[nickmcmechan]

I have been accumulating a large number of loo rolls for planting seeds.

I mainly started doing this for my Sweetcorn which apparently needs a long pot or loo roll because of a tap root.

However, I have loads and have read about other peeps using them for all their seeds.

I take it you fill with compost like a pot, but a couple of Q's!

- how do you stop the compost falling out the bottom, what do you put them on?

- do you just plant the whole loo roll, compost and seedling right into the ground like a peat pot and let it rot away when planted?

Thanks!

[operabunny]

Pack them in some sort of plastic container to keep them upright and stop soil falling out.

Plant the whole tube but make sure you cover the top of the tube so it doesn't wick away moisture.

[Pol]

These are my loo roll with Tom sin them

[JayG]

These are my loo roll with Tom sin them

Had to read that twice! (At first glance I thought it was some sort of new Chinese vegetable, and a bit of a naughty one too!)   

[Composto]

I tie string around, say 12 of them, this  keeps them together as a "block" and prevents them from falling over.  The block is placed in a seed tray to stop anything falling out of the bottom. 

Removing the cardboard at planting time ensures that the roots are able to spread easily, as I find that the cardboard will inhibit the spread of the roots if you leave it on; very much in the same way that leaving plants in peat pots seems to inhibit the root spread.

[Kleftiwallah]

I place the loo roll into a spray can top, fill with compost and bash it down onto a firm surface.        Top up with more compost and there you go.    Cheers,   Tony.

[harry]

I put some red onions and garlic in loo rolls this year but I have heard of one bloke putting parsnips in them and burying the lot when they sprout.

[strangerachael]

I have used them a few times - you can fold them into square loo rolls and then they fit neatly into a shoe box, and you don't lose too much compost in between them.
HOWEVER -
when I planted the sweetcorn out (and the sweet peas I also did in them last year) the plants all went yellow and looked very sad. They perked up a bit when given some chicken manure tea, but they never caught up with the plastic pot  grown plants - so beware.
My theory is that as the cardboard rots down it takes up nitrogen from the soil around the plant, hence the need for chicken manure tea, or seaweed feed is also good.

[debih]

I always do my parsnips in loo roll. 

Put the seeds between some damp kitchen towel until they sprout, transfer them into toilet rolls and then when they are big enough plant the whole loo roll in the allotment.

Works every time.

[bigben]

I also use them for parsnips but tend to use the paper pots which are deeper for sweetcorn and french beans because I often have to have them sitting around for a while until conditions are right and the bigger pots are a bit easier to have them hanging around in than loo roll tubes.

[compostqueen]

I find the blue mushroom placcy boxes good for this job but this morning I had none of those so used a half sized plant tray. If you pack enough loo rolls in they will stand up.  I used the handle of my trowel to press the compost down. You can turn the roll over and stuff compost in from that end too and firm it down. Carefully of course.

I sat there for about 20 minutes this morning stuffing the loo rolls with compost, thoroughly enjoying my mindless task, radio on, in the greenhouse, and sowed my sweetpeas in them. 

Another job done 

[mumofstig]

If you only have a shallow seed tray wrap around the outside of the filled tubes with some cling film

[Pol]

These are my loo roll with Tom sin them

Had to read that twice! (At first glance I thought it was some sort of new Chinese vegetable, and a bit of a naughty one too!)   

Sorry my mistake    Toms in them

[Mr Rotavator]

This is my first year using loo rolls. I have sown all my brassica plants in them, cutting four slits in one en and folding the flaps up to form a base. I have them all sitting in old plant cell trays and they can be moved further apart before planting out. I am thinking of scoring the tube when they go in the ground.

[TerryB]

I put mine into old 24 module trays.
Stops the soil coming out the bottom and because there is a small gap between each loo role which allows air to circulate the roles do not go moldy.
Plant out as they are, never had the same problem as I had with peat pots not decomposing.