In Scandinavia only 1 percent of our waste goes to landfills. 49 percent of all garage are recycled from our households and 50 percent are used to heat households, water etc. In our household we recycle all glass, plastics, paper, metal and leftovers from food. We take all dangerous items, computers, lamps, furniture etc to a special plant and sort it in to different containers. It really feels good to know that garbage is going back in the system and not building horrible trash-mountains contaminating the world. 🙂
@Erica Nyström hej Erica ! Vad kull att träffas här ! How i miss my Sweden of my exile years ! After 50 years of Sweden i got a big shock when i emigrated to Minnesota not so long ago. Americans talk about recycling... what a joke! Exact as Erica said, recycling is something natural and part of our DNA. It’s natural and everyone does it automatically. In our plantation in Africa recycle, saving everything and improving was a natural way of life. When i went to Sweden, was easy but recycling become improved and like an art of living and caring for our planet. Coming to America was a discovery of environmental disaster to me... its time we start REALLY making recycling and environment a very serious matter. We use and abuse disposables here and create terrible hardships on flora and fauna. THANKS FOR A GREAT VIDEO!! EXCELLENT IDEA ! Please cybernauts out with more ideas like this.
Are you able to recycle the electronic waste in Scandinavia? I do want the USA to recycle like our lives depend on it, because it does. Denver, CO puts far more effort into recycling than the last three cities I have lived in but there needs to be more participation from people and of course better management and reducing outsourcing.
@@timan2039 Sadly, e-waste is a serious problem that remains to be solved. In Finland for example it does get collected properly and free-of-cost by law at any place that sells new electronics, but the chain of custody quickly after enough steps after that gets murky with poor to nonexistent traceability and accountability as the material stream exchanges hands from one step and one owner to the next. Too much simply ends up somewhere with no rules whatsoever and only the most valuable bits of the material (gold) gets extracted at poor yields with no regard to the environmental and health damage to the people doing the work, disposing of the rest (mostly plastic) in a dump, for example. It's the same story with used clothing, much of which is synthetic (plastic, in other words) these days. All that stuff eventually becomes microplastics, just like the polystyrene mentioned in this video... it never degrades unless something comes along to actually, truly digest it. While microbes like that exist and are known to science they don't do their thing at the ambient temperatures found in a landfill.
Hey guys, Derrick here :) Thanks to the large number of you who have recommended that we try soil blocks... we've just ordered a soil blocker! So, assuming it arrives in time, we'll be trying it out for some of our seedlings this year. And as usual, we'll also post a video about it, to let you all know how it goes. Thanks, as always, for your tips, tricks, suggestions, and encouragements. These videos take so much work to produce, but you guys truly make it all worth it. So thanks for watching, and we'll see you soon. ;)
@@pyramidion5911 : that's what commercial and market garden growers say, having tried various soil blocks. they all end up going back to the tested and works well technology of commercial grade cell trays. but box/garden stores dont stock them, they only have those flimsy trays. commercial trays in horticulture supply stores or specialty suppliers like Hoss Tools in America.
@@itstheotherwhitemeat : i agree. in the larger format presented, they solve a problem that doesnt exist, unless you insist needlessly to step up. it's even worse if stepping up from not using cell trays. only time you need to step up is when growing perennials. unless you're a commercial grower trying to reduce costs, using plastic pots for stepping up perennials is not some big dilemma. so why waste space, time, effort and money doing something that is not productive. save your money by not wasting it unnecessarily on all the media, to buy a decent grow light. all veggies that are not direct seeded will produce starts from seed in 6-8 weeks in cell trays, that then are planted out. People that dont use real fertilizer--that was me in the past--think that veggies need to be stepped up to improve growth, when the seedlings languish without fertilizer or required amount of light. fool's gold. i've learnt the hard way that our time should not be treated as free, because we're supposedly avoiding some costs. turns out we waste our time and money not doing things right, looking to solve all the wrong problems that we impose on ourselves, based on mis-information readily spread.
The Pandemic hit, i lived alone. I was going crazy. Stores running out of food, so I start thinking about the old garden where I use to grow food for years. I found this old seed box full of a variety of seeds, but they were from 2012 and older. At this point I longed to do something besides worry if I would die of Covid-19. I was thrilled to be a pack rat. I looked around my yard for old supplies I purchased three years earlier but never used. I found new bags of manure and fertilizer...YES! As I opened up boxes in my garage I found everything I needed, but no seedling cups. To my surprise, I found paper towel rolls which I save for another craft project. Then something shocking...toilet paper rolls? Hey...paper cups! I reused a shipping bag, slipped it over a cardboard box. I cut these paper rolls all the same height. Then filled them with potting soil which wasn't perfect but who cares, I wanted to grow food. Those seeds loved it, and my garden turned out to feed me and a few family members who couldn't believe how big my tomatoes were. I learned that you can use any non printed paper to make soil pots. I'm still doing this three years later.
I do this too. Method my Mama taught md and her Mama taught her. Works great! Best of all free and no using gas to go sourcing. Already on hand when needed. Reduces landfill. Win, win, win.
I love this idea and saves washing out pots I reuse each year. A great activity for kids too! I appreciate all the effort you put into videos, the graphics really help to understand concepts when you do that.
Just want to say you are the best American homesteaders, not hoarding food and cutting trees to build this and that, like the others I've seen on RUclips, you are a real custodian of this beautiful planet of ours. Well done and thank you💕👏
I'm definitely doing this. I'm really impressed that you have time to make such quality videos in addition to all the work you do on your land. Thanks for sharing!
