Making paper seed pots

The beginnings of spring appearing all over (both in my garden, and in the gardening blog world). Trees are sprouting, bushes are coming out of dormancy, and tiny green shoots are appearing from the brown earth.

Here in Austin, where the winters are mild, and the springs arrive early, my garden is tricked into thinking it’s mid spring already. The tulips have come and gone, and the daffodils blooms are now going to seed. But the nights are still too cold for most plants, especially young ones that need all the help they can get.

This year, I’m starting my entire vegetable garden from seed. I know it sounds’ crazy, but it is something I’ve always wanted to do, and since this is the first spring in my first house, I’m gonna go for it. And to take it to the next level, I’m doing it all “green”. I’ve got handmade wooden seed boxes, and while the seed are sprouting, I’ve got time to make some raised beds in a sunny corner of the yard. Let’s hope I can get them built before the seedlings are tall enough to be planted.

Earlier this year I found this great little wooden paper seed pot maker on Etsy, and after a quick and easy transaction, I got mine in the mail a few days after ordering.  It’s really a simple little tool.  There is a handle that you wrap the newspaper around, and a small wooden base, that you press the handle into to make a folded paper bottom to the pot.  It takes about 20 seconds to make each pot, and they hold up just fine in the cedar seed boxes I made to hold them.  Each little pot is about an inch in diameter, and maybe 2 inches high.  I fill them with a handful of potting soil, and then seed each with 3-4 seeds to make sure at least one plant grows per pot.

Here’s how I do it:

First I carefully tear a full size sheet of black and white newspaper into half, and then in half again – so I can get four pots from a single sheet of newspaper.

To make a seed pot, I use 1/4 of a sheet of newspaper (the kind with black and white ink only)

Next I fold the 1/4 size sheet into thirds to make a long strip with three layers.

Fold the sheet of newspaper into thirds, to make a long thin strip with three layers.

The third step is to carefully wrap the paper strip around the handle.  I leave about an inch hanging below the handle and carefully fold the paper in on itself.

Wrap the folded newspaper around the base of the wooden seed pot maker. Your strip should be bigger than the handle. You want a bit to hang over the bottom so you can fold it over and make the base. I like to leave about an inch hanging below.

Finally , I press the top part into the base, and this forms the bottom of the pot.  At first I thought it would be too flimsy, but when I put all the pots in a row, fill them with potting soil, and place them  in the seed boxes, they hold up just fine.

To make the bottom of the seed pot, fold the end that is hanging over into itself (toward the middle), and press the handle into the base. You have now made your first pot.

Each box holds two rows of six paper seed pots. I fill all six pots with the same kind of seed, to get at least 6 new plants. But usually I get lots more because more than one seedling can be started in each pot.

Here are the paper seed pots filled with dirt, and seeded. Ready to grow!

How do you make seed pots? Do you buy them from Home Depot, just sew the seeds right into the ground, or do you use old plastic pots you’ve collected from the nursery? I can’t wait to hear your comments.