Peat Pots

[Broke Down Ranch]

I hate them! Used to use them sometimes but when I pulled up the plant at the end of the season, often the pot was STILL not decomposed and had hampered root growth. I now use almost exclusively soil blocks, which are GREAT! Johnny's sells several sizes and there are a lot of soil block soil formulas on the internet. Just google "soil block makers."

Are you hating the peat pots or newspaper pots? Just asking since we seem to be discussing 2 different kinds of pots

 

[Broke Down Ranch]

Im not sure why but I am not peat pot fan. They are pricey especially if you are planning to sell starts.

This year I made newspaper pots which work out to be free, since we get the paper. You can plant the whole thing just like PPs. and the best part is that you can make whatever sizes you want.

Google newspaper pot.

Hum, those look interesting and easy enough.....how well do they hold up to being watered and does it take them long to decompose? What affect does the decomposted newspaper have on the soil?

Mine held up just fine...I placed them snugly together on a large cookie sheet...which helps hold them up and keep them from coming undone and then the lip from the cookie sheet held the water well.

I would imagine that the newspaper would attract worms and they would eat thru it.

I like the idea of attracting worms.....the newspaper pots are growing on me.....

 

[OaklandCityFarmer]

Personally I don't use peat pots but one of the local suppliers we get plants from delivers them in nothing else but so we have no choice but to have them in the greenhouse for a few weeks. They do seem to fall apart very easily and honestly are more expensive than necessary.

We do use newspaper to make pots using a Pot Maker from Bountiful Gardens.

I know there is a bit of a debate over whether or not newspaper ink is toxic or not but from I know there are no substantial studies that show any toxicity caused from using newspaper. The chemicals used to make the ink (which are either petroleum or vegetable oil based) are found to contain little to no VOC's (volatile organic compounds), this is based on studies between 1992-2005. Furthermore, no trace chemical compounds have been found in the crops tested therefore they do not pose a threat to the food chain/system. Basically it's a matter of opinion more than anything.

Plastic pots on the other hand can be used year after year with little replacing needed every few years. Of course the risk of transplant shock is greater.

 

[Ron]

Sorry for not being specific: it is the peat pots I hate. I haven't tried newspaper pots.

 

[Tutter]

I know there is a bit of a debate over whether or not newspaper ink is toxic or not but from I know there are no substantial studies that show any toxicity caused from using newspaper. The chemicals used to make the ink (which are either petroleum or vegetable oil based) are found to contain little to no VOC's (volatile organic compounds), this is based on studies between 1992-2005. Furthermore, no trace chemical compounds have been found in the crops tested therefore they do not pose a threat to the food chain/system. Basically it's a matter of opinion more than anything.

I'm not trying to be difficult, but there are additions in inks, including soy ink, which remain in the soil. To my way of thinking, what's in the soil has the potential to get into at least some crops.

Too, even if they decided to use a food grade ink, (soy ink is not in any way, shape, or form edible. I mean, you can eat it, but you can also eat paint chips containing lead, too.), while a good many papers use it, not all do.

I don't know if this is current, but that last stats I read were that while 90% of daily newspapers used colored soy ink, because the price is not that different than conventional ink, only 1/3 use it for their black in, as the black soy ink is 25% more costly.

To make soy ink, soybean oil is blended with pigments, resins and waxes. It contains the same pigments found in conventional petroleum-based inks. This, and some other chemicals, is what makes soy ink not 100% biodegradable.

Also, we cannot forget the chemicals used in the manafacture of the paper itself.

Let's put it this way, f you are certified organic with CCOF, (I haven't looked into it with Oregon Tilth etc.) you cannot have newspaper in the garden, at all. That's a guaranteed way to have your certification pulled.

So while any individual may decide that the possible risks to their food is acceptable, and decide to use it, you are, without question, putting the chemicals from the newspaper manafacture, and the ink, whatever that might be for the particular newspaper you happen to get, in the ground, which I believe was the original question. (What affect decomposed paper has on the soil.)

Sorry to sound heavy about this....I don't mean to. I just don't want to gloss over the fact that chemicals, not all desireable, are a by-product of newspapers.

 

[Dace]

[

Let's put it this way, f you are certified organic with CCOF, (I haven't looked into it with Oregon Tilth etc.) you cannot have newspaper in the garden, at all. That's a guaranteed way to have your certification pulled.


Sorry to sound heavy about this....I don't mean to. I just don't want to gloss over the fact that chemicals, not all desireable, are a by-product of newspapers.

Really? I never knew that newspaper was potentially a bad thing!
So no newspaper in Lasagna gardening? No newspaper in compost? Specifically, I compost my bunny litter and I have two litter box choices: pulverized paper (which i am sure is news.) or hand shredded newspaper topped with hay....so is this a no-go for my compost pile?