@@BackToReality I agree with Tucker Southard, very impressive and great videos! I too will start making our pots from paper. Just a thought, you would also be very successful at reading books for audible.
Perfect! I had some brown paper bags from the grocery store that are 18" tall and 12" wide and the sides are about 6.5", so from one bag I can easily make 6 paper pots
Now that I have made several hundred paper pots using the method described in your video, I have a comment. Do not wait til you need the pots to start making them. Significant time is involved in the cutting and folding. I very much like the pots. I will make them again next year, but will start well before planting season.
So many people talk about saving the planet but DOING something about it is more important than just talk! I hope you keep making videos with such great PRACTICAL ideas. Yes, I already use paper pots, but you have taught me a better way! Little things add up to a lot of saving ... money ...resources...and the planet!
Maybe someone already mentioned this, but I found it helpful to fold and unfold where I would later fold it down the top edge so that the crease would help fold that top edge/hem in.
The only OTHER gardening channel I watch --Korean Gardener--shows how to make small square seed pots from toilet paper rolls & paper towel rolls. Great ideas here !!!
@@BackToReality I've tried those a number of times, and for me they've never really worked. They don't really break down in the soil, and the cardboard is too thick for the roots to push through, so the roots get really constricted during the growing season, but I found that it's almost impossible to remove the plant from the pot before planting without destroying the root ball, since they're so small that the seedlings have to be so young when it's time to transplant that there aren't really enough roots to hold the soil together, especially as it takes a fair amount of effort to get the plants out of the pot
@@BackToReality Copy pasted from a post by Chris Forbes on linkedin: The Toilet Paper Encyclopedia explains, “Many pulp and paper mills use chlorine-based chemicals to bleach pulp white. These chemicals react with organic molecules in the wood and other fibers to create many toxic byproducts, including dioxin. Chlorinated toilet paper contains the highest amount of furans out of all cosmetic tissues… Dioxin, a bleaching byproduct, is one of the most toxic human-made chemicals. Once released into the environment, it is persistent because natural bacteria cannot effectively break it down. ‘Dioxin’ is often used as a catchall term for three acutely toxic chemical groups: true dioxins, furans and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).”
@@BackToReality be very careful about which toilet paper you use if you do proceed with this as recycled toilet paper may be processed with harmful chemicals as well.
Very useful. I have been toying with biodegradable plant pots, I saw loo rolls, wetting paper to make paper mache. This is the best so far . I have an old roll of lining paper I am going to use. I find this so useful💜
I've watched several other YT videos making paper pots - but yours is by far the easiest. The others use endless folds and creases - I just give up watching them. thanks for a simple and effective method.
I did this, it worked pretty great! I am glad for the square shape that fits well in my water catching tray. Instead of using a wood block I used a plastic seedling pot from last year and just made a lot of identical ones out of paper. They weren’t all pretty but the plants didn’t seem to care.
Kudos! Great video! It amazes me that all of the old plastic trays and pots are just thrown out at garden centers! They're always willing to give them to me!
Oh my God, you two are brilliant! I just make news paper pots. I'm going to give Brown paper pots a try. I just started a RUclips channel for easy gardening tips. I'm 70 and have been Gardening for over 50 years. I find amazing how many "old" tips are becoming new again. I think Garden Smarter Not Harder is a game changer! Happy Gardening and I wish you great success 👩🌾👍
I made the block today and made 18 paper pots. I'm using newspaper. My wife just tears a sheet in half. No measuring. I then use the block to fold the paper to size and then follow your procedure. Worked a charm. Thanks for the idea.
I'd like to see someone address how long you can keep seedlings in the paper pots before planting outdoors and how they would handle watering. I realize putting them in with some well-moisturized soil at first is important, but if you need to water again before you plant outside (or 2 or 3 times, etc.), how do they hold up?
That's absolutely ingenious!! I've always hated throwing away plastic planter pots after they've cracked and fell apart. This solves that problem with ease!!
That design is great. At first they look quite large compared to a store bought seed starter kit but I think that is better as the seeds appear to be able to develop a nice root structure in the larger space to be healthier and more established until a good time to plant them. I will be trying your method this spring, thanks for the tips and video. Not to mention it gives you something to do while you wait on planting time and gets ya a little excited about planting.
The video was filled with information that was delivered nicely and clearly with amazing graphics and visuals, I was entertained through the entire video (for all the video I have seen) it was high production, very high quality videos, but I think because of how high the quality they are they don’t leave room for stuff like harvesting videos and the like, for something like the garlic video I would have loved to see a follow up video showing the end result it would have been an amazing pay off for that video, the first video I watched was the potato video of you planting and harvesting the potatoes that Drew me in to the channel then watched other videos like the grass video and the grass tea video that I found amazing I never thought that I would be so attentive to something like grass then I watched your garlic video I loved it then started to look for the follow up video of the harvest , i was disappointed as there was no pay off to the planting but all in all I will be subscribing and waiting for more from you guys thanks for these amazing videos.
Excellent video! Graphics and information were wonderfully presented, and very clear and easy to understand. Great ideas were shared and narrator spoke clearly and enunciated his words so that the details could be easily followed.
I absolutely love your videos. I live in an apartment with a very small back porch, but I am going to try several paper pots....if not veggies then flowers. I miss having a garden.....thanks for enjoyable, enlightening and helpful videos.
Extremely helpful. Thanks for perfecting this and then sharing. Or progressing it and then sharing. I was searching for some way to replace peat pots and peat tablets. The peat pots wick out the moisture and dry out the plants after transplanting, the peat tablets dry out and also have netting that roots dont get through, nor can I even tear it off. I am ready to assemble these!! These are my new go to.
