I got the paper fibre pots a while ago and gave up on them because they disintegrated before I could even plant them and they just made a mushy mess They also went mouldy which wasn't nice... Trialling toilet rolls for sweet peas this year but I didn't close the bottom, I just packed the soil in quite tight at the bottom and stuffed them all together.
I hate the teabags - I didn't realise they were an issue until I was a couple of years into gardening and I kept wondering why my plants were dying I went round some of my plants after a while and snipped the teabags out.
I didn't close the bottom of the tubes either @RBManc - they were in trays, just packed together until they were ready to go outside into the final positions. The idea is that the roots also go through the sides, not that they just come out of the bottom, and then they break down to allow the root system to increase. Sweet pea roots can become quite substantial, but those simply didn't get the chance. They'd be fine if you were just treating them as a container, and were removing the plants, but I think there would be a problem doing that due to finer roots sticking to the card. I know I tried un wrapping some and that's what happened. I use takeaway coffee cups. They're deeper than the usual 3 inch pots, and can be reused a few times too before being recycled in the compost bin. 3 or 4 seeds to a pot
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I lost an elephants ear house plant a few weeks ago, it had sat looking happy on the windowsill for a couple of months and then suddenly keeled over, when I checked in the pot the roots were constrained by a small plastic mesh tube, that hadn't only restricted the roots but had held very damp compost tightly compact against them, they had just rotted. I have now bought a replacement plant and despite the top and outer edges of the compost appearing very dry, the very centre appeared too damp, even though I'd had it two weeks and never watered. I decided to take the plunge, gently tipped it out of the pot and had a little poke around, low and behold there was another plastic mesh pot holding the compacted wet compost tight into the base. I've removed it and re-potted, just hoping now that it survives.
That seems to be the way of it @Dogmum. They either stay wet, or they stay dry. In either case, it seems to be the fact that roots can't get out properly that's the end result, so plants just fail, and it isn't always obvious until it's too late. Often, people think they're doing something wrong, when it isn't that at all.
I hope your plant recovers. Fingers crossed
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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I hate the teabags - I didn't realise they were an issue until I was a couple of years into gardening and I kept wondering why my plants were dying
The idea is that the roots also go through the sides, not that they just come out of the bottom, and then they break down to allow the root system to increase. Sweet pea roots can become quite substantial, but those simply didn't get the chance.
They'd be fine if you were just treating them as a container, and were removing the plants, but I think there would be a problem doing that due to finer roots sticking to the card. I know I tried un wrapping some and that's what happened.
I use takeaway coffee cups. They're deeper than the usual 3 inch pots, and can be reused a few times too before being recycled in the compost bin. 3 or 4 seeds to a pot
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
In either case, it seems to be the fact that roots can't get out properly that's the end result, so plants just fail, and it isn't always obvious until it's too late.
Often, people think they're doing something wrong, when it isn't that at all.
I hope your plant recovers. Fingers crossed
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
@Fairygirl I always assumed you grew sweet peas in long tubes because the roots went long! Maybe my toilet tube sweet peas will be another failure...