Going Potty.

Well, this weekend really had gone to pot. But no, not in a bad way at all. I spent Sunday comfortably in my greenhouse pricking out 4 seed trays of Echinacea, Kniphofia and Aubrieta, which meant I needed a lot of little pots.

Last Christmas my parents gave me this little wooden device for making seedling transplant pots out of newspaper.

 At this time I didn't have my greenhouse and I simply did not have the space to house seedlings (or the space to plant them out for that matter) but after I designed my garden this summer, I was so excited to have my new greenhouse that I sowed any seed I had to hand that could be overwintered, I am now overrun with seedlings and the space to house them is becoming a problem again. So I found out my pot maker, not only completely environmental but also a great space saver compared to those plastic pots garden centres push onto us.

On average from each tray I pricked out, I got 24-30 (ish-some weaker ones I disposed of) seedlings and these newspaper pots fitted comfortably back into the seed tray with the seedlings potted up in them ready for storing over the winter. The 6 or 12 cells pots take up far more room than these newspaper pots, but the opportunity for the plant to grow successfully, isn't uncompromised either. The pots are just the right size, about (8cm tall and 5cm wide) for growing new plants and when they have filled the pot they will be ready for planting out. Direct watering into the centre of the pots however to avoiding the newpaper getting too wet and weakening prematurely, I use a pressure mister for this which is especially good for watering overwintering plants as they going need to soil keep slightly moist but they won't grow much over winter anyway and will need hardening off, but they can just be sunk into the ground, pot and all, avoiding root disturbance and the newspaper just biodegrades away. Genius! Economical, environmental and space saving. Three very gardener friendly words.