I put the bigger seeds - sweet peas, cosmos, morning glory and the like- straight into the loorolls. I water from the top and when they are ready plant the whole thing out, cardboard and all.
Smaller seeds i germinate in little seed trays, prick out into larger trays, pot into individual 3" pots and then plant out in June. Hope that helps James
Thank you so so much Chicky I've got big fingers and struggle so much with pricking out, I would say I lose 40% of my seedlings as I'm to heavy handed also I have come to the conclusion I compact the compost to much. this is why I have gone for seed plug trays this year as to just seed trays.
Just checked the packaging on mine, it tells you how to make the pot then says 'remove and fill with compost', 'plant seeds or seedlings', 'transplant in the garden'......maybe they are magic pots that don't need watering!!!
I think I am going to go with a little and often from the top.
I have been using loo rolls for years for my sweet peas and peas.
I put them very tight in a seed tray and water them very sparsely.
They are brilliant - when the roots show on the bottom you can plant them in the ground just like they are. They get a bit mouldy sometimes but that doesn't matter.I think you can just do the same with you paper rolls as long as they are thick enough. Good luck!
I sent that link, Clueless, because in the photo the paper pots are obviously damp and she wrote "Surely they'll fall apart, I thought, and can't possibly be worth the bother. How wrong I was", which I thought gave hope.
I have done it with loo rolls, but I put them in a deepish tray and infilled wherever possible around the pots with compost so they were sitting in compost and I watered top and bottom so it was all damp (sweet peas). I sowed directly into the loo roll pots. I did it like that because the first time I did it I was so worried they would disintegrate that I didn't water enough and they didn't grow properly. Must have been more sparsely than Sybille above! I planted the loo rolls as well.
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
Hi Clueless (and you are obviously not clueless at all if you've discovered the joys of paper pots and made 400 of them!)
I use paper pots a lot - they are really good (although they do have a few limitations). So here is what I've found out after a few years of doing it.
1 - just water from the top as normal. You won't want your compost to be soaking wet for baby seedlings, so there isn't a problem with the pots collapsing (especially if you've got them nicely packed together in the seedtrays).
2 - yes they will go mouldy but that doesn't matter. You are going to plant them direct into the ground anyway, so if anything I think it is a good thing if they've started breaking down / rotting away a wee bit! Just as long as you don't get squeamish about mould...I've never seen the seedlings suffer from it.
3 - the compost does tend to dry out faster than with plastic pots - I guess it sweats away through the paper. So you do need to keep a close eye on your babies, and it is trickier to get the watering balance right. I've found that some of the more sensitive seeds (little fine ones for example) have not done well. But my sunflowers and tomatoes thrive. I'd suggest sowing more than you think you need, in anticipation of a higher rate of loss... (sorry)
4 - when you plant into the ground, especially if you've used very long strips of newspaper so there are lots of layers of paper in the pot, I think it is worth ripping them open a little to help the roots find their way out into the soil. You ought to see some roots growing through the paper by the time they are ready to go out; if you don't see any, then definitely do a bit of ripping open. This is especially true if you are planting in dry weather / dry soil; and it is one reason why I'm always quite pleased to see the pots beginning to get a bit mouldy and manky as they get closer to planting out time!
5 - I think that I've noticed that pages with shiny coloured paper (the magazines) break down more slowly and also that some seeds really don't like them. Maybe something about chemicals in the coloured ink? So if you've any pots that are particularly colourful / shiny, perhaps use them for the tougher babies (eg sunflowers, peas, beans...).
Hiya I save up all my loo rolls /kitchen towel centres and use them-ace for sweet peas and you an plant straight away into the soil and the cardboard rots away
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Smaller seeds i germinate in little seed trays, prick out into larger trays, pot into individual 3" pots and then plant out in June. Hope that helps James
Thank you so so much Chicky I've got big fingers and struggle so much with pricking out, I would say I lose 40% of my seedlings as I'm to heavy handed also I have come to the conclusion I compact the compost to much. this is why I have gone for seed plug trays this year as to just seed trays.
Clueless
I think I am going to go with a little and often from the top.
Hi Tracey 5,
I have been using loo rolls for years for my sweet peas and peas.
I put them very tight in a seed tray and water them very sparsely.
They are brilliant - when the roots show on the bottom you can plant them in the ground just like they are. They get a bit mouldy sometimes but that doesn't matter.I think you can just do the same with you paper rolls as long as they are thick enough. Good luck!
I sent that link, Clueless, because in the photo the paper pots are obviously damp and she wrote "Surely they'll fall apart, I thought, and can't possibly be worth the bother. How wrong I was", which I thought gave hope.
I have done it with loo rolls, but I put them in a deepish tray and infilled wherever possible around the pots with compost so they were sitting in compost and I watered top and bottom so it was all damp (sweet peas). I sowed directly into the loo roll pots. I did it like that because the first time I did it I was so worried they would disintegrate that I didn't water enough and they didn't grow properly. Must have been more sparsely than Sybille above! I planted the loo rolls as well.
Hi Clueless (and you are obviously not clueless at all if you've discovered the joys of paper pots and made 400 of them!)
I use paper pots a lot - they are really good (although they do have a few limitations). So here is what I've found out after a few years of doing it.
1 - just water from the top as normal. You won't want your compost to be soaking wet for baby seedlings, so there isn't a problem with the pots collapsing (especially if you've got them nicely packed together in the seedtrays).
2 - yes they will go mouldy but that doesn't matter. You are going to plant them direct into the ground anyway, so if anything I think it is a good thing if they've started breaking down / rotting away a wee bit! Just as long as you don't get squeamish about mould...I've never seen the seedlings suffer from it.
3 - the compost does tend to dry out faster than with plastic pots - I guess it sweats away through the paper. So you do need to keep a close eye on your babies, and it is trickier to get the watering balance right. I've found that some of the more sensitive seeds (little fine ones for example) have not done well. But my sunflowers and tomatoes thrive. I'd suggest sowing more than you think you need, in anticipation of a higher rate of loss... (sorry)
4 - when you plant into the ground, especially if you've used very long strips of newspaper so there are lots of layers of paper in the pot, I think it is worth ripping them open a little to help the roots find their way out into the soil. You ought to see some roots growing through the paper by the time they are ready to go out; if you don't see any, then definitely do a bit of ripping open. This is especially true if you are planting in dry weather / dry soil; and it is one reason why I'm always quite pleased to see the pots beginning to get a bit mouldy and manky as they get closer to planting out time!
5 - I think that I've noticed that pages with shiny coloured paper (the magazines) break down more slowly and also that some seeds really don't like them. Maybe something about chemicals in the coloured ink? So if you've any pots that are particularly colourful / shiny, perhaps use them for the tougher babies (eg sunflowers, peas, beans...).
I think that's it! Let us know how you get on.
Rosie
Hiya I save up all my loo rolls /kitchen towel centres and use them-ace for sweet peas and you an plant straight away into the soil and the cardboard rots away
Thank you Rosie
I don't use Magazine paper as I doesn't root down as well
Clueless
Thanks Rosie