happy gardening

-Blossom

If you haven't saved TP rolls all year, you can use just one to make newspaper cylinders in which to plant seeds. It's very easy. Just cut double pages of newspaper (a folded piece of newspaper) so they'll be as wide as the rolls and wrap the newspaper around the roll to make cylinders. After rolling them, the newspaper cylinders will be several thicknesses deep and surprisingly sturdy. If you want to double the newspaper cylinder thickness, use two sheets of folded newspaper instead of one. Use tape to close the cylinders, and there you are.

Some people press a piece of crumpled newspaper into the bottom of the newspaper cylinders before adding the planting soil, if you're worried about the soil falling out at transplant time. It usually doesn't, but it's okay if it does. The roots will hang on to what they've claimed.

To use them, make sure you put them in a container that forces them to remain upright close together so they don't sag over, fill them with seed-starting soil, and plant your seed. Water and cover them as you would any seeds you start, but just don't soak them. Some people cut the cylinders in half so they're only half as tall for small seeds -- they're less likely to sag over. A lot depends on the likely length of the new root.

When your plants have grown enough to set out, carefully remove the whole newspaper cylinder with the plant in it and set it in the soil. Once you plant them, the newspaper will finish disintegrating. You can remove the piece of tape with which you secured the sides of the cylinder (very easy since the newspaper is damp) or leave it on.

Then start saving the TP rolls for next year!