Paper Pots for your Coldframe

Having spent a frustrating few hours attempting to remove seedlings from small module trays without damaging the roots, and being largely unsuccessful, I happened to stumble upon a forum post about paper pots.

The idea is to make pots from old newspaper, once the seedlings have grown and been hardened off in your garden cold frame the whole pot can be planted into the ground, allowing you to transplant without root disturbance. In this way the paper pots work exactly the same way as the peat pots that I keep threatening to try and never get round to.

My 2 1/2 year old daughter and I spent and pleasant hour or so making paper pots in the garden, she thought it was great fun and amazingly it managed to hold her attention for most of the hour.

To make your own paper pots, its pretty simple:

1. Take a single page of a tabloid newspaper and an aerosol can (preferably empty)
2. Fold it in half from top to bottom and then again – it should be about 1/2 the length of the can
3. With about 1/3 of the paper overhanging the bottom of the can, roll the paper around the can.
4. Fold and push the paper into the indentation at the bottom of the can.
5. Remove the paper and you have a pot!

A full description of the process with pictures is available here.

I have been really pleased with them, rather than trying to extricate sweet corn seedlings from module trays without disturbing the roots (almost impossible and time consuming) I simply popped the pots straight from the cold frame and into the soil. No root disturbance and really quick to do.