Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Folded Newspaper Pot Pictorial

.
Since I get so many questions about how to make newspaper pots, and it's really, really hard to describe how to make them through emails or on the phone, I thought I'd just do the complete instructions with pictures here. It'll be much easier to point someone to this rather than explain how to fold them!

I've used regular lined paper instead of newspaper because it's easier to see in pictures, but the instructions are exactly the same for newspaper (one single page - rip down the fold in the newspaper and you'll have 2 sheets), you just get larger pots. The smaller ones I make from junk mail and the small size works great for seedlings since they fit together perfectly in trays.

I know this looks like a lot of work, and very confusing work to boot, but they really are easy once you do one and get the hang of it :)

Got your paper? Ready? OK, let's start!

1: fold the bottom short edge of the paper (A) up to the opposite short edge (B).

newspaper pot

2: Make them even (you shouldn't be able to see B) and press the fold down well.
newspaper pot

3: Now fold edge ( C) over to edge (D).
newspaper pot

4: Make the edges even and press the fold down well.
newspaper pot

5: Now comes the part that seems to be the hardest for everyone - slip your pointer finger inside the fold of the top layer only and pinch the bottom of the fold with your thumb. (We'll deal with the fold layer beneath this one in a minute.) Ignore the crease line - yours shouldn't have one yet.
newspaper pot

6: Pinching the fold between your thumb and finger, pull (E) up and to the left until it meets (F). Line up the crease with the fold the best you can and press flat.
newspaper pot

7: It should look like this:
newspaper pot

8: Now take edge (G)
newspaper pot

9: and fold it over to edge (H) and flatten.
newspaper pot

10: Now let's do the same thing with the fold on the other side. Put your finger inside the fold at (i), your thumb under, pinch and
newspaper pot

11: bring (i) up to meet (J). Press flat. It should look like the photo directly below this one (12).
newspaper pot

12: Grasp top layer edge (K) and flip it over to meet edge (L). press flat.
newspaper pot

13: You should have this:
newspaper pot

14: Take edge (M) and fold it in to meet the center crease at (N). Line up the crease with the edge and press really well. Do the same with the opposite side - bringing edge (O) over to meet center crease (P). Press really well.
newspaper pot

15: You should have this:
newspaper pot

16: You're going to repeat what you just did with the last fold to make a second fold the same way. Take (Q) over to meet (R) and (S) over to meet (T). Line up the folds with the crease neatly and press down really well.
newspaper pot

17: It should look like this:
newspaper pot

18: Flip the whole thing over.
newspaper pot

19: Repeat what you just finished doing on the other side. Fold both edges to the center once,
newspaper pot

20: and then again. You'll have this:
newspaper pot

21: Now, grasp the very top edge flap, pull it down toward you and fold it down flat.
newspaper pot

22: It will look like this:
newspaper pot

23: Flip the whole thing over and fold the other flap down.
newspaper pot

24: Now you have this (at this point you can do a quick snip with scissors and cut off the bottom point for a drain hole if you'd like - don't do too much at once, you may end up with a larger hole than you wanted!)):
newspaper pot

25: Pick the whole thing up,
newspaper pot

26: push the side folds out with your fingers and press the bottom down flat.
newspaper pot

27: Congratulations! You've made your first pot! You can staple down the flaps if you'd like - the staples rust away pretty quick in the soil and I've never come across one anywhere I've put these pots in.
newspaper pot

28: Have fun making lots more!
Tip - If you plant pot and all, be sure to bury the top edge of the pots, or rip them down, as they can sometimes wick water away from your plant once in the ground. If your sure to bury all of the pot, it works just fine.

Happy (in newspaper pots) growing!

StumbleUpon.com

23 comments:

Grower Jim said...

Tina, this is fabulous! I can't believe in all my years of gardening I had never heard of this!

Sheila said...

I have a little wooden thingy I use to make newspaper pots. Similar but not quite as tidy looking!

Tina said...

