Recycled newspaper pots

[ChanellG]

I have been seeing articles online about reusing old newspaper to make seed pots for new plants. I kept setting aside time to do some and having something else come up. Finally last night a made some from a video I found on the No Ordinary Homestead blog. It's basically an origami box, though my newspaper sheets are a different dimension and the pots don't quite hold their shape as well.

I am also concerned with how thin the pots are; even though paper can hold up to water for quite some time I wouldn't want these to fall apart when picked up. I think when I start the next batch I will layer two sheets of paper together to make them stronger.

I may also try a different technique for making the pots in the future. The ones I have now were easy enough to do, but need something to hold the flaps in place since because of the paper size they came out so short.

Does anyone else make newspaper pots?

 

[Tmann]

ChanellG, that looks like a really neat pot, but sure does seem like a lot of work for one. I like the simple way of rolling the newspaper up with a can and folding the bottoms in. Quicker and easier than the origami box but i admit the finished product is not as nice to look at it however serves the same purpose. Maybe I can have my wife make the origami ones for me...

 

[ChanellG]

The rolled up ones require tape or something to hold their shape. The origami pot mentioned above takes seconds to complete; once you've done one you can do one thousand. I guess you just have to be creative/craft minded.

 

[claudine]

This is a very interesting idea. But I'm a little afraid of the chemicals in the paper and in the ink...won't it poison little flowers?

 

[ChanellG]

Nope. The newspapers these days use soy ink. It's very green since the paper is biodegradable. It also takes a little while for the paper to break down so the pots are pretty strong, though it's probably best to use a double thickness of paper. You can plant the paper pots so you don't even have to worry about transplanting. It's a win-win!

 

[callingcolleen1]

Plus the plants love to root thew paper pulp, very good idea, may make some small ones to start small seedling in the spring in my greenhouse.

few years ago I used to make pond plants and I would line the baskets with paper to hold the special pond mud I used to make, plants root very fast in paper pulp!

 

[maddie]

Excellent Idea.. Cactus and succulents which do not require much watering may do well with these I guess. However, I am not very sure if the paper will stand up to any watering.. Although transplanting would be easier as you could just put the whole contraption into the ground/container.
Try this and let us know how it works. I would still use them on my grow trays to prevent any accidents if I were you.

 

[claudine]

Nope. The newspapers these days use soy ink. It's very green since the paper is biodegradable. It also takes a little while for the paper to break down so the pots are pretty strong, though it's probably best to use a double thickness of paper. You can plant the paper pots so you don't even have to worry about transplanting. It's a win-win!

Thank you for the information! I had no idea they use soy ink now, it's great news. Newspapers smell is often not very pleasurable, especially when they're brand new so I assumed they contain chemicals - it's good to know I was wrong. I'll definitely make some newspaper pots soon

 

[ChanellG]

Claudine, I made a few of the ones from the link above, but they are rather thin, so I have been putting one inside the other, of course that reduces the amount of available pots... I also made the origami waste bin in a smaller size using double the thickness of paper.

I like this "pot" better than the first, but I will have to try it out to see how long it will hold up for. I have about a dozen little lavender plants in tp tubes and several garlic cloves in paper cups that need more growing space. I would like to use the newspaper pots to buy some time until I can come up with more permanent solutions for each.

 

[Tmann]

I had my wife make about 20 of the origami ones last night. One thing I have read to make them last longer is that you need to lave them in a pan that can hold water, and you put water in the pan not directly on the dirt in the pots, this allows the pots to gradually soak up the water.

 

[ChanellG]

I had my wife make about 20 of the origami ones last night. One thing I have read to make them last longer is that you need to lave them in a pan that can hold water, and you put water in the pan not directly on the dirt in the pots, this allows the pots to gradually soak up the water.

You mean you asked your wife to do it?

Where did you read this information about soaking them in water in a pan? Seems they would get soggy and break a lot sooner doing that.

 

[claudine]

Claudine, I made a few of the ones from the link above, but they are rather thin, so I have been putting one inside the other, of course that reduces the amount of available pots... I also made the origami waste bin in a smaller size using double the thickness of paper.

I like this "pot" better than the first, but I will have to try it out to see how long it will hold up for. I have about a dozen little lavender plants in tp tubes and several garlic cloves in paper cups that need more growing space. I would like to use the newspaper pots to buy some time until I can come up with more permanent solutions for each.

I think I would use these paper pots only to plant very small cuttings so even if they're thin, it shouldn't be a problem. I think it's a great idea, I never have as many flower pots as I would like to and these which I have are often too big for my baby plants

 

[Tmann]

You mean you asked your wife to do it?

Where did you read this information about soaking them in water in a pan? Seems they would get soggy and break a lot sooner doing that.

Chanell yes I did. She likes projects like that.

Here is the video where he talks about watering. I also saw a video where the person talks about putting vermiculite on the top of the dirt. It says it helps the little seedling push through vs dirt.

 

[callingcolleen1]

that is such a awesome idea, I like the paper pots and will try it for for my garden seedlings this spring. I hate the plastic pots, you have to find storage for all of them, then they sit around the yard after planting and blow and yard off my garden shelf and drive me nuts. This way there is not need to store pots and containera for seedlings and the young plants should roots very quicky thru pot !

 

[claudine]

Tmann, thank you for sharing these videos, they're quite helpful .
I must say I like this idea of paper pots more and more. I was looking for some pics and I noticed these pots are not only inexpensive and very convenient but they also look good, very natural - which is quite surprising considering it's newspaper :