Making Paper Plant Pots

by bbubbles in Living > Gardening

27000 Views, 35 Favorites, 0 Comments

Making Paper Plant Pots

DSCF1853.JPG
I do a lot of plant seeding in the spring, and have a paper pot maker, that will make small plant pots, about the size of a jiffy peat pot. Its great to use, but if I have leggy plants to pot up, there is not enough depth for putting them deep enough into the pot - especially for things that will root along the stem, like tomatoes.  So I decided to make an instructable to show you how I made tall paper pots for my tomatoes, that stand approximately 5 inches high, and 2 inches wide.
Hope this helps someone out there!
On to step one!

Materials Needed

DSCF1819.JPG
All you need is a newspaper, a large spice bottle, scissors, potting mix, a pen or "dibbler" to make the hole in mix for the plant, and finally, a plant to pot up!

Preparing the Newspaper

DSCF1820.JPG
You need to know how wide of a strip of newspaper to cut... I want my finished pot to be about 5 inches high... my spice bottle is 2 inches wide. I don't want the paper to overlap across the width of the bottom of the pot...you need about 1/2 to 3/4 of the width of the bottom of the bottle.


Forming the Plant Pot

DSCF1822.JPG
As you can see from the pictures... I marked my newspaper to cut it into a 6 1/2 inch wide strip.  You will need a strip of newspaper that will go around your spice bottle approximately 3 times, so bear that in mind when you cut your strips of newspaper.

Making the Plant Pot

DSCF1824.JPG
Align the spice bottle to the level or height you want to plant pot... In the picture you can see that the newspaper almost completely covers the spice bottle

Securing the Newspaper

DSCF1831.JPG
The plant pot will stand on its own once you secure the bottom of the pot... you do this simply by folding over the edge of the newspaper across the bottom of the spice bottle, starting with the side that has the end of the newspaper (see picture)

Forming the Bottom of the Pot

DSCF1835.JPG
Pull the pot off of the bottle slightly, so you can "pinch" the edges of the bottom of the pot... that will make the pot stand up straighter.

Finishing the Pot, and an Optional Step

DSCF1839.JPG
DSCF1840.JPG
Remove the pot from the bottle.
If you are worried about the pot coming apart, you can fold over the top edge towards the inside of the pot about 1/4 inch.

Planting!

DSCF1842.JPG
DSCF1843.JPG
DSCF1845.JPG
DSCF1846.JPG
DSCF1847.JPG
DSCF1850.JPG
DSCF1853.JPG
Once your pot is finished, fill with soil and plant!