A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2003 Paper Pots

I learned to make paper pots in a Master Gardener class. The pots are easy to make, very cheap, biodegradable, can be planted directly into the soil, so there is less stress for the plant.



CHEAP PAPER POTS


Why paper pots?

1. Cheap
2. Quick
3. Any size
4. Save the environment
5. Minimum planting shock
6. No storage

How?

1. Buy a sprinkler pipe connector (1 1/4" to 3 " dia. ( depending on size of pot desired)

2. Cut newspaper 4 1/2" to 5" wide by full 23" or 27" length.(some papers are less than 27"). Avoid using glossy paper.

3. Using one or two strips, wrap loosely around the connector 1/2" below the connector's rim.

4. Twist bottom and press into the connector.

5. Flatten bottom from inside (optional) using fingertips, pipe end, or wood dowel.

6. Remove the paper pot carefully from the connector.

7. Add preferrred planting mix or ready mix planting soil and plant seeds*.

8. Place in group in shallow pan.

9. Place in good light.

10. Water from top or bottom.

11. Partly cover with plastic if in dry location.

12. When ready, plant the whole container.

* (#7), Spray seeds with Fungicide.


Additional info on seed propagation.

You can use any container that holds about 3 tablespoons of soil and has drainage. If you reuse containers that has been use before, they have to be sterilized.

For smaller seeds, you can use Horticultural vermiculite unmixed. For larger seeds, you can plant directly in potting soil.

For seeds to grow, it needs moisture to penetrate the seed coat and seed subjected to right soil temp. of @70-75 degrees F.

Most seeds will germinate in the dark, so you may need to place newspaper or black plastic over the seed until it germinates.

Remember to keep the seeds warm and moist (but not damp or soggy). Take the cover out once the seedlings germinates and place them in the bright light.

You can begin feeding the young seedlings after the first true leaves have opened fully a few days after germination. Feed weekly with a half strength solution of complete fertilizer low in nitrogen and high in phosporous. To avoid dumping-off fungus, apply fungicide at the same time you fertilize.

Harden off the seedling when they are about 2" to 4" high. How? Place them outside, gradually lengthening interval over a week's period. Start with an hour in the afternoon and work up to a full 24 hours cycle.

You are now ready to plant them in your garden/yard.


"May all your weeds be Wildflowers"

Nice addition to the board, Papito!
Our MGs teach kids to make the pots by wrapping the paper around tin cans with the paper extending about an inch beyond the bottom of the can. This extra paper is folded up against the bottom of the can then held there with a little piece of freezer tape. The kids who participate in the Tiny Tim Tomato project make the pots and take their plants home in them to be planted in bigger pots for the summer.

oh man, you two are great!!!
Thank~You!!
That's good advice papito,
and GREAT directions!!!!
We did that with the boyscouts......
They thought it was alot of fun!

I would LOVE to take a master gardener
program, but am just too extended as it is
now with the 8 yr. and the almost 3 yr old and
my mommy.... But someday, when my plate gets cleaned up, (Ha, like that'll happen)
I'm taking a class like that????

I think the 3 of you (Nikkal too) should
start a mini~master~gardener~program for us!!
Tutor us and give us questions and quizes and some homework!!! Not nightly though, maybe weekly or monthly!!! I would be so into that!!!!
I think it would be alot of fun!!!

How long were either of your classes?
Does it extend over years or just a few months?
I've heard they are free for the learning and then there's a certain amount of volunteering after wards.

Weezie

Hi, Weezie
Love to talk about being a Master Gardener. My children were raised and married when I took the classes so it's something you can look forward to.Getting older isn't all bad.

In our area the classes start in October, take a big break for the holidays and finish in March. The classes are taught by professors from Penn State, local experts such as commercial nurserymen and advanced MGs. The classes cover a wide spectrum of topics from botany to turf. The accompanying manual is worth the effort and the cost. (I think in our state the cost is now $60 or $65, not sure. It was $25 when I did it and that was refunded when you completed the first year requirements.)

