I'm never using toilet roll again!!!

Discussion in 'General Gardening Discussion' started by Mitramonday, May 14, 2021.

  1. Mitramonday

    Mitramonday Gardener

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    Okay...maybe that statement needs clarifying! What I mean is: I'm never using toilet roll for planting seeds again :frown:! There are SO many YouTubers who promote this method as being great/eco-friendly, and very few who point out that (presumably, 'sometimes') the toilet rolls can go mouldy:gaah:...not so good for the seedlings?! As soon as I noticed the mould, I spaced the rolls further apart to allow air in between, hoping that that would be enough (even though some people recommend putting an elastic band around a group of rolls to keep them together?). I don't think I overwatered...I watered from the bottom and just sprayed the top of the soil when it seemed overly dry. But today, I have 'up-potted' my tomato seedlings, and had to gently tease away the worst of the mouldy soil. Now it's :fingers crossed::fingers crossed::fingers crossed: that they survive. If anyone can shed light on what went wrong/what I did wrong:please:, I might give this method another chance... (Sorry - iPhotos isn't playing ball, so I can't upload the photo :wallbanging:
     
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    • pete

      pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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      Even those peat pots that you can buy go mouldy, they will its just the cardboard being broken down by fungus.
      If it wasn't happening I'd suggest you were keeping the roots too dry.;)
       
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      • NigelJ

        NigelJ Total Gardener

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        Did any of your seedlings die or lag behind in growth. If not then it is unlikely the mould was doing any harm. As Pete says it's just living on the cardboard.
         
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        • Mitramonday

          Mitramonday Gardener

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          @pete and @NigelJ....Oh, thank you both :love30:! All my seedlings looked really healthy and 'growthful' - I just assumed that the mould would be damaging and some of it definitely appeared to have 'transferred' to the soil? Still...I'll try not to panic so much 'next time':phew:?!
           
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          • shiney

            shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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            I'm going mouldy but still manage to keep going! :roflol:
             
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            • NigelJ

              NigelJ Total Gardener

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              Living by myself I just don't produce enough cardboard tubes to meet my germination needs.
              I switched to root trainers years ago and use these for anything that benefits from germinating and needing to produce deep roots. A bit of an investment in the first place, but with care they last for ages.
               
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              • pete

                pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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                I've got to be honest I cant be bothered with trying to use cardboard tubes etc.

                I've got a stack of plastic pots that fall around all over the place, I've collected them over the years.
                I just think they should make them stronger, these days, and then reuse would be more likely and some of mine must date back 20 yrs.
                Still got some bedding trays lying around from the 1970s
                 
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                • gks

                  gks Total Gardener

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                  Worse case scenario, they would of only suffered from some, minor tissue damage.:heehee:
                   
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                  • Logan

                    Logan Total Gardener

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                    The mould doesn't harm the seedling. I do pot them on sometimes with pots that I've collected over the years, I never throw a pot away.
                    I don't have enough so a friend of mine saves hers and her family for me.
                     
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                    • clanless

                      clanless Total Gardener

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                      I have to agree with Mitramonday. I tried loo rolls once - green mould all over the place - tubes started to disintegrate before the seeds had a chance to grow.

                      I'm going for plantable biodegradeable pots next year - so much easier - and you can get ones that are the same shape as the plastic seed cell trays. Just pop them in the ground, pot and all - no fuss.
                       
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                      • CanadianLori

                        CanadianLori Total Gardener

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                        I tried with little boxes made out of parcel paper and the same thing happened. So now I stick with soil blocks.

                        Nothing but soil pressed into a block.
                         
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                        • Mitramonday

                          Mitramonday Gardener

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                          @clanless Hmmm - I hope you have better luck in finding true 'biodegradable' pots than I did! Two years later and I'm still finding them scattered around my borders :scratch:
                           
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                          • Kristen

                            Kristen Under gardener

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                            I've rolled a sheet of newspaper around an aerosol can, that works well enough. Can choose a can of suitable diameter too, and height-of-pot (actually quite handy for things that dislike being transplanted by making a taller "pot" to keep them happy until planting).

                            I tear off the top bit of paper on planting as I figure if it is sticking out it will act as a drying-wick.

                            There are fancy wooden templates you can buy ... waste of money and just a can will do unless you have someone wanting to buy you a present for the "person who has everything ..."

                            ... this is 3 bits of wood for £13-quid

                            No doubt loads of examples on YouTube, but I've got some pictures on my blog if they might help

                            How to Make Pots from Newspaper
                             
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                            • shiney

                              shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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                              Like @pete we reuse old plastic pots that we've had for years. As we're not opening our garden (for the second year :sad:) I have been passing some on to friends who are having mini plant sales this year (for the first time). For years people tended to drop their pots off to us and we were able to make good use of recycling them for all the plants we sold.

                              I've given away a couple of thousand small pots in the last two months and am pleased they're going to a good home. Most plants we start off in seed trays and pot on. Others are started directly in the pots so have never tried toilet rolls or paper for plants. :noidea:
                               
                            • Kristen

                              Kristen Under gardener

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                              Virtual tour? During lockdown I did have a look at some of the videos that NGS posted. Some were properly dreadful (in terms of camera-operator-ability!), but one of them had a really cool fly-by through the border using a drone - showing some angles that a visitor couldn't get. I've added to one to my "can't afford not to have" list :)

                              I know diddly-squat about streaming, but maybe a Zoom would be more suitable? following by a virtual-Indian :)
                               
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