[prakash_mib]

I havent had any success at all in paper pots.
1. two varieties of toms went leggy (thats 24 of them)
2. whole lot of cluster beans either rotten due to over water or dried to dead (30 of them)
3. okras went leggy but sorted itself out (not bothered about them..) (20 of them)

put some lablab (legume variety) last week and got 1 sap out of 5 and the pots are drying too quick. I dont want to do the same mistake I did with cluster beans by overrwatering them

The nightmare is I have 30 pots made and ready to put sweetcorns in and it is bugging me a lot.
advice needed please!!

[tam]

I would think leggy is more to do with light than pots. With the paper pots, put them tight together so the sides touch and then wrap a bit of plastic around the outside that will stop them drying out.

[whippersnapper]

I find keeping the lid on helps and the drips from the lid can just go back into the soil.

However, I do have a couple of trays which have paper pots that are too large for the lid so I find frequent watering from the bottom works well. The capillary action seems to keep the water near the top of the pots. The odd mist spray from above also helps.

I like the idea of the cling film around the pots - might try that next time.

[robbodaveuk]

I am using the paper pots again this year. Last year I found that the pots tended to fuse together after a while with all the watering and drying out. This year I have wrapped each individual pot with clingfilm. It's a bit fiddly but well worth it, pots stay more rigid, don't stick together and they don't dry out, just like a normal plant pot. When I come to plant them out the clingfilm just peels off leaving a solid pot to put in the ground.

  Robbo.

[granjan]

I am using the paper pots again this year. Last year I found that the pots tended to fuse together after a while with all the watering and drying out. This year I have wrapped each individual pot with clingfilm. It's a bit fiddly but well worth it, pots stay more rigid, don't stick together and they don't dry out, just like a normal plant pot. When I come to plant them out the clingfilm just peels off leaving a solid pot to put in the ground.

  Robbo.

That sounds a brilliant idea    I'll definitely give that a go.

[Paul Plots]

Standing the pots in a tray and watering from the bottom seems to be a simple way of preventing pots from drying out... that and controlling the air temperature where possible.

Good luck 

[robbodaveuk]

I should have said in the last post that I am also making my pots stronger than last years. I use the tabloid newspapers and take a full sheet i.e. the front and back page together, still folded as if you were going to read it. Turn it so the folded edge is to the top then turn the folded edge down to the right size for my pots (last year I cut it off with scissors), this makes the rim of the pot a lot stronger. When I put my clingfilm on I tuck all the excess under the bottom. I know you all know how to make pots, this is just letting you know how I do it.

  Robbo.

[Paul Plots]

Thanks for the tip Robbo... sounds as if you are a patient chap. 

I think I'll just bung mine into seed-trays and then stick them in plastic-bags if I need to keep them extra moist....but it's an idea for a few special seeds that need TLC  - Thanks