Each new MG is required to give 50 hours to the community in the first year. In order to maintain the designation each MG must do 20 hours in succeeding years along with 8 hours of continuing education each year. We do a couple seminars each spring and fall for the public and have a booth at the county fair and harvest festival. Individual MGs present programs to children, social groups, etc. We answer questions called in to the Extension Office and forwarded to us. As a group we try very hard to provide new MGs enough opportunities to fulfill their requirement of 50 hours. Many groups have ongoing projects such as demonstration gardens but our little bunch doesn't care to get into continuing commitments.

We meet almost every month and have a very loose organization with no officers. We sometimes feel the need to have officers but have resisted so far just by cooperating. Penn State provides a MG Coordinator for us and the two counties adjoining us, but we're a pretty independent group and do most things on our own.

Hope I haven't bored you right out of being interested! As you can tell, I think being a Master Gardener is a useful and helpful thing to do.

Carol,
I wasn't bored one bit!!
I wonder if doing volunteer work on this
Garden Helpers Forum would get you some hours
counting as volunteer hours towards the MG program helping us!!!!????

Okay, Weezie...

My MG class was alot like Carol's (a little surprising, because I've heard there are huge differences in the classes, from state to state)

The class begins each January, and runs through the end of April. Class meets once a week, for 3 hrs. Our instructors were professors from UT, members of the Ag. Extension Service, and an occasional "expert" from the community.
Cost of the class is $100.00, 25.00 refunded on completion of community service hours. Outside of the classroom, students are required to complete 40 hrs of community service work - 10 hrs extension office (answering horticultural questions by phone, filing, preparing class materials, or working MG booths at various shows and fairs) and 30 hrs "in the dirt" (volunteering at Botanic Gardens, Zoo Gardens, Nature Center, Historical Cemetary, schools, etc.) These hours, in additions to a passing class grade, qualify students for the graduation ceremony, and the title of "Master Gardener". To retain Master Gardener status, members are required to perform 30 volunteer hrs (10 office, 20 community) and 8 education hrs. (attending approved lectures, classes, etc.) Meetings are held once a month, with speakers from various horticultural fields, dues are paid, and we have elected officers. We also have a MG Coordinator, as Carol does. We also design the lesson plan and syllabus for future MG classes, and at least one MG attends each class.

As Carol said, the manual we are given (to keep

We are now discussing a program, to run in the spring, free of charge, for the general public, teaching the basics of vegetable and flower gardening. (Something general, rather than all the technicalities we learn in the MG program) If this is implemented, it will be taught completely by MGs, with supervision from the Extension service, and will count towards our yearly volunteer hours.

I really loved the classes, and it's great being a Master Gardener. One thing surprised me about the classes though, the attendance rules and class work requirements were very strict! Nothing like college. I guess they can afford to be strict though, alot of the applicants don't get in. There is limited space available, only 100 students/yr, (50 meet during the day, and 50 meet at night) you have to have a reference from a certified MG, and they still have to turn away 100-150 people a year!

Well, that's how it works here - Papito, how about yours??


Nikkal

Carol, Weezie, and Nikkal:

Being selected to attend a Master Gardener class is an achievement by itself. Like nikkal said, many more were turned away than accepted. I remember being interviewed by 8 or 9 members of the Education Committee.

When i joined in, I paid $150.00 for the instructions and materials. It was 16 weeks of formal and hands on classes on such subjects as botany, soils, fertilizers, composting, entomology, pest, integrated pest management, plant pathology, landscape design, plant propagation, ornamental pruning, indoor plants, vegetable garden, fruits in the home orchard, selection, use and care of woody plants, herbaceous plants, turfgrass management, weed identification and control, irrigation and water management, waterwise landscapes, plant identification, problem solving and research, etc. It was 3 hours a week class that started in early January and ended the first week of May.

Our instructors were from the University of California, Experts from the Ag extension, Veteran MG's and other experts from the Community.

To pass the course, one must score at least 70% on weekly homework, 75 points on final project and 75% on final exam (225 points out of 300 points). After graduation, the trainees are required to complete 50 volunteer hours. Certified (veteran MGs) must complete 30 volunteer hours and 12 hours of research-based horticultural education.

At that time, I was also a volunteer for the American Red Cross Disaster Team and our City's own disaster program. I am currently on leave.

