newspaper pot makers any one every use one?

[nightshade]

I was just wondering if anyone out there know how to make started pots? Like peat pots from old newspaper. In my one herb catalog there is a thing called a potmaker but frankly I know noone that has ever used one.

 

[Rio_Lindo_AZ]

do you mean paper-mushay pots?

 

[patandchickens]

Enh, you do not need to pay ten bucks for the widget! Just find an object of appropriate size - small can, babyfood jar, whatever you have sitting around that looks right - and use that instead. Flatten/crease the bottom edge with your fingers, you don't need the other part of the widget to do that, either.

I did this thru most of grad school. It works more or less okay, but a couple cautions:

You wanna pack the completed/planted 'pots' pretty close together in the tray, because in the early days/weeks, they can deform enough that a gap can form between soil and side of 'pot' if they shift around in the tray, and later on, some parts of some 'pots' may start to disintegrate and need close-packed neighbors to help with structure and moisture retention.

Also in my experience they did not (by transplant time) have the same structural robustness you'd get out of jiffy pellets. The paper 'pots' would not be my choice for anything that really really doesn't want its roots disturbed. And even for 'regular' seedlings, frankly, in grad school, I was gradually shifting away from the newspaper 'pots' as I accumulated a growing miscellany of 3" plastic pots from people and garden centers that were otherwise just gonna throw them out.

These days I go with reused 3" plastic pots, and jiffy pellets for the very few things with finicky roots. (I despise peat pots however). I would make newspaper pots again if I couldn't get enough plastic reusables though.

Hope this helps.

Pat

 

[Rio_Lindo_AZ]

Enh, you do not need to pay ten bucks for the widget! Just find an object of appropriate size - small can, babyfood jar, whatever you have sitting around that looks right - and use that instead. Flatten/crease the bottom edge with your fingers, you don't need the other part of the widget to do that, either.

I did this thru most of grad school. It works more or less okay, but a couple cautions:

You wanna pack the completed/planted 'pots' pretty close together in the tray, because in the early days/weeks, they can deform enough that a gap can form between soil and side of 'pot' if they shift around in the tray, and later on, some parts of some 'pots' may start to disintegrate and need close-packed neighbors to help with structure and moisture retention.

Also in my experience they did not (by transplant time) have the same structural robustness you'd get out of jiffy pellets. The paper 'pots' would not be my choice for anything that really really doesn't want its roots disturbed. And even for 'regular' seedlings, frankly, in grad school, I was gradually shifting away from the newspaper 'pots' as I accumulated a growing miscellany of 3" plastic pots from people and garden centers that were otherwise just gonna throw them out.

These days I go with reused 3" plastic pots, and jiffy pellets for the very few things with finicky roots. (I despise peat pots however). I would make newspaper pots again if I couldn't get enough plastic reusables though.

Hope this helps.

Pat

biodegradeable pots are the best pots you can use

 

[patandchickens]

biodegradeable pots are the best pots you can use

Only if they wait til after transplanting to biodegrade

"Reuse" isn't necessarily such an evil, especially when what you're reusing is someone else's trash.

Pat