Love this idea! Our kiddos love origami, and we include that as part of our handicraft time for homeschooling (helps train kiddos in precision, and aids in the development of both hand/eye coordination and fine motor control of the fingers), and they would LOVE to make these for our newly sown pepper and tomato plants when they reach potting stage! Thank you very much for sharing!
Oh, that's a great idea! It's also a fun way to get them involved in their own food production at a young age. I really hope they (and you) enjoy them! :)
Always impressed with what you two come up with. Paper is so much better. Great uou hot the trays, really helps. You can dip the bottom of the box in water as you plant along a row to help break it down, and dampen the soil as you go. Enjoyed. 😊👍🌱
I have been making pots out of newspapers for about 4 years. I found that the pots dried out quickly so I recycled some plastic and wrapped it around the outside edge of all of the pots (not individually) in the tray and that seemed to help. The pots on the inside of the tray seemed to allow the moisture to pass around freely but the outside edge did not dry out. This year I have been inserting the pots inside an old plastic bag that I have laid in the tray and then rolling it up the sides to the top of the pots. I then tied a string around to hold it in place and it seems to be working as well.
Thanks for the video. I just made something similar out of brown grocery bags and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide (for the block). The bags were only 17 inches when cut open and the peroxide bottle doesn’t have sharp edges but it is 3x3 but it seems to work ok. I use soil blocks for most of my transplants but needed something bigger and biodegradable for squash and pumpkins.
How did the brown grocery bags work at not falling apart? I have a ton of those hanging around and it sounds like a great plan. I also love the peroxide bottle idea!
They worked well enough for the most part, a few didn’t make it until transplant time but there was still enough structure I could scoop the plants up and transplant them from the tray.
I like your results. I'll give them a try before long. I've been experimenting on paper pots this spring, but gave up and put my efforts into making, what I call mud balls. LOL. But a mix of ingredients compressed into seedling pot size circles of potting soil and additives. So far I like 'em and have tomato seedling growing out of them. Thanks for sharing.
Very impressive. Thank you. I was thinking about my garden in pots because I rent and am currently between places. I do like this idea very much. Very good indeed. Groove on. and thank you agian. Saves me carting around small pots.
This is great! I love your thoroughness to detail. I want a system to grow at scale while being as minimal in plastic use as possible & this ticks all the boxes. Mahalo (Thanks) from Hawaiʻi island. (we really care about not putting more plastic into our ocean!)
This is my first season really going full force on starting a TON of seeds and my main concern was pots. After watching this, I think my problem might be solved!! I can't wait to get some paper and try this out!
Your channel is so underrated! I have been watching you guys for a few years now, way back when you made the garden beds. I’m sad to see your channel has not grown through the pandemic.
What a great tutorial! I love the idea of using this paper. This year, we went with fabric seedling pots; less waste than solos as you have mentioned, cheaper, and they pack together better in a flat. Seedling space is limited (until next year, anyways!) so I'm trying to get the most use out of every square inch. I'd love to use these paper pots in the future, when I have time to sit down and make them! 🍅🥒🥕
I've been playing with paper pots on and off for 30 years,,, Most of the detractors live in countries where vegetable inks have not been mandatory since the 80s... I like the square pot Idea! And I have a roll or 2 of that floor runner paper in the garage...
I loved it. A well researched video and i liked every detail and calculation like how one could save their time and energy and make things faster and keep things eco-friendly and pocket friendly too.
Thank you for making this video! I noticed that your little pots looked different from anything I found in online tutorials, and I couldn’t figure out how you did it. Of course, now I feel a little silly because it’s such a simple process. I finished off some little grow bags for this years seed starting, and next year I plan to do a combination of paper pots and soil blocking.
It must have been a crazy light bulb moment to realize you could "roll" the square pods! We will absolutely be trying this as fellow appreciators of efficient space management and low-impact materials.
Last year, I started some of my corn indoors in toilet paper rolls. A few cuts and folds on the bottom made them into a cup shape, and they unfolded easily when planting time came. The corn roots were very aggressive pushing through the wet cardboard, so much so that some of them actually worked their way into neighboring TP pots! I've got a larger collection of TP rolls this year (go figure), and plan to use them for the corn, beans, and squash for my new larger Three Sisters bed...
@@BackToReality I personally don't, but I understand that others might. The glue residue on my rolls is very light, mostly just a discoloration on the leftover roll, not some globby chunk of booger glue holding on like Hans Gruber to the Nakatomi Tower.
What an amazing video! It sounds like a well-written do it yourself book. I make videos once in awhile for my English students, and they are not even close to this professional! The images are effective too! The ideas are great! Thank you :)
So glad I found your channel. I enjoy the simple straight forward and comical instructions. Please tell me you have a video for the hardening off process? Is there an easier process than moving a hundred trays in and out every day?
Great idea. We’ve been making these pots with some left over floor protection paper. They’re great and way quicker than the origami newspaper pots we’ve made in the past. We found that if we folded over what will eventually be the top of the pot the half inch or so, crease it and then open it again before wrapping the block it’s much easier to fold the top down on the finished pot. Just make sure it’s going to fold in the right direction when you wrap the block. We really enjoy the your videos.
What a great idea! I have a ton of that paper laying around. Now all I have to do is take the time to make me a few hundred pots. Thanks again for sharing this info! 🌱🌱🌱
Your graphics are amazing, and you are a natural teacher. Thank you! I wonder how deep you could go and still have it sturdy enough to stand up. I really want taller, thinner pots to get deeper roots. Maybe adding a craft stick along the side... hm.
