Using toilet roll tubes for seeds question (MERGED)

Primrose

It's also a very good way of starting seeds off early in containers, rather than sowing into the cold soil, for plants like beans which don't like to have their roots disturbed. I also found that last year when I grew my parsnips in loo rolls (having put the seeds on wet tissue paper until they started to sprout and then dibbed them into the compost in loo rolls) my parsnips stayed relatively free from the canker which can damage their skin. I think the carboard, once in the soil, protects the young roots and gives them a better start in life, as it slowly rots down.

arkonite_babe

I'll add this tip to the thread on growing seeds in toilet roll tubes so that it can be easily found for future reference

teapot2

I was thinking of trying to grow the seeds for beans and peas in loo roll cardboard tubes before transplanting and wondered if anyone had done this successfully? How do you do it? Fill the whole tube with compost and seeds in the top? Do you stand it in something so it doesn't topple - I've got some fairly deep plastic trays from garden centre plants I could use to stand the tubes up in. Does the cardboard not disintegrate as you water the seeds/plants?

Any other tips? Many thanks Teapot

daska

teapot2 wrote: »

I was thinking of trying to grow the seeds for beans and peas in loo roll cardboard tubes before transplanting and wondered if anyone had done this successfully? How do you do it? Fill the whole tube with compost and seeds in the top?

For most seeds you can cut the rolls in half (or for kitchen paper rolls in 3 or 4)

Cut the top of a plastic milk bottle to use as a funnel.

teapot2 wrote: »

Do you stand it in something so it doesn't topple - I've got some fairly deep plastic trays from garden centre plants I could use to stand the tubes up in.

Perfect, you can just fill the tubes or you can fill the spaces as well, both ways seem to work.

teapot2 wrote: »

Does the cardboard not disintegrate as you water the seeds/plants?

Yes, the cardboard does disintigrate, but not that quickly. It will however be very soft when wet so place the tubes in the tray before filling and watering.

teapot2 wrote: »

Any other tips?

Another poster suggested filling the bottom of the toilet roll with a used tea-bag, and someone else suggested a bit of kitchen paper - this will reduce the amount of compost you use and help stop any loose compost falling out of the bottom when you move the seedlings on to larger pots etc.

MRSMCAWBER

Hi there...

I start all my peas and beans off in loo roll tubes -I leave them whole as it encourages the roots to dig down to find water, so gives you good strong plants.... when I'm filling them I hold my hand like an upside down spider -think that makes sense put a tube in and then the hole is in the palm of your hand..if you put some compost in -you can pack it down tightly to start with as your palm will stop it falling out.. then you can pop a bit of looser stuff on top... pop in the bean/pea and cover with compost -hope that makes sense :rotfl:

csarina

We have grown peans, beans and sweet peas sucessfully using loo roll middles. We put one in the middle and then 5 round and tie a piece of string round them to keep them uprignt, then put in the compost, tamp it down lightly, put the seed in and cover with more compost, I use a pot saucer to stand them in water and wait for them to geminate, you can plant the whole thing in the ground, eventually the cardboard will rot down into the soil.

With sweet peas, I soak the seed in water for 24 hors before putting in the tubes.

Penelope_Penguin

Loo roll middles are great for seedlings that dislike root disturbance and/or have long roots - peas, beans, sweetcorn spring to mind

I'll add this to the exisitng thread to keep ideas together

Penny. x

Farway

ghp wrote: »

Thanks Trishh. I sowed a few today - hope they're not too late.

Not too late, broad beans have a long sowing period, the one advantage of an early sowing is they tend to form pods before the blackfly appear, but later sowings are OK, just need more blackfly contol

motherkitty

Never tried the toilet roll thing before and never been very successful with growing my own veg. Going to have another go this year though as veg and salad are so expensive.
Like to grow 'salad bowl' lettuce, the cut and come again type thing which I have had a bit of luck with, but probably only because the plants were donated by MIL!
Anyway, could I start off my own lettuce and courgette seeds in toilet rolls(and is there anything this method would not work for), and is it possible to not only plant the seeds in toilet rolls but also to stand them up in cut-down milk cartons so you get the mini greenhouse effect, and put used teabags in the bottom? Or would all of these together be far too much and I would end up with a soggy mess of tealeaves and cardboard?
Sorry there are so many questions!

Primrose

kitty - I think you would be more successful sowing your courgette seeds om 3" pots rather than loo rolls. They have a fairly widespread root system and I don't think loo rolls will be big enough for them. Other veggies you can grow in them are Climbing (Runner & French beans) and the dwarf French beans. Lettuces would probably work OK - just put a couple of seeds in each roll and once germinated, remove the weakest seedling. Remember though they have a shorter growing season than beans and the cardboard may not have completely disintegrated by nthe time the lettuce is ready to pick. If you're using lots of tubes, an ideal container is one of those large Roses chocolates metal tins, but I always line it with a polythene bag so that any rust from watering doesn't affect the tubes. Then you can go on reusing it every year. another good container is the deep clear polythene supermarket packs in which grapes/tomatoes are sold. Pack down the bottom level of compost well in your tube to ensure less of it falls out. Yes, you can pack in a teabag if you like. Before planting out, give all the tubes a really good water. This will congeal the compost and help make it stick to the damp cardboard and make planting easier.