
Make your own sowing and seedling pots from old newspaper.
The Paper Potter is £9.95 ($20) and is "eco-friendly, good looking and thrifty" - from The Handpicked Collection.

The Paper Potter is £9.95 ($20) and is "eco-friendly, good looking and thrifty" - from The Handpicked Collection.
Comments (21)
Hot if you use parts of the newspaper you like or work with your color scheme, otherwise it might look out of sorts. Nice and green though!
It's easy to make paper seedling pots WITHOUT buying a $20 tool. I did it this year just using a little glass bottle.
Or try this:
http://www.yougrowgirl.com/thedirt/2007/04/13/toilet-roll-seed-starter/
why would you pay $$ for something that you can do by hand yourself? it seems frivolous to me and add to the clutter in your home.
I think it's cute, and decorative. Perhaps a tat expensive though.
Possibly it might be easier to make lots of pots with a tool, though you could just use orgami boxes for small batches. I had a problem with mine growing mold and falling apart, although likely I just needed a stronger orgami box pattern.
But just the same... Spossberg! How do you make pots with the bottle?
best part is you can transplant the newspaper right into a pot or the ground when the seed is ready.
whytephoenix: basically like this
http://www.ehow.com/video_1745_create-seed-starting.html
I have a similar one to this and it was not $20. It was $6 or $8. I use it for starting seedlings from seeds- that's the cheaper way to get heirloom vegetables. I don't care how the pots look, ie. color. They only last until I put the seedlings outside in the garden. It's also better than throwing away a lot of plastic pots from the store. I only have three tools for my garden- including this one. So, I don't have any clutter. But I do get a very good work out.
http://www.leevalley.com/garden/page.aspx?c=1&p=10566&cat=2,44713,40757&ap=1
What's wrong with empty egg cartons?
maidmoron: egg cartons are really shallow. When I made seedling pots out of newspaper they were each about 3" deep.
What about 8 oz. empty milk cartons? I think they'd hold up better to wear and tear.
I think the idea is that these can eventually go in the ground after the plant has started and easily biodegrade- in which case, this is a huge (but still overpriced) money saver for someone who does a lot of gardening.
I like the idea of germinating seeds in paper pots although I am going to try it without the tool... :P
I received one of these as a gift. It is really cute but the pots it made were quite small. I gave up quickly and switched to to making the pots with a highball glass.
Then I only had two plants germinate out of close to 50 paper pots and decided to give up on newspaper altogether. Maybe our city paper's inks aren't non-toxic or something - I know a lot of other people who love their newspaper pots.
Dixie cups also work great - just like they did when you were in kindergarten growing your tiny seed. :)
The last couple of years I've just been seed-starting in the many nursery pots that have accumulated in the garage.
Another idiotic, totally anti-green product, masquerading as "green." BUYING something new when you can make do without is the absolute anti-green. What is with the consumerism, AT?
This is the kind of product that has me recalling the Alton Brown rule of gadgets - if it only has one use I don't want it.
Spossberg, you're my hero. Hooray, an even greener solution! And you can make any size you want.
While it seems like such a neat idea, I've never tried it because it's too hard for me to keep lots of seedlings watered. Over-watering and under-watering killed too many of my efforts until I purchased a reusable system with a water reservoir. But I start about 50 plants each year and have to keep the system in the basement (where I don't see it regularly and thus don't catch problems quickly). So my needs are pretty specific.
Even if that weren't the case, for anyone who has origami skills, the price is way too high.
I voted "not" because making little pots from old newspaper with (*gasp*) just your hands is actually (*gasp*) quite easy.
Pots from old newspapers: Hot
Unnecessary single use devices: NOt
I wish that this section was titled something other than "Hot or Not" I realise that it quick and catchy; but I have visions of Paris Hilton holding her fashion accessory/dog and saying "That is so HOT" every time I read the title....