I tried this in the fall. My pots fell apart when I tried to transplant. The soil was in the pots for about 3 months. Others have had better success, but I won't try it again.

I like to use paper pots for tiny seedlings such as annual Lobelia or Eragrostis spectabilis or for grass plugs. I use them for some seedlings that don't like to be handled either.

They are no problem at all. Been doing this for 5 or 6 years now. They do tend to dry out faster than other containers. But I usually try to plant them out first thing in spring.

Check out the link below. I don't make mine that thick or that big, though. I use only 1 sheet of newspaper - not double like the tutorial. I also use a bouillon jar instead of a drinking glass. You can make paper pots any size you like. My paper pots never fell apart at planting time. I might peel off the lip at planting to prevent it from wicking way moisture. Easy and cheap.

Here is a link that might be useful: Paper Pot Tutorial

heyitzbenny: I save toilet paper cores, then fill the cores with moist potting mix and arrange them in a large pot, then sow 2-3 seeds in each core, cover with plastic, poke a few holes on top. It seems to work well when I spring sowed zinnia this year. It is easier to transplant.

I put the newspaper pots in the milk jugs. For me the main purpose is to keep the roots separated so it doesn't matter if they more or less fall apart when planting out. They also work well for me in the under-the-bed type clear plastic boxes. I found that newspaper pots don't dry out as fast for me as the toilet paper rolls, and they break down a lot faster in the garden. I used a straight-sided bottle to make my pots until a friendly neighbor made me a potmaker. It looks similar to the ones in the catalog and is very fast and easy to use.

I make newspaper pots using an old bean can. I do not punch holes for drainage the water seens to find it's way out ok. When it comes time to plant i just dig a hole soak the pot and put it in the ground. I'm just careful to make sure the entire pot is covered with dirt. the roots will grow right through the paper and it will decompoae before you know it.

My hubby is the WS in our family, has done his sowing up in Mass. for many years. Now he is all excited because for the first time he is going to have a real outdoor WINTER GARDEN, and has also put his WS seeds into containers down here in Alabama. He has tilled the soil and dug in about 100 bags of shredded leaves so far, and looks forward to putting out his new seedlings--when they are ready.

I was at the Festival of Flowers here in Mobile several years ago and manned one of the booths in the children's venue. They introduced me to the potmaker which the kids could use to make their own pots, for a tiny begonia plant we gave them at the end of the exhibit. I bought my own potmaker, and have passed it along to DH. I cannot recall where I bought this one, but it is in two parts. The bottompart is used to collapse what will form the pot bottom and allows water to drain, but the paper will retain enough water to keep the roots moist. I like nice gadgets like that. This one looks like maplewood.

I've made newspaper pots for the last two years and love them.

I bought a 2" (inner) diameter plumbing pipe (2' long maybe - measurement estimating challenged girl here) from Home Depot and a maybe 5" diameter pipe, same length. They were precut and are the same length as a newspaper is wide. For the 2" pipe, I loosely wrapped maybe 2 sheets around, using as little flour/water paste as the glue. Pull this tube off and allow to dry. After a day of drying, I cut the newspaper "tube" in half and then in half again etc. until the paper pots were the height I wanted. These held up very well for me. When the seedlings needed to be in a bigger pot, I used the 5" pipe in the same manner, using maybe 4 sheets of newspaper. I was very happy with the system and my plants had less transplant shock. Trying to move the plants prior to planting could definitely end in a mess, as all the dirt easily falls through the bottom. Of course, I experienced this MULTIPLE times (duh), but just packed the dirt back in the bottom of the newspaper pot. I kept my plants in these 5" pots maybe three months last year and they didn't degrade until they were in the garden for the season.

What BarbeWA said - I put my newspaper pots inside a milk jug then cover with plastic. Or inside a larger pot - just so that they're snug and don't tip over.

I do the same with toilet paper tubes.

I find that they DO, indeed, dry out more quickly than other containers but the planting out is a lot easier.