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Biodegradable pots

paul.fieldwilliamspaul.fieldwilliams Posts: 48
in Tools and techniques
Hi all. Hope you are all virus free and well.

I will be planting on/pricking out my seedlings soon and looking at new options. I really want to go as plastic free as I can and have thought about the biodegradable pots. Has anyone used them regularly before? What were the results? They seem like a brilliant idea but I don't get the feeling they are well used. Any thoughts.  :)

Posts

  • SkylarksSkylarks Posts: 379
    edited March 2020
    A friend of mine uses the empty loo roll in a tray, she’s been doing it this way for years. I’m going to give it a go this year.
  • nick615nick615 Posts: 1,487
    Like you, Paul, I thought they looked like a good idea and bought a batch several years ago.  My assumption was that I could produce plants to seedling stage and, once put out into their final spot in the main garden, the pots would disappear.  This just didn't happen and I think I threw many of them on the bonfire.  I've never used them since.
  • josusa47josusa47 Posts: 3,530
    The Organic Garden Catalogue, among other places, sells a turned wood widget with which you can turn newspaper or magazine pages into small pots.  I start off most of my seeds in them, all the ones that can't be sown straight into the ground.  Or you can make bigger paper pots by hand, without a widget - I've tried this but they don't hold together so well.  They cost nothing, you can plant the whole thing in the ground, so avoiding root disturbance.  
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    A friend uses the newspaper pot technique with great success. 

    I haven acquired so many plastic pots in my gardening life that I just keep reusing them. 

    I have tried the little cardboardy ‘peat pots’  ... in my experience they only seem to break down in the soil after planting out if they are totally beneath the soil and kept continuously damp. They only have to dry out once to become set like concrete and the roots won’t penetrate. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • paul.fieldwilliamspaul.fieldwilliams Posts: 48
    Thanks all. That sort confirmed my thoughts that they aren't as good. I also re-use plastic pots but have given so many away over the years that I will have to buy some more. It looks like it will have to plastic for now after all.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Put a plea for some on your local Nextdoor.com ... maybe someone will drop some off at your gate. 
    It’s a shame to buy them when most gardeners have way too many cluttering up the place. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • josusa47josusa47 Posts: 3,530
    edited March 2020
    Egg boxes or trays for sowing seeds.  
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    My daughter treats me to a coffee once a week from a well known fast food outlet. That's what I use for my sweet peas, and anything needing a deeper root run.
    They actually last more than one season too, then the cardboard goes in the compost, and the container gets binned or burned, depending on the condition. I have a stack of them awaiting the new sowings.

    I appreciate that you can't buy those just now, but if you ever do in future, keep the cups  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • nick615nick615 Posts: 1,487
    There's also Rootrainers for plenty of depth but they do seem to use a lot of compost in the process.
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