Anyway, We conducted plant clinics, demostrations and workshops. Manned informational booths at fairs and community events for general public. We worked with schools in garden and classroom presentations. I remember preparing text and making presentations to teachers in K-6 on vegetable gardening as part their Youth Gardening Program. Manned Phone-in Gardening Hotline, where MGs advise the public on plant culture and diagnose plant problems over the phone.

It would be nice if the MG's can get credit hours for resolving problems posted in TGH forum? At the moment each MG is supposed to volunteer their services in their county.

Weezie, I am not ignoring your ? on Mini-Master-Gardener program. It certainly is a nice thought. I don't know what Carol's, Nikkal's or Bill's reaction to this. My thinking is, yes, we, The Garden Helper Forum Members are a cyberspace community, although not all residents of a single community of a physical county, because there are members worldwide.

As for quiz now and then, let's hear what Bill, Carol, Nikkal, Will and other members has to say.

Papito, Carol and Nikkal,
I've got my hand in the air for the lessons....
(heck, I might be the only one, we wouldn't know)

The only thing I think Bill would be
concerned about is the 3 of you.............
We'd like to keep it so that all of you
would think this is a fun idea and like doing it,
and not consider it a chore...
We like to keep this place FUN and enjoyable
and not another thing on your plate.
This place is on my plate, but I love this
place and don't mind it at all on my plate.
I really enjoy helping people and I learn new things everyday for all of the gardeners......
But we don't want you to feel obligated....

I think it would be fun,
tests, or questions, that all of you had to take.
(or see if we know the answers???)
I'm not sure... I've never taken a class,
or given it, so I'm not sure how to do it.
How does one prepare??
Maybe IM each other??????

I think we have a GREAT CYBER COMMUNITY,
and if we could do something like that,
I think that would be AWESOME!!!!!!
Maybe we can sign a few members up for the
winter months, when we're always looking
for something to do.....................

Again, I don't want this to be a pain, or bothersome, but if it's something we can do,
I know you got at least one student.
"ME!"

Hi Weezie!
Don't know how I missed this when you first posted it, but I've seen it now!
We took lots of "quizzes", and I have copies of all of those, they're really not too hard (of course we had study material) but I think the info could be found on the web, or I wouldn't be surprised if some of the people here already know the answers! Let me go thru them and see what I can come up with, and I'll also check with my MG coordinator to make sure there are no copyright issues (I doubt there are, as we, the MGs, revise and change the material for each years' class) and then I'll let ya know. I'm sure we can work out something, though, since you're interested. I can't speak for any one else, but it wouldn't be a chore for me, especially in the winter months, it would just reinforce what I've learned. (and the way my memory is these days, that would be a GOOD thing! )


Nikkal

Well that's a bonus for me!!
And all the other gardeners too
That's what I was kinda hoping for,
for the winter months...
We're (I am) starving for information
in those months and read all I can,
so, I was hoping it would be a good
idea to keep us busy and gaining info
at the same time, and it'll be spring
before we know it... ...... ......

We were wondering where to put this
"course" under what heading would it
feel appropriate...
And maybe, Oh, I don't know, you talk
amoungst yourselves and see what progresses..
I think it'll be alot of fun...
I do so like a challenge!!
Watch, I'll be the one to fail the class and
you'll have to boot me out!!! LOL
Weezie
Look at the graemlins Bill found for us!!!!

Weezie, Nikkal, Carol,

I found something for Weezie. Basic Botany!

Study material and quizzes for Basic Botany at the Oregon Master Gardener Program. Please see link below.

Online Botany Module

http://extension.oregonstate.edu/mg/botany/

Basic Botany is the first subject on Master Gardener's class.

For Carol and Nikkal: Was botany also the first topic in your MG class? Yes, No. Suggestions for the next topic?


May all your weeds be Wildflowers

Papito
That site is AWESOME! Is your entire course set up online like Botany, as well as taught in the classroom? If it is, I think using your study materials and quizzes would be the way to go, if it's already online. We don't have any class material online, just the info on how to apply for classes, and the UT Extension Database.

Anyway, let me know if the whole thing is online, I'm having some ideas here....

To answer your question, Botany was our second subject, Landscape Design was our first, but that was due to scheduling conflicts of our speaker.

