GARDENING TIPS

How to make newspaper pots for veggie starts

Choosing paper over plastic

You can make pots for veggie starts out of newspaper instead of using plastic pots, or peat pots. One of the biggest advantages of paper over plastic is that newspaper pots can be put directly into the ground, so there is much less disturbance to the plant. This makes newspaper pots especially appropriate for squash plants, as they are especially adverse to having their roots disturbed. This year, I’m doing all our squash starts in newspaper pots. FYI: by “squash” I mean all of the summer annuals in the Squash Family: winter squash, summer squash, pumpkins, cukes, zukes, gourds, watermelons, cantaloupes, etc.

What you’ll need:

• newspaper
• a soup can or jar of similar size
• nursery trays, or something that can fill that function

Any size newspaper will do. For a typical daily or weekly paper, you can tear each large sheet in half.

Fold the newspaper in half the long way. Wrap the paper around the can, tightly enough to hold the shape in place, but not so…