Over the years we have made these easy newspaper seedling pots many a time. Whenever I run low on plant pots, newspapers come to the rescue. We love thrifty garden ideas (most are eco friendly too!!), and this is the best one yet! Let me show you how to make seedling pots from newspapers today!
To make Newspaper Seedling Pots you will need:
- newspaper
- a glass
If you are using a broadsheet, use a single newspaper sheet, if using a smaller newspaper, use a double sheet!
If you want different sizes, just used different glass diameters. I am sure you could make this using a tin too…
What is also fab about these, is that when your seedlings are ready to go in the ground, you can plant the whole pot as they “biodegrade”! Though I do still like to “Unwrap” the plans before planting in the ground.
How to make seedling pots from Newspapers
You can watch out easy to follow video tutorial or follow the step by step how to instructions below!
Time needed: 3 minutes.
You will see that making these DIY Seedling Pots is super quick and easy. You can set up a production line and make lots in one go!
- Fold up one long side of the newspaper
Take the long side of your newspaper and fold it up approximately 1/3 of the way.
- Fold down the top
Now take the other side and fold down, so they overlap a reasonable amount.
- Position your glass
Position your glass so that you have 2-3 cm sticking out over the top. The distance sticking out needs to be just a little bigger than the radius of the glass to avoid holes.
- Fold in the newspaper
Roll up the glass in the paper.
- Ease out the glass
- Fold down the insides
- Secure the insides/ bottom of the seedling pot
Take your glass and push the bottom of the glass back in, this will help secure the bottom part of the seedling pot and push it into shape.
Your DIY seedling pots are now finished. Don’t worry if there are small holes of if the sides flap a little. They will work well once filled with earth and snuggly sitting together.
Final thoughts on the seedling pots
Note: newspaper seedling pots are fabulous, thrifty and eco friendly, BUT I do find the dry out a little quicker than plastic plant pots, so do keep an eye on watering them.
Also: many people plant these straight into the ground – which is totally acceptable as the newspaper biodegrades overtime.. but I feel the plant does better when you free out the roots! So, personally I always remove the newspaper before planting.
Check out the rest of our thrifty gardening ideas here:
Plus lots of fun Garden Crafts here:
If you want a “laugh” you can see an ancient video of me making these on YouTube!
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Ali at Green Baby says
oh I like to see a Mummy with Green Fingers, is that little Pip under her baby gym in the background? sweetheart!
Will show my mum your vlog, she’ll love it (and may pot some seedlings up for me too!)
Nice one Red Ted Art ! x
Red Ted Art says
That is indeed Pip Squeak – you “first heard her” on “how to make funky party bags” and now she “debuts” on “seedling plant pots”. Glad your mum will enjoy!!! Maggy
Chris at Thinly Spread says
Ahhh! Lovely to see you! Fab vlog, BB thinks you are a lovely lady!
icklebabe_com says
Ahh such a fab idea (need to do some with milly, so will defo be making) and such a cute vlog! with ickle baby in the background… looks like domestic bliss in your house 😉 adorable!
Red Ted Art says
Aah thanks icklebabe – was last year when Pip Squeak was only 4 mths old!
And Chris – your BB is just too lovely 😉
Red Ted Art says
PS EVERYONE: I got the Daily Mail for free… not our standard read. Hahahaha
Bev says
I was thinking about this yesterday and was all set to buy one of those contraption thingys so thanks for a great post!
Bev says
ps watched again and noticed cute bubba in background awww how well behaved! :o)
@simply_Hayley says
Those are really cool! May just have to give that a try!
Came over from Diary of a first child 😉
Mwah xx
Luschka @ Diary of a First Child says
Those are fab Maggy! I’ll be bookmarking that, since my personal project this summer is to grow my own veggie garden!
Red Ted Art says
That is great Luschka – K will in enjoy it so much!!!
becky says
Really cool maggie i will have a go this w/e thank you!
Inside the Wendy House says
Great idea for some green fingered crafts! My daughter would love doing this! (Visiting from Blog Gems!)xxx
SAHMlovingit says
Aw how fab! I wish I had green fingers…popped across from blog gems 🙂
googiemomma says
great tutorial! thanks so much for sharing! we’re getting ready to start our seedlings…and i think we try a different way of doing it EVERY YEAR!
(bonus for me–as my dad is a newspaper pressman, i have access to unprinted news sheets–no ink whatsoever to worry about! whoot!)
Betsy says
Newspapers contain \”mineral oils\” which technically are not edible, so if these are edible plants, I suggest finding something different to use as a planter. The colored inks are made from different oils, like linseed and also pose a risk if ingested. From what I can gather, they are recyclable but that doesn\’t neccessarily mean they will not harm the environment.
Red Ted Art says
Ah that is interesting to know! What about black and white plant newspapers?
Betsy says
I meant to add, egg shells work great as eco-friendly planters.
Old Fashioned Mummy says
How eco friendly are loo rolls for the same thing? I’ve just used newspaper (wine bottles are good to wrap round, as are kids drinks bottles)and also used toilet rolls cut in half to make them shorter with a tiny square of newspaper pressed in the bottom.