Paper plates are pretty sturdy, why don't you make a circle on the paper plate and cut it out to the correct size? Just a thought. Rosie

The purpose of these rings is not to preserve the leaves - leaves do OK without your help as long as you keep them in plastic, not ceramic pots. They are designed to help prepare plants for the show - you can create an evenly spaced flat rosette, move the leaves etc. Very useful contraption.

And Yes - Rosie is correct - you can take a paper plate of the size you need - make one radial cut and make a round hole in a middle big enough for the center of the plant to get through but smaller then the diameter of the pot. It works.

Thanks guys. While I don't currently have any intentions of showing my plants to anybody other than you guys once in a while, I do like the leaves to be sort of flat and fanned out around the plant.

I guess I am just too rough. I have had a bunch of leaves break exactly where they come in contact w the edges of my plastic pots. (My 4" pots do not have a nice round edge.) Thats why I already have paper plate rings on all of my 4" plants. Was looking for some smaller plates or an alternative for my 3" pots.

If you guys run across any 5" plates or an alternative, let me know. (Just so you know, cutting 6" plates down to 5" does not work. I knew somebody would suggest that next.)

Hmm, surprising. Why doesn't cutting the plates down work?

Popping in for a quick hello to all.

Cutting 6.785" Solo plates down to 5" does work for me. So does cutting down any 8" or 10" plate. I've used all for different size pots depending on where the rim starts curving up. (Or down according to your perspective on things...) :-)

The main reason I've had to use paper rings is to lift the leaves up because the leaves on some plant started curving down and it was hard to lift the pots out of their containers. The plates give me something to grab when lifting them out now.

Irina -- what's wrong with resting leaves on a ceramic pot? Maybe I need to plate up more of them :-)

The reason why the paper plates work so well for me lies in the natural shape of the plate. When a paper plate is sitting flat on a table, the outside "ring" is elevated an inch or so above the flat part of the plate, depending on the design. This difference in height allows the ring part to be higher than the height of the cut out part. If I cut an inch off the outside of the plate (making a 5" plate out of a 6" plate" I eliminate the lions share of the "ring".

Sounds petty, I know and I am sure that a 5" plate made out of a 6" plate works way better than what I have; which is nothing! If I continue to strike out in my search, I too will be cutting down some 6" ers.

Good to know...I wasn't quite sure if the outside ring of a plate should be up or down. I had thought that the leaves that didn't quite reach all the way to edge of the ring would have trouble growing trying to curl up the ring to get over it. To avoid that I was either cutting off the ring, or turning the plate upside. But I am referring to the waterproof plastic coated paper plates that have a comparably steeper curve to the edge of the plate than flatter paper ones.

Oh boy. Don't I have something better to try to explain than paper plates lol!

I do see that where there is a will, there is a way. As is my way, I am lazy and will have to continue my search for the perfect, easy to use, alternative, whatever it may be.