Homemade Pot Twist

 

 

 

 

 

A while back,

cardboard tubes found a new use as seedling pots.

They have been collected over the last few months

with that intended purpose,

just in time for spring planting.

The desire to get away from using plastic was the motivation.

 

 

 I have been making them this way for years,

cutting and tucking the bottoms in to keep from losing the soil.

It worked just fine this way,

but it did take a bit of time.

 

 I recently learned about using just water to soak the pots in,

so that the bottoms turn out flatter,

thus sitting in soaking trays a bit easier

with less chance of toppling over.

 

 

 

 Easy enough to do,

the bottom of the tubes were slit about 2 inches or so,

then the flaps were laid over each other

and placed in a bin of water,

then transferred to another container to dry out.

It took a good two days for them to dry completely,

but for the most part, they stayed tucked in.

 

They do sit better in the trays,

or on cookie sheets, as shown here and below.

The lipped sheets are favored, as it allows 

watering from the bottom, which is the best way to water seedlings.
 

The only space I have to place starter plants

is in our funky lil' room off the master bath.

It gets good natural light, but not directly over the pots,

which would probably make them grow better.

After tweaking my system a little more,

I think the set up will work for starting the seeds.

As you can see, germination has begun.

The conditions currently available to me are not ideal,

but it seems that Mother Nature doesn't really care about that.

She just wants things to grow.