 

[OaklandCityFarmer]

I'm not trying to be difficult, but there are additions in inks, including soy ink, which remain in the soil. To my way of thinking, what's in the soil has the potential to get into at least some crops.

Too, even if they decided to use a food grade ink, (soy ink is not in any way, shape, or form edible. I mean, you can eat it, but you can also eat paint chips containing lead, too.), while a good many papers use it, not all do.

I don't know if this is current, but that last stats I read were that while 90% of daily newspapers used colored soy ink, because the price is not that different than conventional ink, only 1/3 use it for their black in, as the black soy ink is 25% more costly.

To make soy ink, soybean oil is blended with pigments, resins and waxes. It contains the same pigments found in conventional petroleum-based inks. This, and some other chemicals, is what makes soy ink not 100% biodegradable.

Also, we cannot forget the chemicals used in the manafacture of the paper itself.

Let's put it this way, f you are certified organic with CCOF, (I haven't looked into it with Oregon Tilth etc.) you cannot have newspaper in the garden, at all. That's a guaranteed way to have your certification pulled.

So while any individual may decide that the possible risks to their food is acceptable, and decide to use it, you are, without question, putting the chemicals from the newspaper manafacture, and the ink, whatever that might be for the particular newspaper you happen to get, in the ground, which I believe was the original question. (What affect decomposed paper has on the soil.)

Sorry to sound heavy about this....I don't mean to. I just don't want to gloss over the fact that chemicals, not all desireable, are a by-product of newspapers.

Agreed. Soy ink is not 100% biodegradable because of petroleum based pigments, however the VOC content is much lower and the overall composition of the chemicals does degrade faster (about 25% faster) than traditional petroleum based inks. From what I currently understand there are no studies that show any trace amounts of chemicals making their way into crops from newspaper, ink or other ingredients used in the production of newspaper.

That being said.

Yes, I agree that this is not a 100% organic method and technically would allow some trace chemicals into the soil. This amount, however, is small enough so not to cause alarm for groundwater, soil composition or threat to habitats/ecosystems. If you are going to be or are a COF this could possibly hinder the certification since there are very strict guidelines regarding the use of petroleum based products.

I still have access to the UC Research system so I'm going to do some more research on the topic.

To of course answer the question, IMO newspaper is an acceptable solution for the a potting medium.

I respectfully accept your opinion and knowledge of the situation. I'm not try to be difficult either

 

[patandchickens]

For concerned bystanders such as Dace I would point out that the two critical concepts are how MUCH newspaper you're putting into your garden, and exactly HOW weirded out you are by this particular theoretical risk among all the vast number of other theoretical (and almost certainly tiny) risks in life.

Would I dump barrels full of newspaper ink (itself) onto my soil? No. Would I want to eat veggies grown in soil consisting *entirely* of newspapers composted down with ammonium nitrate? No.

However, using newspapers as a layer under some mulches, or an occasional addition to a compost pile, or (most of all) a few eensy teeny scraps going into the soil from use as seed-starting pots...

...myself, I would worry much MUCH more about things like contamination due to my garden being <100 feet from a busy road; not knowing for sure what if any exciting things were put into the soil before we got here; and of course we've never had a comprehensive well-water analysis done to see what pesticide etc residues might be in *that* (hundreds and hundreds of dollars). And so forth.

Really tho, I think I'm at much higher risk from going out to check the mail every day, taking my chances that some car or speeding gravel truck will not go off the road and squish me like a bug

But, everyone has their own 'things'. <shrug>. My own 'things' run more along the lines of not stuffing horses into stalls all night, giving them lots and lots of safely-fenced pasture 24/7, and not letting the 1 yr old eat playground sand. Oh, and I just *hate* going up into the loft of our half-abandonded barn because I am always convinced a raccoon is going to leap out and savage me

Anyhow I think everyone is entitled to pick and choose which small risks they get more or less excited about, and aside from sharing concrete information it may not be the type of subject where people can ever be expected to see things the same way

JMHO,

Pat

 

[Beekissed]

I read an article in one of my mags where they show how to make pots from empty TP rolls. I guess that would work if you only had a little bit of things to grow! If you saved them up they might even mount up after a year, though. I got a lot of plastic six-packs and plastic trays that the local FFA greenhouse was going to throw out at the end of the season. Also a good bit of the expensive potting soil they use. I disinfected all the packs and trays and stored them. I like the peat pots but they are a little pricey for my taste.

 

[ams3651]

I use them, I dont think they are real pricey. I only use them for watermelon, cantalope and pumpkins though.