Thanks so much, I really appreciate that! :) I think you could easily go quite a bit taller - as long as they are all in a tray together. The square shape allows them to sort of "lock in" and keep each other supported really well. And if they get a little less stable, then your craft sticks idea might just do the trick! Thanks again, and good luck if you try them! :)
Thanks for your informative videos! I live in the U.P. and I have to be creative, because we have such a short season. My husband and I use toilet paper rolls! No ink or bleach!
This gave me an idea with all the paper bags that we got from drugstores and supermarkets, since plastic bags are banned in most of the cities in our country.
Have been making my own pots too ,much appreciated at the local market....what I use is our thick brown paper grocery bags and the unwaxed animal feed bags using a square plastic pot to shape...
My husband created little round pots last year, like the ones at the beginning of the video. We will definitely use this new method this Spring. Thank you. This video was very helpful.
I really appreciate your work. You can distill plastic into diesel, instead of sending it to landfill. I hope to investigate this more; it is hard to find the info but I have seen one video about it.
The paper pots are a fabulous idea. Dollar Tree sells rolls of brown paper. Most grocery stores offer paper bags (free, if you don't count the cost of the groceries), although there is typically some printing on those bags.
I am a sewer and use a rotery cutter, mat and acrylic ruler and the method they have going with the grout line and wrapping paper cutter will definetly be faster. they don't have to line it up on a mat and the measurements, then line up the ruler to get a straight cut and then move the ruler to cut through the rest of the paper, because most sewers are not using that long of ruler for cutting. Just my opinion, but what you are doing is the fastest for cutting.
Thanks for the great how-to video. Another thought- soil blocks. I bought a soil blocker tool this year and haven't tried it yet, but according to many, they work great. And no pots of any kind needed. Plus, sounds like they may be a bit faster
I stopped putting bottoms on mine. I put a couple layers of paper in the bottom of the tray to hold the seed starter in place. As the plants grow, the roots hold the soil together enough so that you don't need a bottom to hold the soil together when you transplant. This method significantly reduces the time it takes to make the seed cups. Also, use a straight edge and a box cutter (razor knife) to cut the paper. Much faster than scissors.
For your straightedge: if you rip a board the width you need, you don't even have to measure the paper. Just place one edge of your board along the edge of the paper, and cut along the opposite edge. Keep moving the straightedge into position and cut. Reposition and cut. Reposition and cut. No need to measure.
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
Thank you for bringing attention to plastic overuse. SOOO few garden RUclipsrs do!
In Scandinavia only 1 percent of our waste goes to landfills. 49 percent of all garage are recycled from our households and 50 percent are used to heat households, water etc. In our household we recycle all glass, plastics, paper, metal and leftovers from food. We take all dangerous items, computers, lamps, furniture etc to a special plant and sort it in to different containers.
It really feels good to know that garbage is going back in the system and not building horrible trash-mountains contaminating the world. 🙂
@Erica Nyström hej Erica ! Vad kull att träffas här ! How i miss my Sweden of my exile years ! After 50 years of Sweden i got a big shock when i emigrated to Minnesota not so long ago. Americans talk about recycling... what a joke! Exact as Erica said, recycling is something natural and part of our DNA. It’s natural and everyone does it automatically. In our plantation in Africa recycle, saving everything and improving was a natural way of life. When i went to Sweden, was easy but recycling become improved and like an art of living and caring for our planet. Coming to America was a discovery of environmental disaster to me... its time we start REALLY making recycling and environment a very serious matter. We use and abuse disposables here and create terrible hardships on flora and fauna. THANKS FOR A GREAT VIDEO!! EXCELLENT IDEA ! Please cybernauts out with more ideas like this.
As South Korea does
It's great Ms. Erica. Other countries and citizens must follow the same to save our mother nature.
Are you able to recycle the electronic waste in Scandinavia? I do want the USA to recycle like our lives depend on it, because it does. Denver, CO puts far more effort into recycling than the last three cities I have lived in but there needs to be more participation from people and of course better management and reducing outsourcing.
@@timan2039 Sadly, e-waste is a serious problem that remains to be solved. In Finland for example it does get collected properly and free-of-cost by law at any place that sells new electronics, but the chain of custody quickly after enough steps after that gets murky with poor to nonexistent traceability and accountability as the material stream exchanges hands from one step and one owner to the next. Too much simply ends up somewhere with no rules whatsoever and only the most valuable bits of the material (gold) gets extracted at poor yields with no regard to the environmental and health damage to the people doing the work, disposing of the rest (mostly plastic) in a dump, for example. It's the same story with used clothing, much of which is synthetic (plastic, in other words) these days.
All that stuff eventually becomes microplastics, just like the polystyrene mentioned in this video... it never degrades unless something comes along to actually, truly digest it. While microbes like that exist and are known to science they don't do their thing at the ambient temperatures found in a landfill.
Hey guys, Derrick here :)
Thanks to the large number of you who have recommended that we try soil blocks... we've just ordered a soil blocker! So, assuming it arrives in time, we'll be trying it out for some of our seedlings this year. And as usual, we'll also post a video about it, to let you all know how it goes. Thanks, as always, for your tips, tricks, suggestions, and encouragements. These videos take so much work to produce, but you guys truly make it all worth it. So thanks for watching, and we'll see you soon. ;)
I've considered this myself but I think your paper pot method is better. Why start a plant out in compacted soil that will hamper its growth?
@@pyramidion5911 : that's what commercial and market garden growers say, having tried various soil blocks. they all end up going back to the tested and works well technology of commercial grade cell trays. but box/garden stores dont stock them, they only have those flimsy trays. commercial trays in horticulture supply stores or specialty suppliers like Hoss Tools in America.
i dont find soil blokes are worth your time. you may have better results.
