TP Rolls Make Quick and Easy Seed Starting Cups
Filed Under: Do It Yourself, Organic Gardening, Susatainable Living on July 2, 2010
Simple bottom folds made by just pinching and pushing the cardboard over.
Save those toilet paper rolls! You know, the cardboard tubes left after you’ve finished the roll of TP. These rolls are often thrown out, but they have many uses beyond becoming mini-bullhorns for kids to play with. They can be composted and most do not receive chemical treatment beyond glues when they’re made at the mill, so you can usually shred and compost them relatively safely.
Of course, if you’re a hard-core, nothing-but-organic gardener, you probably don’t use the rolls for anything. The glue is not likely organic and the rolls can’t be guaranteed to be chemical-free. So use your own judgement as to whether you think they are usable as anything but fireplace fodder or garbage.
I do not usually compost my rolls, since I have plenty of sources for fiber for the heap. I use them for many things, such as disposable funnels (pinch the bottom to fit into a narrow opening and pour through the top), string or twine wrappers (roll the twine around the tube), etc. They are also great last-minute seed starting pots.
To use them as seed starters, you’ll first need to pinch the bottom (as shown) so that it’s closed enough that dirt won’t leak through, but still slightly open to allow some drainage. Once that is done, you can cut it down to size if you wish or leave it as-is (what I usually do) and fill with good starting soil.
Free-standing and ready to go. Note that you can double-up these rolls for greater longevity as well.
The roll will last a couple of weeks or so as the soil and water begin to weaken it. By the time the seed has appeared and you’re ready to transplant to a pot or garden bed, the cardboard will be mushy and about ready to fall apart. At this point, you can either shove it all into the ground as-is and let it melt away in the garden or you can easily tear it away (what I usually do) and toss it into the compost heap after transplanting the plant. Because of the cup’s mushiness, soils inside are usually not too compact, which lets the plant roots more quickly expand.
While probably not the best container you can get for starting seeds, toilet paper rolls are definitely great in a pinch and are easy to use. They also have the advantage of being about 2/3 the diameter of most garden “plug” pullers or other tools used to make transplant holes.
TP tubes are a great way to re-use something instead of sending it directly to the landfill and are handy enough that I actually save them instead of tossing them directly.
