Making Paper Pots for Transplanting -Creative Garden Techniques

If you are transplanting seedlings or outdoor plants you can save money and practice environmental friendly techniques by making your own newspaper pots . They will hold up for quite some time. If you use them for transplanting seedlings and small plants into the soil they will break down rather quickly and just add to the soil.

For environmental reasons, don’t use newspaper with colored ink. The ink leaches strong chemicals into the ground.

To Make a NewsPaper Pot

I find a tin can the size of the pot I want. Soup cans work well for small transplants and coffee cans work for bigger transplants. Fold several layers of newspaper together and fold in half. Fold one more time if you are making a small pot. I place the folded newspaper on the can with a small amount hanging over the bottom of the can. Wrap the paper around the can and temporarily hold it in place with masking tape. (You can also fold the paper end into the other end so you don’t have to use tape. This is a little tricky the first time you do it)

I don’t like to use tape because if I plant the pot in the ground it does not break down as well. I solve this by removing the tape. You can also purchase biodegradable tape.

I will then fold the  paper that hangs over the bottom  of the can down and tape in place. Pull the can out and you have a pot! It may need a few adjustments and tweeks to stand straight and firm. You are now ready to plant!

Most of my pots are made to place transplants into the ground so I don’t like to use tape. I may use it at first to hold the pot together. I also have used string to hold the pot together.

When getting ready to place the pot into the ground remove any tape or string. I also loosen the bottom of the pot a little to make sure the roots will quickly enter the soil.

Using this methods I do not have to disturb plant roots, a practice that shocks the plants and slows their growth down for a week or so.

I also use newspaper pots to repot transplants such as tomatoes, peppers, gourds and cucumbers into bigger pots so that the roots can spread and grow but I can control the climate temperatures.

My tomato and gourd plants are often two foot tall before I set them out and by using paper pots they do not suffer any transplanting shock.