@@itstheotherwhitemeat : i agree. in the larger format presented, they solve a problem that doesnt exist, unless you insist needlessly to step up. it's even worse if stepping up from not using cell trays.
only time you need to step up is when growing perennials. unless you're a commercial grower trying to reduce costs, using plastic pots for stepping up perennials is not some big dilemma.
so why waste space, time, effort and money doing something that is not productive. save your money by not wasting it unnecessarily on all the media, to buy a decent grow light. all veggies that are not direct seeded will produce starts from seed in 6-8 weeks in cell trays, that then are planted out. People that dont use real fertilizer--that was me in the past--think that veggies need to be stepped up to improve growth, when the seedlings languish without fertilizer or required amount of light. fool's gold.
i've learnt the hard way that our time should not be treated as free, because we're supposedly avoiding some costs. turns out we waste our time and money not doing things right, looking to solve all the wrong problems that we impose on ourselves, based on mis-information readily spread.
Derrick, you make the best videos! I look forward to you experiments with soil blocks!
The Pandemic hit, i lived alone. I was going crazy. Stores running out of food, so I start thinking about the old garden where I use to grow food for years.
I found this old seed box full of a variety of seeds, but they were from 2012 and older. At this point I longed to do something besides worry if I would die of Covid-19.
I was thrilled to be a pack rat. I looked around my yard for old supplies I purchased three years earlier but never used. I found new bags of manure and fertilizer...YES!
As I opened up boxes in my garage I found everything I needed, but no seedling cups. To my surprise, I found paper towel rolls which I save for another craft project. Then something shocking...toilet paper rolls? Hey...paper cups!
I reused a shipping bag, slipped it over a cardboard box. I cut these paper rolls all the same height. Then filled them with potting soil which wasn't perfect but who cares, I wanted to grow food.
Those seeds loved it, and my garden turned out to feed me and a few family members who couldn't believe how big my tomatoes were.
I learned that you can use any non printed paper to make soil pots. I'm still doing this three years later.
I don't plant large scale but i just save toilet paper and paper towel rolls, make 4 small cuts on one end and fold them like a box top.
I do this too. Method my Mama taught md and her Mama taught her. Works great! Best of all free and no using gas to go sourcing. Already on hand when needed. Reduces landfill. Win, win, win.
@@dachsymom5232 EXACTLY
Brilliant! I'm trying this in spring if I survive the dark winter.
And it works?
I didn't understand??? Can you explain please
I love this idea and saves washing out pots I reuse each year. A great activity for kids too! I appreciate all the effort you put into videos, the graphics really help to understand concepts when you do that.
Thanks so much Julie! I really appreciate that! :)
Just want to say you are the best American homesteaders, not hoarding food and cutting trees to build this and that, like the others I've seen on RUclips, you are a real custodian of this beautiful planet of ours. Well done and thank you💕👏
Thank you so much Sue! What a kind thing to say!
By the way, we're actually Canadian ;)
I'm definitely doing this. I'm really impressed that you have time to make such quality videos in addition to all the work you do on your land. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks so much Tucker! I really appreciate that!
They take so much work, but luckily, I absolutely LOVE making them, so it's always worth it. :)
@@BackToReality I agree with Tucker Southard, very impressive and great videos! I too will start making our pots from paper. Just a thought, you would also be very successful at reading books for audible.
Perfect! I had some brown paper bags from the grocery store that are 18" tall and 12" wide and the sides are about 6.5", so from one bag I can easily make 6 paper pots
You have a great talent for making videos and doing instructions. Awesome job!
Thank you so much Donna. I really appreciate that!
Now that I have made several hundred paper pots using the method described in your video, I have a comment. Do not wait til you need the pots to start making them. Significant time is involved in the cutting and folding. I very much like the pots. I will make them again next year, but will start well before planting season.
What a great video!!!!! I came for a minute and stayed for the full 11.
So many people talk about saving the planet but DOING something about it is more important than just talk! I hope you keep making videos with such great PRACTICAL ideas. Yes, I already use paper pots, but you have taught me a better way! Little things add up to a lot of saving ... money ...resources...and the planet!
Thanks so much for this comment Cheryl. I'm really glad this was helpful :)
Maybe someone already mentioned this, but I found it helpful to fold and unfold where I would later fold it down the top edge so that the crease would help fold that top edge/hem in.
The only OTHER gardening channel I watch --Korean Gardener--shows how to make small square seed pots from toilet paper rolls & paper towel rolls. Great ideas here !!!
Thanks Eugenia, we'll check out their channel!
We're currently saving our toilet paper rolls, in hopes of trying a few of these this spring! :)
@@BackToReality I've tried those a number of times, and for me they've never really worked. They don't really break down in the soil, and the cardboard is too thick for the roots to push through, so the roots get really constricted during the growing season, but I found that it's almost impossible to remove the plant from the pot before planting without destroying the root ball, since they're so small that the seedlings have to be so young when it's time to transplant that there aren't really enough roots to hold the soil together, especially as it takes a fair amount of effort to get the plants out of the pot
@@BackToReality Copy pasted from a post by Chris Forbes on linkedin: The Toilet Paper Encyclopedia explains, “Many pulp and paper mills use chlorine-based chemicals to bleach pulp white. These chemicals react with organic molecules in the wood and other fibers to create many toxic byproducts, including dioxin. Chlorinated toilet paper contains the highest amount of furans out of all cosmetic tissues… Dioxin, a bleaching byproduct, is one of the most toxic human-made chemicals. Once released into the environment, it is persistent because natural bacteria cannot effectively break it down. ‘Dioxin’ is often used as a catchall term for three acutely toxic chemical groups: true dioxins, furans and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).”
