I've produced some information on using plastic or compostable pots based on my own experiences and research. It could be useful for discussion at garden club meetings or your own use.
Here is a brief outline if you may be interested.
Pots - Plastic versus Compostable.
Plastic Pots which everyone will be familiar with for their strength and durability but need cleaning and storing and one of the most common problems in the infancy of plants is that roots may be forced into pot corners, grow upwards or become crushed against each other. Very quickly as the plant develops its early growth, pots can so easily become root bound which only becomes all to evident at the transplanting stage.
Home made compostable pots however come in various guises, toilet roll tubes for example look suitable, though they can be quite flimsy for purpose and usually somewhat too narrow for most plants. Corrugated cardboard strips that are rolled and stapled to make a pots are perhaps to solid as sadly the plant roots have difficulty in penetrating the cardboard and squeeze themselves through any gap available and the cardboard does not rot down very well.
The roots of plants grown in fibre pots easily penetrate the walls of the pot, contact with the air stops the roots from continuing, root buds start to appear and secondary roots start to develop throughout the pot. This is known as 'aerial root pruning'. When a plant is repotted or transplanted the dormant root buds set during aerial containment are immediately activated. There is no shock from transplanting, Finally, as there is no deformation in the root system, the plant establishes easily and settles into the soil quickly.
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