Making your own pots/containers

[Tenuse]

Dear all,

I have heard that you save lots of money on buying a million small plastic pot things by making your own out of newspapers.

Does anybody know if there is a "recipe" or instructions to do this somewhere on the Internet?

I am determined to save as much money as possible :-)

Ten x

[Tenuse]

[gavin]

Not at all sure this will save you any money, Tenuse, but http://www.organiccatalog.com/ have a pot maker at £11.95 - makes pots out of newspaper.

Look under "Raising and Feeding Plants" - "Propagation Equipment" - "Pot Maker".

Looks so simple though, I wonder if a bit of old wooden rolling pin shoved into a yogourt pot wouldn't do the same job!!!!

All best - Gavin

[campanula]

yep, gavin. i felt sure i could cobble something up too BUT have so far failed to get around to it.
Must must must have a go.
suzy

[teresa]

Loo roll cartons ideal and no messing around. Just get the family to start collecting? 8)
Teresa

[linsdownoptimist]

sorry for my ignorance, but what do you do with the loo rolls  ;D

[Mrs Ava]

....fill them up with compost and plant your seeds in them!  Then, you can if you like, plant them directly in the ground and they break down, altho I don't like that as I don't think they break down terribly well.

[Hyacinth]

Tim!! Would you be able to ask Mamta for her way of constructing pots out of paper? She gave it on the Beeb boards, way back, do you remember? Her parents in India used to make them. - Lishka

[Tenuse]

Hmm that might be something to ask for for Xmas, it looks a bit like the thingy-end of a bannister to me!

If only I could work out how it worked from the picture... then I could knock up my own...

I have been saving loo rolls, but how do you stop all the compost from falling out of the bottom (if you'll pardon the pun...)

Ten x

[teresa]

Loo roll cartons
the inners of loo rolls, kitchen towell (paper ones ) these can be cut down to size.
I use these in a seed tray with compost on the bottom, then stack the cartons and fill up with compost and water well never let the compost in the bottom dry out this helps to break them down.
Very good for sweet peas, runner beans ets anything with a long root but you can adapt to your needs.
I did have the instructions of the newspaper pots copied will have a look
Teresa

[budgiebreeder]

Surely our resident inventor Jethro should be given a call on this one.

[Beer_Belly]

My garage is full of toilet rolls at the moment - ready for my beans next year.

[mysticmog]

Maybe you could just use a baby pot and a wee bit of papier mache made of flour and water paste - would rot pretty well and could be hours of fun in the making (although you'd have to oil the pot first or you'd never get the papier mache out (I say this from experience!)

What do you think?

[Tenuse]

It's a possibility, but I'm sure there's a way of doing it without getting floury!

If I make them out of p-m I will be tempted to paint and decorate them...

ten x

[mysticmog]

Could do that anyway, have pretty pots for baby plants...

 ;D

[jethro]

I used to use loo rolls for beans sweet peas etc and i put a piece of newspaper in the bottom to stop the compost dropping out, i now use root trainers.
For the other seeds i use polystyrene ( is that spelt right?) cups the ones you get coffee etc out of the machines, works wonders for germination as the heat is kept in just put a few holes in the bottom for drainage.
The paper pots are really good for squash's marrows and the like.

[Tenuse]

Ooh I found this on the seeds of change website:

To make a biodegradable container, wrap a strip of newspaper around a juice glass so it overhangs the mouth of the glass by about one inch. Fold over the overhang and push it in with the bottom of another glass. For more security, remove the first glass and invert it back into the newspaper cylinder. Press the bottom of the newspaper cylinder between the bottoms of the two glasses. Remove both glasses. The pot is now ready to be filled with seed starting mix.

I can do this! I'm going to get a production factory going...

Ten x

[mysticmog]

Am v lost....

maybe need to ask Santa for the ability to visualise as xmas pressie.....

[Garden Manager]

I made a load of my own pots back in the summer


Now let me see.. Iknow yes here goes


All you need is a tabloid sized newspaper, a full sized food tin (empty) and some selotape)

Take a sheet of the newspaper, fold it in half lengthwise (adjust for size required). Then roll the newspaper around the bottom half of the tin (youneed an amount of spare to make the base of the pot). Secure with a small piece of tape. Then fold the paper around the base as if wrapping a bottle for a xmas present and secure again with tape. carefully remove tin and repeat proceedure as many times as you need.

Different sized moulds or paper may be used to make different sized pots.  I find the above method makes the equivalent of a 3 1/2 inch pot.

[Tenuse]

Thanks Richard, I can see I am going to be making a variety of pots over Xmas!

Ten x

[Garden Manager]

No rush ten, you dont HAVE  to do it over christmas! ;)