[muckshifter]

No matter how many 3" pots I buy each season I never seem to have enough.
I have seen one of these wooden gadgets for making 3"X5" pots out of strips of newspaper in a seed catalogue,before I part with my hard earned and buy one what experience has any one had of them,do the pots stay in shape till needed?by the time the plant in the pot is big enough to plant out is the paper pot still in one piece?
Thanks for any comments to help me make up my mind as to the merits of one of these little gadgets. 

[DD.]

Don't waste your money:

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=11390.0

[sunshineband]

I had one as a gift this Christmas... didn't have the heart to say I could make pots easily without it 

[muckshifter]

Thanks DD,when those messy old groundworkers are chucking the empty line marking cans all round the site tomorrow I shall clear up behind them  ,and have some paper pots,not to mention that folding paper still in my  back pocket.

[allotmentann]

A can is far gentler on your hands and wrists than the 'proper gadget' and much quicker

[Willow_Warren]

Yes and you can easily vary the size by using different cans:

Small pots using the body spray
Medium pots from the curl spray
Large pots from the heat defence spray (the kind you spay on before you attack with the GHDs)

Hannah

[JayG]

I made my own from a sheet of scrap aluminium because I thought if it was square in cross section the resulting paper pots would sit closer together - the idea sort of works and on a good day I can make one a minute! 

(No, I didn't try soldering aluminium, I used araldite to glue it together and it's now in its fourth year.)

[arugula]

I use a kitchen roll cardboard inner tube.

[GrannieAnnie]

I made my own from a sheet of scrap aluminium because I thought if it was square in cross section the resulting paper pots would sit closer together - the idea sort of works and on a good day I can make one a minute! 

(No, I didn't try soldering aluminium, I used araldite to glue it together and it's now in its fourth year.)

In that case, you could also use a bit of spare square downpipe!   Mmmmmm, unlikely I shall ever run short of pots, even though I gave so many away, I'm sure they breed over winter!

I bought loads of 3" pots in an auction once, 15 banana boxes full.  They wouldn't sell me just one box.  I even gave 1200 to an ex member of ours, all he had to do was arrange the collection.

Then gave loads away on Freecycle, but I think I'm down to 2 boxes now!   

[muckshifter]

Thanks for the advice good people,money firmly in back pocket,due to TV not being to my taste the last couple of days enough pots made with spray can and newspaper to have,sown a packet of broad beans,potted on all my onion and shallot plants. :happy:

[smud6ie]

Has anyone experimented with the minimum layers of paper one can get away with?
smud6ie

[arugula]

One.

[arugula]

The way I make them, you fold a single sheet of newspaper into two layers.

[mumofstig]

I tear the back sheet away from the front sheet and make a pot out of each.

Cos I learnt from the earlier link 

[allotmentann]

I cut each double page into three strips horizontally for small pots and two for the next size for potting on.