@@BackToReality be very careful about which toilet paper you use if you do proceed with this as recycled toilet paper may be processed with harmful chemicals as well.
Very useful. I have been toying with biodegradable plant pots, I saw loo rolls, wetting paper to make paper mache. This is the best so far . I have an old roll of lining paper I am going to use. I find this so useful💜
I've watched several other YT videos making paper pots - but yours is by far the easiest. The others use endless folds and creases - I just give up watching them. thanks for a simple and effective method.
Thanks Elaine, I really appreciate that!
I agree. This is a great solution
Can’t believe how much I enjoyed this video.
I did this, it worked pretty great! I am glad for the square shape that fits well in my water catching tray. Instead of using a wood block I used a plastic seedling pot from last year and just made a lot of identical ones out of paper. They weren’t all pretty but the plants didn’t seem to care.
Kudos! Great video! It amazes me that all of the old plastic trays and pots are just thrown out at garden centers! They're always willing to give them to me!
Oh my God, you two are brilliant!
I just make news paper pots. I'm going to give Brown paper pots a try.
I just started a RUclips channel for easy gardening tips. I'm 70 and have been Gardening for over 50 years. I find amazing how many "old" tips are becoming new again. I think
Garden Smarter Not Harder is a game changer!
Happy Gardening and I wish you great success 👩🌾👍
I made the block today and made 18 paper pots.
I'm using newspaper. My wife just tears a sheet in half. No measuring. I then use the block to fold the paper to size and then follow your procedure. Worked a charm. Thanks for the idea.
I'd like to see someone address how long you can keep seedlings in the paper pots before planting outdoors and how they would handle watering. I realize putting them in with some well-moisturized soil at first is important, but if you need to water again before you plant outside (or 2 or 3 times, etc.), how do they hold up?
This was brilliant! I have heard of people using paper pots and even got a paper pot kit, but this broke down the whole process nicely. Good work.
That's absolutely ingenious!! I've always hated throwing away plastic planter pots after they've cracked and fell apart. This solves that problem with ease!!
We felt exactly the same way! Even if you can reuse them a few times, they all fall apart eventually!
Glad you liked it. let us know if you try them!
Your little tips are things that can save people a lot of time and money trouble shooting for themselves. LOVE your videos ❤️
I feel so good and proud after watching this episode. Everything went so well.
Millions of people know about "Progress, not perfection."
Great tutorial - I'm heading out to but the paper now.
Most helpful method & end results on biodegradable pots online I have found! Thx! & happy, good, fun & successful gardening!❤
That design is great. At first they look quite large compared to a store bought seed starter kit but I think that is better as the seeds appear to be able to develop a nice root structure in the larger space to be healthier and more established until a good time to plant them. I will be trying your method this spring, thanks for the tips and video. Not to mention it gives you something to do while you wait on planting time and gets ya a little excited about planting.
The video was filled with information that was delivered nicely and clearly with amazing graphics and visuals, I was entertained through the entire video (for all the video I have seen) it was high production, very high quality videos, but I think because of how high the quality they are they don’t leave room for stuff like harvesting videos and the like, for something like the garlic video I would have loved to see a follow up video showing the end result it would have been an amazing pay off for that video, the first video I watched was the potato video of you planting and harvesting the potatoes that Drew me in to the channel then watched other videos like the grass video and the grass tea video that I found amazing I never thought that I would be so attentive to something like grass then I watched your garlic video I loved it then started to look for the follow up video of the harvest , i was disappointed as there was no pay off to the planting but all in all I will be subscribing and waiting for more from you guys thanks for these amazing videos.
I’ve been using soil blocks for 3 years now and they work great! No paper no plastic straight into the ground
I've seen the soil block maker on the red garden channel, but he got his used,so couldn't give any info on how to get one. Where did you get yours?
@Roger Clarke Johnny's Seeds carries soil blockers. Soil blocks work very well and they are available in varying sizes.
@@nurserachel559 hanks
@@nurserachel559 Thanks
Our local Lowe's has an out back rack where you can give/take your planting pots, cans, & trays--yay!
Oh wow, that's awesome! We'll have to check that out. Thanks for the tip!
That's great. More should do this.
I love how you make the nature and environment he first priority! And wow your germination station is huge!!!
You guys have improved my garden and gardening skills by leaps and bounds. I appreciate the time you guys take to educate us. Thank you
Excellent video!
Graphics and information were wonderfully presented, and very clear and easy to understand.
Great ideas were shared and narrator spoke clearly and enunciated his words so that the details could be easily followed.
Thank you so much Marie. What a wonderfully complimentary comment! I really appreciate it! :)
This is fantastic! Thank you! I’m not planting as many seedlings as you, so I’m just going to re-use the brown paper bags I’ve been saving.
Very interesting take on paper pots. Like how you can clean out the grooves in the tile work on the floor as well.
Love your animation! I’m trying paper bag pots in mass for the first time. Thank you for the tips.
I absolutely love your videos. I live in an apartment with a very small back porch, but I am going to try several paper pots....if not veggies then flowers. I miss having a garden.....thanks for enjoyable, enlightening and helpful videos.
Extremely helpful. Thanks for perfecting this and then sharing. Or progressing it and then sharing. I was searching for some way to replace peat pots and peat tablets. The peat pots wick out the moisture and dry out the plants after transplanting, the peat tablets dry out and also have netting that roots dont get through, nor can I even tear it off. I am ready to assemble these!! These are my new go to.
