. I’m still trying to get enough compost added to my daughter’s garden to get the soil to resemble something less like concrete.
Thanks again, Bentley…Always look forward to your videos
Have a great weekend all you wormers!

By: Bentley

Bentley — Fri, 28 May 2010 14:39:22 +0000

ANNA – I am in zone 5 (he says, with considerable embarassment – haha). I should have most of this germination stuff taken care of by now – but I’m still not the most efficient gardener.
Thanks for the cool trick with flour – that is interesting!
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DON – valid point
🙂
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ANITA – Thanks for chiming it. I will definitely be interested to see how my pots perform. If I see roots sticking out, they will indeed go in as-is!
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BARB – I was totally joking about the “thrashing”. Bruce was of course just offering some constructive criticism, which is just fine with me.
8)

By: Barb V.

Barb V. — Fri, 28 May 2010 14:28:07 +0000

Thanks for passing along a very frugal and useful garden tip. I make larger newspaper ‘pots’, for starting cuttings, using juice bottle as template. BTW .. I think that Bruce meant to give constructive help rather than a ‘thrashing’ … you were kidding, right? But however you do it, keep those videos coming. You don’t bore with music, as so many other of these u-tube videos do, who try to imitate Hollywood. And you get to the point quickly…much appreciated.

By: Anita

Anita — Fri, 28 May 2010 13:10:29 +0000

Bentley,

I’ve made paper pots before. You need not worry about the seedlings getting root bound. Newpaper, when wet, is easy for the roots to break through. When you plant them they will have many many roots shooting out through the paper.

Last time I used a toilet paper tube to roll tall narrow pots in hopes of encouraging deeper roots at the get go. This year I purchased the “tool” for making them. You don’t need it, but it does speed things up.

Anita

By: Don

Don — Fri, 28 May 2010 12:53:45 +0000

as for concerns about getting root bound, you could just as easily pull out the plant and soil ball from the container just like you would do if the plant was seeded in a plastic container and transplant just the plant and soil. Then just toss the paper cups into your worm bin with no further muss.

By: Anna

Anna — Fri, 28 May 2010 11:28:58 +0000

Bentley, which gardening zone are you in? (Or is this too much information to divulge to the online world?).

One trick I read about in Organic Gardening this year is that you can add a little all-purpose flour to your potting mix. This will provide enough glue to hold your potting mix together if you need to take it out of the pot before putting it in the ground.

Good luck with your yard-long beans. Mine were a miserable failure when I tried them last year. Perhaps if you have success, I will try them again next year.

By: Bentley

Bentley — Fri, 28 May 2010 03:41:34 +0000

Hi Mike – yeah, I remember being tempted to buy one of those at one point too!
I agree re: freeing the roots. This paper I’m using is really thin but I don’t want to take any chances. I was thinking of at least cutting slits down the sides before putting them in the ground.

By: mike

mike — Fri, 28 May 2010 03:37:56 +0000

You just saved me from spending 20$ on a tool from a garden magazine to make the same thing! My only concern is that the plants would get root bound until the newspaper disintergrates. I might cut out the bottom when transplanting. Great post!