I JUST LOVE THESE

[THE DOG]

Wished i had invented them myself. Whats your thoughts guys?? i think there ace and really looking forward to trying them out.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=rootrainers&tag=googhydr-21&index=garden&hvadid=6109435453&ref=pd_sl_3zmxny1iop_e

[THE DOG]

[manicscousers]

Hiya, dog..we've used these for a few years, they do tend to need looking after as they become brittle but are great for beans, sweet peas and other large seeds, we also use toilet roll insides  :)

[THE DOG]

Hiya buddy, do you think they would suffice for show leaks etc?

Thanks

Dougie

[manicscousers]

we do leeks in them sometimes but not for shows, the longest ones we have are about 5 or 6 inches so may not be enough for show ones, they give a fantastic root sytem

[THE DOG]

I was thinking of trying to enter a few of my veg into a show this year (free parking ticket to the local fete) and all.

My thoughts were to start some leaks off in these under a light and pot them on later in the year??

[aj]

These are good for plants that like good root systems, they would be wasted on leeks [show or not]

If you want long leeks then they need long clean collars not root trainers.

[Robert_Brenchley]

My neighbour grows them in large pots with, as you say, long collars, and wins plenty of prizes.

[Vinlander]

Wished i had invented them myself. Whats your thoughts guys?? i think there ace and really looking forward to trying them out.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=rootrainers&tag=googhydr-21&index=garden&hvadid=6109435453&ref=pd_sl_3zmxny1iop_e

90% of the benefit is just a long, narrow pot that suits a lot of seeds that mainly rely on a taproot.

I'm much too 'careful' to spend money on something made from plastic about 10x more flimsy than the tray that comes 'free' with my sausages...

It's damned annoying that they still don't make a sturdier version - I would pay 50% more and it would only cost them 5% more...

I did get a few usable ones from a skip once, and as above, they were no better than a similar sized pot made from trad "whalehide" (black waterproofed paper) or cylinders of milk-carton plastic stapled up etc. etc.

Save your money - the time spent knocking up a permanent substitute is less time than you'll spend over the next 10 years buying in replacement rootrainers as they disintegrate.

Cheers.

[aj]

I've used mine consistently for 4 years; with new seedlings in them at least 4 times each per year; and only a couple have snapped at the bottom...of course if you are heavy handed they probably aren't for you but a little black electrical tape and they will last a further few years.

The amount of beans I grow, they are well worth it.

[goodlife]

I have few that I was given to try some years ago..but being honest..didn't really find that much benefit..and they are expensive.
Now like Vilander said..if they would only make them from stronger material...
The thing I do like is that they save space..everything is neatly squeeze into small space...but mine has more dug tape on them to keep them together than original plastic so they are not anymore 'gently' opened when planting..poor roots.
It is just box standard pots for me now or loo rolls..I'm not short of either as I've trained all friends and their friends to save anything useful for me rather than throwing away...actually I'm getting bit 'clogged up' with amount of pots I've got ::)

[caroline7758]

Can I be the first (on this thread) to say "What's wrong with toilet roll middles?" ;D

[Vinlander]

Can I be the first (on this thread) to say "What's wrong with toilet roll middles?" ;D

Maybe you can tell me what I'm doing wrong:

I need to shift large numbers of seedlings about so I use trays...

Card rolls (where do I begin?):

Keel over as soon as they get damp - and stick to each other when they don't keel over.

Go mouldy if you don't plant them out soon enough (which in many cases is before the seedling emerges - what's the point of that?).

Disintegrate ditto... when you are trying to separate them and get them out of the tray.

If anything is going to steal nitrogen (from a baby plant) it is low-grade cardboard right next to the roots.

Have a 'wicking' effect that can make seedlings dry out twice as fast as you expect (and can even kill a seedling once planted if any scrap of the card shows above the surface).

I've tried wrapping them individually in clingfilm but it isn't worth the effort compared to other methods.

They would be good for large, very quick seeds that need to be spaced widely (unlike beans - see *1) in large numbers (unlike courgettes see *2), but the main candidate is sweetcorn and sweetcorn invariably invades the next cell unless you wrap them (in something stronger than clingfilm).

Done it, been there, got the teeshirt, hated it, used it as a dishcloth, still hated it, threw it away... (sorry about the overexteded metaphor).

Cheers.

PS *1) - the best method I've ever found for peas and french beans is sowing in 20cm sections of the final row - into bottomless oblong pots on  individual 'stretchers' of plastic (to keep the soil in while moving) made from juice bricks (5 to a standard tray) or sides of 6L milk containers (4 to a tray).

*2) Runner beans? Courgettes and squash? You only need 5-10 of each unless you're agribusiness - use 10cm pots (bottoms of 2L milk containers are good - fit neatly in a standard tray).

Broad beans? Save your own seed and you can afford to plant twice as many direct and thin...