Love this idea! Our kiddos love origami, and we include that as part of our handicraft time for homeschooling (helps train kiddos in precision, and aids in the development of both hand/eye coordination and fine motor control of the fingers), and they would LOVE to make these for our newly sown pepper and tomato plants when they reach potting stage! Thank you very much for sharing!
Oh, that's a great idea! It's also a fun way to get them involved in their own food production at a young age. I really hope they (and you) enjoy them! :)
Amazing explanation. Great skills in the garden, great skills in the narrative and motion graphics! Very inspiring.
Always impressed with what you two come up with. Paper is so much better. Great uou hot the trays, really helps. You can dip the bottom of the box in water as you plant along a row to help break it down, and dampen the soil as you go. Enjoyed. 😊👍🌱
GENIUS!!!! I loved this idea. Thank you for being smart and generious to share this idea with the rest of us do it your-selfer's.
You guys are incredibly resourceful. I'm amazed and inspired by this video.
I have been getting paper bags from my grocery store...I think those would well. Thank you. Love and hugs.
Boy you have so much spare time to make hundreds of these! I’m jealous.
Thank you for the vid, absolutely helpful!! Specially for a beginner such as myself...Happy gardening..
EXCELLENT Editing and information! Thank you
That Mr Amazon sends me masses of paper in a lovely box to store the pots in, around every purchase…..thus justifying my online shopping 😊
Your attention to detail is really awesome.
I have been making pots out of newspapers for about 4 years. I found that the pots dried out quickly so I recycled some plastic and wrapped it around the outside edge of all of the pots (not individually) in the tray and that seemed to help. The pots on the inside of the tray seemed to allow the moisture to pass around freely but the outside edge did not dry out. This year I have been inserting the pots inside an old plastic bag that I have laid in the tray and then rolling it up the sides to the top of the pots. I then tied a string around to hold it in place and it seems to be working as well.
Thanks for the video. I just made something similar out of brown grocery bags and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide (for the block). The bags were only 17 inches when cut open and the peroxide bottle doesn’t have sharp edges but it is 3x3 but it seems to work ok. I use soil blocks for most of my transplants but needed something bigger and biodegradable for squash and pumpkins.
How did the brown grocery bags work at not falling apart? I have a ton of those hanging around and it sounds like a great plan. I also love the peroxide bottle idea!
They worked well enough for the most part, a few didn’t make it until transplant time but there was still enough structure I could scoop the plants up and transplant them from the tray.
We love the detail you put into each video!
Incredibly good info! I was just looking to buy some biodegradable pots for my 2nd stage seedlings. You guys are so clever! Hope you’re both well! ✌️
I like your results. I'll give them a try before long. I've been experimenting on paper pots this spring, but gave up and put my efforts into making, what I call mud balls. LOL. But a mix of ingredients compressed into seedling pot size circles of potting soil and additives. So far I like 'em and have tomato seedling growing out of them. Thanks for sharing.
I love this idea and will use them come this spring! Thank you for sharing!
Very impressive. Thank you. I was thinking about my garden in pots because I rent and am currently between places. I do like this idea very much. Very good indeed. Groove on. and thank you agian. Saves me carting around small pots.
This is great! I love your thoroughness to detail. I want a system to grow at scale while being as minimal in plastic use as possible & this ticks all the boxes. Mahalo (Thanks) from Hawaiʻi island. (we really care about not putting more plastic into our ocean!)
This is my first season really going full force on starting a TON of seeds and my main concern was pots. After watching this, I think my problem might be solved!! I can't wait to get some paper and try this out!
Your channel is so underrated! I have been watching you guys for a few years now, way back when you made the garden beds. I’m sad to see your channel has not grown through the pandemic.
What a great tutorial! I love the idea of using this paper. This year, we went with fabric seedling pots; less waste than solos as you have mentioned, cheaper, and they pack together better in a flat. Seedling space is limited (until next year, anyways!) so I'm trying to get the most use out of every square inch. I'd love to use these paper pots in the future, when I have time to sit down and make them! 🍅🥒🥕
Love your videos ,please make more frequent videos if possible :)
Thank so much! I'm trying to make them more frequent. They just tend to take so much time. But I'm still working on it ;)
My favorite seedling paper pots were egg shell boxes and use eggs shells to start them inside also! 18 plant boxes a week in this house!!!
I loved the origami pot, but couldn't see myself doing 500 - 1000 origami fold projects over months. This is a wonderful alternative.
Thank you, I've been reluctant to buy plastic pots and this is perfect timing.
Good deal and a great idea! This year I was unable to purchase tray inserts, so this idea should work just fine!
I've been playing with paper pots on and off for 30 years,,, Most of the detractors live in countries where vegetable inks have not been mandatory since the 80s... I like the square pot Idea! And I have a roll or 2 of that floor runner paper in the garage...
I loved it. A well researched video and i liked every detail and calculation like how one could save their time and energy and make things faster and keep things eco-friendly and pocket friendly too.
Thank you for making this video! I noticed that your little pots looked different from anything I found in online tutorials, and I couldn’t figure out how you did it. Of course, now I feel a little silly because it’s such a simple process. I finished off some little grow bags for this years seed starting, and next year I plan to do a combination of paper pots and soil blocking.
It must have been a crazy light bulb moment to realize you could "roll" the square pods! We will absolutely be trying this as fellow appreciators of efficient space management and low-impact materials.
The idea of paper pots is really awesome
Been struggling to find some pots lately, this should definetly help. Thank you.
Great idea the square pots, I've been doing round and they tend to be a bit tippy. Really enjoy your videos.
