Cheap environmentally friendly pots?

[neoguy]

This is the one we have. Made in Canada by Richter's.

http://richters.com/Web_store/web_st...=7954759.26030

[Miss Sphinx]

Originally Posted by neoguy

This is the one we have. Made in Canada by Richter's.

http://richters.com/Web_store/web_st...=7954759.26030

That's the one I have......it works very well for my needs.

[Zana]

Originally Posted by neoguy

This is the one we have. Made in Canada by Richter's.

http://richters.com/Web_store/web_st...=7954759.26030

Ok...having looked at it. That appears to be the same one that Lee Valley sells....certainly is identical to the one my Mother bought for me.

(Sighhhhhhhhhh.....I miss the "surprise" gardening tool/porn she'd buy me for Xmas every year...nothing huge....sometimes metal plant markers, water cans, secaturs...seeds....that kind of thing. But it was always nice to figure out how to use it before the season started....or where to put it. LOL Might just have to do a "Merry Xmas" to moi from now on.
BTW...not my term to call it gardening porn or tomato porn. I borrowed that from Tomatoaddict. Thanks Terry! ...sorry...got off topic)

[FarmerCathy]

Originally Posted by dice

Here is the Earl version:

http://www.tomatoville.com/showthrea...newspaper+pots

Did he use tape on the bottom? That looks super easy. Love it!

[dice]

Did he use tape on the bottom?

Earl probably has some magic folding trick for
the bottoms learned from ancient Origami masters
or similar. I used duct tape on the bottom of mine
and rubber bands around them.

(dcarch's newspaper pots are more refined looking.
I was making mine for my own use, so presentability
was not an issue. Earl's method is fast, too, which is
an advantage.)

[dcarch]

Originally Posted by dice

------(dcarch's newspaper pots are more refined looking. I was making mine for my own use, so presentability was not an issue. Earl's method is fast, too, which is an advantage.)

There are differences in the objectives for my design:

• It is meant to be bigger (4.5" x 6").
• It is meant to be longer lasting (therefore the glue and veg. oil treatment).
• It is meant to allow the removal of the seedling out from the pot for transplanting (therefore tappered body) for those who are not interested to plant the seedling and the pot in ground together.

It can be even more interesting looking if you:

• Trim the top rim with seamstress saw-tooth scissors.
• Use old seed catolog paper on the outside.
• print out in detail discription and picture of the seedling your are selling and glue it on the outside of the pot.

dcarch

[jungseed]

Have you looked into Cow pots? they are fiber pots made from 100% natural composted cow manure. if you plant them they fully decompose within weeks leaving you with nutrients and organic matter only - best of all the are American made! Very renewable resource involved here. They come in 3" and 4" sizes.
They may be more than you want to spend, but maybe you can talk your customers into the fact they are environmentally friendly and you are supplying the fertilizer with the plant.
I'm just now putting them on the Vermont Bean website. Maybe you can get a better deal buying direct from the manufacturer if you need alot, if you're interested PM me and I'll get the info for you.

[FarmerCathy]

Originally Posted by jungseed

Have you looked into Cow pots? they are fiber pots made from 100% natural composted cow manure. if you plant them they fully decompose within weeks leaving you with nutrients and organic matter only - best of all the are American made! Very renewable resource involved here. They come in 3" and 4" sizes.
They may be more than you want to spend, but maybe you can talk your customers into the fact they are environmentally friendly and you are supplying the fertilizer with the plant.
I'm just now putting them on the Vermont Bean website. Maybe you can get a better deal buying direct from the manufacturer if you need alot, if you're interested PM me and I'll get the info for you.

Yeah, they are a little expensive.

[dcarch]

Has anyone tried using Chinese takeout boxes for seedlings?
They come in many sizes. I don't know how much they cost. Couldn't be too expensive.

dcarch

[FarmerCathy]

Yeah , I thought about that the other day and haven't researched it yet.

[Worth1]

I’ve seen egg cartons used for seedlings, but just for home not for sale.

[amideutch]

The "Cowpots" do seem to fit your criteria and being in California I bet you wouldn't have any problem tacking the price of the pots onto the seedling price. Greenhouse Mega Store has a Case of 4" Cowpots (270 to a case) for $112.00.
Thats about 41 cents apiece. Just the name alone is an attention getter and they havn't been on the market that long. I'm going to trial some next season to see how they work out. There should be no transplant shock at all with these pots. Ami

[johno]

Originally Posted by Worth1

I’ve seen egg cartons used for seedlings, but just for home not for sale.

I've used them a couple of times. They work fine for germination, but there's very little room for root growth, so you have to transplant right away. I don't think I'll use them again. Might as well start in community flats...

Last year I used newspaper pots made from a tin can form. I tried a few different sized cans. The cans that are a bit shorter and wider than a standard soup can worked best, but the wider pots take more space, obviously. I found that a double layer of newspaper was plenty sturdy, but took too long to decompose during the time when roots should have been reaching out into the soil. Next year I'll try a single layer.

I'm curious if there are any additives in the cow pots? Or do they just press and dry them? Sounds like it could be a DIY project.

[dice]

I used 3-layers of newpaper (double-sheet folded over a single
sheet), but I did not plant the whole newspaper pot. I remove
the tape and rubber band, then unroll them into my hand to
transplant, with the hole already prepared. The newspaper
gets used around the edges for weed block, weighed down
with rocks and covered with mulch.

A press for making cow pots would be handy. Then one
could use any kind of manure that one had on hand to
make them (cow, horse, rabbit, chicken, llama, alpaca,
etc). I wonder how long they need to dry to hold together.

One could get really creative with this: mix a little dolomite,
kelp, actinovate, mycorrhizae, etc into the manure before
making homemade cow pots. One could even try "compost
pots" as an alternative to manure.

[amideutch]

Dice you must have been reading my mind. "Quote, One could
get really creative with this; mix a little dolomite, kelp, actinovate, mycorrhizae, etc into the manure before making homemade cow pots".
I was thinking on the lines of either making a dip consisting of actinovate and mycorrhizae and dipping the pots in it and allow them to dry or just adding the mycorrhizae and actinovate to the potting aggregate when the seedlings are transplanted to the cowpots or both. Just have to watch the phosphorous levels and make sure they are not to high in the pot or growing medium. Good stuff, Ami