Our local GC takes back any unwanted plant pots. I’ve also successfully offered them on freecycle in the past, so might be worth doing that or on Nextdoor
If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”—Marcus Tullius Cicero East facing, top of a hill clay-loam, cultivated for centuries (7 years by me). Birmingham
Forgot to add, I’ve used toilet rolls for lots of different larger seeds so sunflowers, courgettes, cucumber etc. Now I prefer using paper pots made with one of those little kits as I can adjust the size, strength etc. The toilet rolls get ripped up and go on the compost.
If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”—Marcus Tullius Cicero East facing, top of a hill clay-loam, cultivated for centuries (7 years by me). Birmingham
I have been able to re-use all my old plastic pots this year, but then I have been sowing and potting up seedlings like mad. I have to say I've not been mad about the biodegradable pots, and that includes loo rolls, because it feels like they soak up the water meant for the compost and get soggy. Re-using my plastic pots over and over is not totally environmentally friendly, but it's not too bad either.
Folded newspaper works pretty well too. You can make them as deep, large or thick as you want. But, like loo rolls, you have to water such that they don't get soggy. As notes, having lots packed closely together helps them stay up.
Kitchen roll holders for runner beans make good pots. I cut down 5L water bottles to match the height of kitchen rolls or loo rolls to make little greenhouses for them. 7 or 8 will fit. Trying this with onion seed this year - does anyone else have experience of this?
I've started some sweet peas in loo rolls, stood in a Chinese take away tray. 5 of the 6 seeds have sprouted and are currently about 2" tall. Only problem I have is the outside of the tube has some white mould. I guess I may have over watered and got them soggy.
Growing old is mandatory but growing up is optional.
It's not the loo roll size I have problems with, its the potting on size. I seem to run out every year! I have cucumbers in 15cm pots, have had to put three little gem lettuce in that size, the tomatoes are in 9cm pots and the angel wings are two to that size pot too. That leaves the sweetpeas still to be taken out of their root trainers ( I think I'm going to have to use 2 ltr bottles) and the nasturtiums and blackball cornflowers without a home!😥
I wish our garden centre would take used pots back. They seem to breed in the potting shed! Mind you, I also keep all sorts of margerine tubs, cream tubs, yogurt tubs, anything made of sturdy plastic really. The plastic meat and fruit trays make good good propogator lids too. Keep meaning to try cut down milk bottles.
I've got my sweet peas in yoghurt pots, which we always save. The lids are good too as saucers for smaller pots. I've tried loo roll middles in the past but have never succeeded in stopping them going soggy. And we have a plethora of fruit containers too which I've been stabbing the bottoms of. They are good as, being see-through you can see how damp the soil is underneath the top layer and how the roots are doing. And, like most, also a load of the dreaded plastic pots which I reuse. I also seem to have a lot of those plastic trays that fit specific size pots. Carting things back from the GC I suspect. Does anyone use them for anything?
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East facing, top of a hill clay-loam, cultivated for centuries (7 years by me). Birmingham
East facing, top of a hill clay-loam, cultivated for centuries (7 years by me). Birmingham
I have cucumbers in 15cm pots, have had to put three little gem lettuce in that size, the tomatoes are in 9cm pots and the angel wings are two to that size pot too.
That leaves the sweetpeas still to be taken out of their root trainers ( I think I'm going to have to use 2 ltr bottles) and the nasturtiums and blackball cornflowers without a home!😥