Last year, I started some of my corn indoors in toilet paper rolls. A few cuts and folds on the bottom made them into a cup shape, and they unfolded easily when planting time came. The corn roots were very aggressive pushing through the wet cardboard, so much so that some of them actually worked their way into neighboring TP pots!
I've got a larger collection of TP rolls this year (go figure), and plan to use them for the corn, beans, and squash for my new larger Three Sisters bed...
I LOVE the TP pots. We haven't used any yet, but have also been saving them up. Any concern about the glues used in the rolls?
@@BackToReality I personally don't, but I understand that others might. The glue residue on my rolls is very light, mostly just a discoloration on the leftover roll, not some globby chunk of booger glue holding on like Hans Gruber to the Nakatomi Tower.
LOL! Ok, anybody who works a Die Hard reference into a comment about TP seedling pots... definitely deserves a "heart"! ;)
What an amazing video! It sounds like a well-written do it yourself book. I make videos once in awhile for my English students, and they are not even close to this professional! The images are effective too! The ideas are great! Thank you :)
So glad I found your channel. I enjoy the simple straight forward and comical instructions. Please tell me you have a video for the hardening off process? Is there an easier process than moving a hundred trays in and out every day?
I found if you prefold the 1" crease at the top, then open it before rolling the pot, its easier to fold it in later.
Freezer paper cutter works great. Drop paper roll into the box & slide cutter across. Great info!
Great idea. We’ve been making these pots with some left over floor protection paper. They’re great and way quicker than the origami newspaper pots we’ve made in the past. We found that if we folded over what will eventually be the top of the pot the half inch or so, crease it and then open it again before wrapping the block it’s much easier to fold the top down on the finished pot. Just make sure it’s going to fold in the right direction when you wrap the block. We really enjoy the your videos.
Oh, pre-creasing the top is SUCH a great tip! We'll try that for our next batch! Thanks :)
Brilliant video as always! You do such a great job with the content, narration, and animation / editing. Please keep up the great work!!!
Thanks so much Rob, I really appreciate that!
What a great idea! I have a ton of that paper laying around. Now all I have to do is take the time to make me a few hundred pots. Thanks again for sharing this info! 🌱🌱🌱
Your graphics are amazing, and you are a natural teacher. Thank you! I wonder how deep you could go and still have it sturdy enough to stand up. I really want taller, thinner pots to get deeper roots. Maybe adding a craft stick along the side... hm.
Thanks so much, I really appreciate that! :)
I think you could easily go quite a bit taller - as long as they are all in a tray together. The square shape allows them to sort of "lock in" and keep each other supported really well. And if they get a little less stable, then your craft sticks idea might just do the trick! Thanks again, and good luck if you try them! :)
Thanks for your informative videos! I live in the U.P. and I have to be creative, because we have such a short season. My husband and I use toilet paper rolls! No ink or bleach!
This gave me an idea with all the paper bags that we got from drugstores and supermarkets, since plastic bags are banned in most of the cities in our country.
Have been making my own pots too ,much appreciated at the local market....what I use is our thick brown paper grocery bags and the unwaxed animal feed bags using a square plastic pot to shape...
Great idea! I am thinking brown paper bags might work. I am inundated with those.
I love your videos. Well thought out and nicely done. Thank you for sharing.
My husband created little round pots last year, like the ones at the beginning of the video. We will definitely use this new method this Spring. Thank you. This video was very helpful.
I really appreciate your work. You can distill plastic into diesel, instead of sending it to landfill. I hope to investigate this more; it is hard to find the info but I have seen one video about it.
The paper pots are a fabulous idea. Dollar Tree sells rolls of brown paper. Most grocery stores offer paper bags (free, if you don't count the cost of the groceries), although there is typically some printing on those bags.
a rotery cutter, cutting mat and clear acrylic ruler used for quilting would be even faster.
Can you do a video on this?!
@@Killthebatsman There are hundreds of scrapbooking videos out there that demonstrate this method. Have fun! :)
Brilliant!
My thoughts exactly! A 6 x 24 ruler would make the cutting process fly by
I am a sewer and use a rotery cutter, mat and acrylic ruler and the method they have going with the grout line and wrapping paper cutter will definetly be faster. they don't have to line it up on a mat and the measurements, then line up the ruler to get a straight cut and then move the ruler to cut through the rest of the paper, because most sewers are not using that long of ruler for cutting. Just my opinion, but what you are doing is the fastest for cutting.
Yall are geniuses! I love the tips and appreciate you for sharing your passion with us!
Love that you take the environmental cost into consideration!
Nice idea! Here in the Philippines we use banana leaf because we have so many banana tree
Superb! And I love your visual explainer tools! Excellent video, excellent communication! Thanks.
Thanks for the great how-to video. Another thought- soil blocks. I bought a soil blocker tool this year and haven't tried it yet, but according to many, they work great. And no pots of any kind needed. Plus, sounds like they may be a bit faster
I was just searching a tutorial like this the other day! Great refining your technique!
I stopped putting bottoms on mine. I put a couple layers of paper in the bottom of the tray to hold the seed starter in place. As the plants grow, the roots hold the soil together enough so that you don't need a bottom to hold the soil together when you transplant. This method significantly reduces the time it takes to make the seed cups.
Also, use a straight edge and a box cutter (razor knife) to cut the paper. Much faster than scissors.
For your straightedge: if you rip a board the width you need, you don't even have to measure the paper. Just place one edge of your board along the edge of the paper, and cut along the opposite edge. Keep moving the straightedge into position and cut. Reposition and cut. Reposition and cut. No need to measure.