These seedling pots require no staples, glue, tape or origami skills. Recycle your old newspapers and get your seeds off to a good start in these pots that can be put into the ground with the young seedlings therefore minimising root disturbance. The newspaper breaks down over time and the plants roots will grow through the newspaper.

Materials needed:

Newspaper

Step 1

If you are using large newspaper, rip in half. Turn piece of newspaper so the long side is facing you.

Step 2

Fold in half, left to right.

Step 3

Fold it again, bottom to top into a quarter size.

Step 4

Fold it in half again, left to right.

Step 5

Now fold the bottom right corner (marked with an “A” in Step four) up to the middle along the spine.

The crease in the center shown by the red line, was the bottom in Step four.

See how the “A” has moved up now?

Step 6

Flip it over on the other side and do the same thing you just did in Step five.

Step 7

Open the wings up to make a smooth shape like this. Do it to both sides.

Step 8

Fold the wings in to the crease in the center.

Step 9

Fold them in again.

Step 10

Now flip it over and repeat Steps eight and nine. It should look like this when you are done.

Step 11

Fold the top flaps down and crease them well.

Step 12

Now you can open up your pot! Make sure to square the bottom so it can sit well.

If you don’t like the ears on your pot, you can fold them into the pot. When you fill it with soil, it will keep them locked in place.

If you want, you can also drop the ears into adjoining pots to make a four or six pack, like you find in the garden shops.

Fill with seed raising mix and plant your seeds and water them. It is best to keep the pots in a tray. When the seedlings have their first pair of leaves just plant the whole thing in the garden!

Some people may be concerned about the newspaper inks being absorbed by the plant. Although most newsprint is reputed to use vegetable based inks these days, if you are concerned, only use these pots for plants that you won’t eat.

Sheet Mulching

Another use for old newspapers is to wet a few sheets and lay them down a few layers thick over weeds you want to suppress. Cover with sawdust or some sort of mulch to stop the newspaper from blowing away. I did this to the paths around my raised garden beds and it was a long time before anything started growing through. Make sure the newspaper sheets are overlapped to stop anything from growing up between the sheets.