Garden

HOMEMADE NEWSPAPER POT MAKER

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high summer preparation
free, easy mulching solutions for the busy gardener to replenish nutrients in their soil and protect their plants form the hot weather.


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Recently I was asked by MINTI to do a workshop for their Harvest Festival on making newspaper pots for seedling propagation. It was obvious that not everyone has a lovely newspaper pot maker like myself, so I decided to make one. And guess what? It worked way better than the bought one!

Give rubbish new life! Learn how to make an eco pot!

WHEN TO USE MILK CARTONS

Newspaper pots aren’t good for all plants. They disintegrate very fast so not for plants that need a lot of time in the nursery. They also tend to collapse when you make them too big so not for larger plants like pumpkins, zucchini and eggplants. For those guys you might as well use a nice sturdy milk carton pot.

WHEN TO USE NEWSPAPER POTS

But that ability to disintegrate is why they are so great for the fast growing, quick to transplant seedlings. There is virtually no transplant stress and unlike with the milk carton it will completely disintegrate into the soil.
Try: lettuce, spinach, tatsoi, mustard, dandelion, amaranth, silverbeet, coriander, mizuna

If it fruits then it’s bigger and prefers hot weather, if it leafs then it’s faster and newspaper’s the answer.

INGREDIENTS:

1 glass jar around 6cm diameter and 12cm+ high
3 jar lids 6cm, 5cm and 3.5cm so they fit inside one another
Blu-tack or glass/metal glue
Electrical tape
Newspaper
Scissors


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POT MAKER METHOD:

 
1Blu-tack the smallest lid inside the biggest. This should leave a groove big enough for the middle lid to fit into loosely.

2Tape these to the bottom of the jar with the bottom facing out.

NEWSPAPER POTS METHOD:

 
3Take your sheet of newspaper. I find a double thickness 42x20cm rectangle to be optimal. That is a broadsheet folded in half and cut into thirds along the long edge, or two tabloid pages cut into thirds. I like to fold over the top edge to strengthen it.

4Roll the paper around the jar with 6cm extending over the bottom. Fold this into the centre.

5Place the remaining jar lid on a stable surface bottom facing up. Then seal your pot by placing the jar on top and pressing down firmly. It’s that simple! No need to pay $20!

I make my pots 6cm because that is the size hole my bulb planter makes, I just dig a hole, lift out the soil and drop the pot in, so easy!

My pots end up being around 6cm diameter x 12cm high and can hold up 2 months before needing to be planted.


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Family, Garden, Guides, Recipes

BRIGHT SPOTS IN A GREY DAY

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Newspaper pot seedlings in a row with an ornamental duck

Seedlings in newspaper pots

Giant mustard seedling in a newspaper pot

Flowers on an ornamental duck and newspaper pots

Close up of circles on community garden plot planting plan

Mustard, asparagus and cabbage seedlings in front of books

Cabbage seedlings in newspaper pots

Carrots and beetroot in planting plan for community garden plot, Flemington, Australia

Cauliflower in the nature strip guerrilla garden

Cauliflower in the nature strip at night

Seeds and planting design for community garden plot, Flemington, Australia

5 colour silverbeet seedling

Flowers picked from the garden and the watercolour planting plan for a community garden plot, Flemington, Australia

 

I woke up Saturday morning at 6am sneezing. Dylan had been sick as a dog all week and had passed on the batton just in time for the weekend. But it didn’t hit me too badly, at first I was a bit sad to miss the Elwood Permablitz, but when I heard there would be an RMIT film crew there I was secretly relieved. I find being interviewed quite traumatic.

I spent my weekend just generally lazing around in the sun when he crept out from the clouds and doing a planting plan for my mum’s community garden plot at the Farnham Street Park. I’m excited to have a place to experiment with chickpeas, soya beans and peanuts! I spent Sunday afternoon in our sharehouse “loft” that I took over this winter as my greenhouse. Can you tell I was bored? I planted out a whole stack of dried beans into newspaper pots for my mum’s garden and some super hot chilli seeds. I have experimented with putting seedlings in milk cartons and toilet rolls in the past, but the newspaper pots are by far the best thing I’ve used to minimise transplant stress. They break down really well and are just so cute.

Now I’m off to make dinner, our nature strip cauliflower has gotten enormous and Dylan thinks someone will take it if we leave it too long. Chickpea and cauliflower curry I think, with coconut rice! Mmmm…

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Garden

SUMMER FRUIT – DECEMBER IN THE GARDEN

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Sunflowers germinated in toilet rolls, Dylan made a hot compost, our first tomatoes have shown their shiny sheres and the beans are twining and flowering. The Chookheads as usual are up to no good and gobbling everything in sight. They have set a new record for demolishing an entire bed of Bok Choy in under an hour. They pay their way in delicious eggs though, never been late on a payment.

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