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    Home » Vegetable Gardening

    How to Make Paper Pots For Planting

    March 1, 2024 by Karen 81 Comments

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    If you start your own seeds or do any sort of transplanting I have 3 words for you ... ALERT!  ALERT!  ALERT!    That means you should pay attention to what I'm about to say.  Sometimes it also means a tornado is coming, but in this case it means if you want to use paper pots for planting your seedlings, now is the time to start making them.

    Skip right to the instructions.

    First off I have to say something very controversial. I like plastic pots. Which are in fact made of plastic. I think they're superior in a lot of ways to anything else for starting seeds. They hold moisture well and you can reuse them for decades.

    In a post coming up I'm going to outline all the different "pots" I use for planting and why, but for now I'm going to teach you how to make newspaper pots which are an environmentally friendly way to pot up your sprouts for direct planting into the garden.

    It's seed starting season so if you want to make this the year you finally start your own seeds and grow a garden full of vegetables listen up.

    MATERIALS

    • A paper pot form OR
    • Any straight sided glass bottle with a recessed bottom
    • Newspaper

    INSTRUCTIONS

     Wrap newspaper around the bottle smush the bottom together and WHAMMO, you have a paper pot.


    I RECOMMEND USING A GLASS BOTTLE.

    Sorry for yelling, but it seemed the best way to make my point. The paper pot makers you can buy create very small pots only suitable for very small seedlings.

    Wanna make paper pots?  Grab some newspaper, a bottle with A RECESSED BOTTOM, and ... well that's it actually.  That's all you need.  Read on and you'll find out how to make the paper pots and WHY your bottle needs to have a recessed bum.

    Would you like to save this stuff?

    We'll email you this post, so you can refer to it later.

    Paper Pots Step 1

    Step 1

    Rip or cut a piece of newspaper.

    It should be the height you want your pot to be, plus an inch or two. *

    * One inch if your pot is narrow, two inches if it's wide.

    Paper Pots Step 2

    Step 2

    Roll your bottle until all the paper is wrapped around it.

    Paper Pots Step 4

    Step 3

    Starting with the seam of the newspaper, push the paper into the recessed bottom.

    If you use a can or bottle, or something that isn't recessed on the bottom, the paper won't stay in position and your bottom won't form.

    Then your plant will fall out the bottom. The bum is important.

    Paper Pots Step 5

    Step 4

    Continue to push the newspaper in until it's all wrapped under the bottle.

    Push it hard with your fingers or hand.

    This will help crease the newspaper and make it more inclined to hold it's shape and not fall apart.

    Paper Pot

    Done

    You now have a paper pot.

    My apologies to everyone who thought they were going to end up with weed. Now go finish your Cheez Doodles.

    If you did a good job your pot will stand up all on its own without any soil or anything in it.  If it doesn't stand up on its own don't worry about it, it will once you fill it with soil.

    Tiny tomato seedling in paper pot.

    QUESTIONS/ANSWERS

    Don't the pots fall apart when you water them?  Nope.  Not for the month or two you have your seedlings in them.  Don't however leave the paper pots in standing water all day and night.  Then they will indeed fall apart on the bottom.

    Can you plant the entire pot?  Yep.  Come planting time if you want you can plant the whole plant, pot and all, which is handy for any plants that are sensitive and don't like to have their roots disturbed.

    How often should I water them?  More often than you would a seedling in a plastic pot. The newspaper wicks away moisture which makes these pots dry out faster than a plastic pot.

    What about the ink? This one is up to you. Most newspapers are printed with soy based ink which is perfectly fine and biodegradable. Additives include the pigment which are sometimes organic and sometimes chemical based, and waxes which might be added to help the ink dry faster.

    Personally, I think of all the things that might kill me, a newspaper pot isn't high on the list.

    The moral of this story? Nothing. There is no moral to this story at all. Now go make a paper pot.

    How to Make Paper Pots For Planting

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    1. Julie

      March 10, 2025 at 7:05 pm

      I forgot that I learned this trick from you! I love this and it works great. Especially on things like cucumbers that get cranky when their roots are disturbed.

      Reply
    2. Misti

      March 10, 2025 at 3:33 pm

      You always make me smile! I have all the same interests as you! Love the wine bottle for the paper pots 😉 maybe I will plant some old “weed” seeds in them 🤗
      Indiana is warming up quite nicely. 65 here today.
      Have a great fun day
      Misti Smith
      Ellettsville Indiana

      Reply
      • Karen

        March 11, 2025 at 12:23 am

        Hi Misti! 65! That's a good day. We're above freezing in the day here but nowhere near a t-shirt day. :) ~ karen!

        Reply
    3. Randy P

      March 03, 2024 at 11:44 am

      In this new fangled digital age I reluctantly admit I am fully old enough to remember when having a daily newspaper or two in my hands was an important part of life as I knew it. Them days iz long gone I fear.

      Reply
    4. Dan

      March 02, 2024 at 5:25 pm

      I like your attitude!

      And, um, I was wondering about just these things, how to start some vege seedlings this year. I have seeds and a bunch of plastic pots but they are mostly too big for the purpose of seed starting. Paper I do have...

      Reply
    5. Cara

      March 02, 2024 at 9:37 am

      Yaaahoooo! I'm so in the mood for a SPRING project and I do want to thank you for posting this simple & useful project. I do have a history of destroying tender roots when transplanting seedlings. This is pretty wonderful. Thanks.
      p.s. I did want to ask how Philip and Snacks get along. Well, I'll do that the next time you offer us an owl update. Cheers

      Reply
      • Karen

        March 02, 2024 at 11:53 am

        They both seem unperturbed! ~ karen

        Reply
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