Hi, Grower Jim,
thanks for dropping by!
I'm very glad you like it, - but surprised you haven't heard - but delighted you might try it? ;)

Hey, Sheila,
thanks for stopping in!
I've seen the wooden thingies, and you can just use cans and jars to wrap, and the TP tubes too, but I am so stuck on doing them this way. It's weird, but they are so much fun! Besides, I get to put all that junk mail and those outdated seed/plant catalogs/magazines to good use. lol

Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said...

What great instructions for making the pots. I had wondered how these were folded.

Meredith said...

This is Brilliant! I'm definitely going to try this. It's inexpensive, quick (well, once you've got the hang of it ;), and a great way to reuse and recycle. Thanks for taking the time to demonstrate so thoroughly.

Anonymous said...

This is so useful information, and all with pictures!
Thanks!
It looks very easy, I will try it definitely.

Tammy said...

Wow! That worked so neat and easy. Loved it.

Amy said...

That is a great idea. I will have to put my boys to work helping me make those! Thanks for sharing!

Carol said...

What a greatly illustrated helpful post! Do you know what kind of ink most newspapers are using these days? I would love to know... I guess I can just call! ;>))

Tina said...

Catherine,
glad you don't have to wonder any more.
:)

Meredith,
Oh, please DO give them a try!

vrtlarica,
Yes, they are VERY easy - please do try them!

Tammy,
I'm guessing you tried them? Glad you liked it!

Amy,
thanks for dropping by. It's a GREAT project for the kids! Mine actually loved to make them with me. How often does that happen? lol


Hope everyone is giving them a try and passing it on to other gardeners who might find it useful! :)

Tina said...

Carol,
90% of newspapers use soy ink, so it's probably a pretty good bet that if you have any laying around they have soy ink.
:)

Flighty said...

I've always meant to try doing this, and now I've got no excuse not to! Flighty xx

Tammy said...

Tina, be prepared for several new visitors. I just posted a link to your newspaper pot page on gardenweb's winter sow forum.
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/wtrsow/?17974

Tina said...

Hey there, Flighty,
thanks for dropping by!
Exactly, no excuse :)
Done any wet? How about now? Now?
lol

Hi, Tammy!
Yeah, I've been a member over there for many, many years. So glad this appealed to you enough to pass it on, though! Thanks!
:)

Amy said...

Thanks for the easy to follow directions. We made some today! :)

Tina said...

Hi, Amy ,
thanks for dropping back by to let me know you tried them!
Did the boys enjoy it?

Lisa Casey said...

I'm tearing up my outdated yellow pages - double sheets are easy to work with and make a stiffer pot. I'll try it with three sheets to see if it will hold up even better. Thanks for such clear directions! I love how uniform they are and that they fit together so nicely!

Anonymous said...

Wow what a great way to recycle all the junk mail that comes through the door!! Ive made quite afew and they have sunflowers starting to come up now. Thank for posting

Anonymous said...

Am amazed. Folded newspaper pots is my new favorite thing! Found you via GreenPineLane.

Thank you for the post.

cspal said...

Hi Tina,
I just now (April 15, 2011) saw this WONDERFUL photo demo for the folded paper pot! I looked at several other ones and they were nice, but I remember making the folded kind when I was a kid nearly 50 years ago! How happy was I to find your site/blog today! Made one immediately and was addicted rite then and there! Will be making many of these in the next few days to use. Thank you for the WONDERFUL photos. They made following you a snap! Happy Gardening. Carol in Lou. KY

Anonymous said...

Tina, thank you so much! After pouring thru the directions on other sites, i came across yours. With your photos, alphabet, and use of lined paper instead of newspapers, i finally understand how to do it.

I'm using full newspaper sheets because i need to move some tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers into larger pots. The weather bureau promises warm weather will be here ... one day....

Charlie Brown said...

Was searching for a source for peat pots and happened upon your site. You made it SOOOO easy that I will fold some pots instead. Thanks much. CBrown

Anonymous said...

This is absolutely wonderful! You did an amazing job of explaining, and more importantly showing exactly what to do. The "it should look like this" pictures were exactly what I needed. I had been to other sites to learn this and was only frustrated with written instructions that weren't clear. You have helped out a great deal, and I look forward to coming to your site again to see what else you may teach me.