Bill's been playing in the smilies again!!!! (yay Bill!!! <img border="0" alt="[clappy]" title="" src="graemlins/clappy.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[clappy]" title="" src="graemlins/clappy.gif" /> )


Nikkal

Lot's of good reading on there....

Weezie

Nikkal,

Our study materials were similar to yours. A big MG manual plus hand outs before/during/after each class.

Weezie,

I agree with you...we need a home for this project. I was thinking the about the Index instead of the Gardeners Forum.

I don't believe we can safely use "Master Gardener" as a stand alone title, only individual state colleges can bestow such title to individual gardener. But we could probably come up with something similar that carry the same weight as a Master Gardener.

As for the heading, we need ideas from the Forum members. "Dirt from the Yard"? "Dirt from the Garden" is already taken as a byline for a weekly newspaper article on gardening.

Still thinking.

Unless each of you are proficient in the html tags and coding required to make web pages, the "Garden Masters" will have to post their articles on the forum. Once the post is in place, I will create a link and description on the index page. http://www.thegardenhelper.com/guide1.html

I have already begun indexing informative posts onto the page, which will become our free gardening encyclopedia...

Whatcha think?

I read all after noon,
took 4 quizzes, I got 100% on them...
I even printed them up and I made myself
a folder in the computer to keep the stuff.
And I've got to find my folder paper
folder to keep my quizzes!!
It was kind of fun...
But did I mention I fall asleep when I read? I get sleepy, ever since I've had my kids. (I have a tough time reading them their night~night book)
But it was so wierd, I haven't had to take quizzes, or tests, or really study in a very long time, close to 25 years!!!
But I really enjoyed it!!
I hope I do good!!!
I am excited!!
Weezie

Hi guys!

Let's see... I agree with Papito, we should use something other than the title of "Master Gardener". How about Garden Master, or Master Grower or Gardening Master??

As for a home for this project, well, we could put it under Member Benefits (since the only way to participate would be to be a member), or maybe Bill could add a section, where we could have each subject under a different topic, adding topics as we cover each chapter. (Now Bill, I have no idea if this is possible, or alot of trouble for you to do, so if it's not feasible, I understand)

From the searching I've done so far, the only actual Master Gardener courses online are fee-based, but we can come up with something on our own, I'm sure!

Just a couple of , what do y'all think?


Nikkal

Gee, I've got to learn to type faster, or make shorter posts or something!!! :rolleyes: While I was typing the last post, Bill was REALLY busy!!!
I've only glanced at the index, (it looks great! ) I wanted to hurry and get back here and tell you to disregard that last post, Bill!!
I'm going back to check it out now, be back later!!!


Nikkal

Hey! We both came up with the same name Nikkal!

If anyone is curious about how much work goes into creating a html page, open up the index page (or any other html page) in your browser, then (from the top bar) click view.... then page source, and a window will open to show you the code required to make the page look as it does!

OMG, Bill, that's totally greek to me!!!
If we do this, I'll be happy to post to the forum, and let you take it from there, or how ever you say, just PLEASE don't make me do that!! (NOT a party hat!! )


Nikkal

I kind of thought that you'd feel that way... (thats an extensive page, but any web page takes a lot of extra tags beyond just your article) It would be much easier for you to do your typing on the forum and let the program do the coding, then all I have to do is add it onto the index!

This conversation has gone so many directions that I am completely lost. I'll just credit it to my age and go on.
There is an official Master Gardener site if anyone would care to check it out:
The Master Gardener Site

There was a really great site a while back called "The Master Gardener Show" but the thing has been under reconstruction for so long that I'm afraid it won't reappear. The man in charge of it was reportedly planning a TV show by that name but I've never seen anything of it. Too bad 'cause the site was great.

Please let me know when you all figure out what you plan to do.

Wow! Won't my cohorts be proud. We have a meeting tomorrow night and I'll report to them.

Hey Carol,
I'm behind too, I come to see who posted and
wow!! you guys were all here!!!
That'll teach me to be eatin' dinner!!!!!
Just end up tellin' me where to go,

Weezie,

[b]Congratulations![b/]

Wow! 4 Quizzes and 100% passing rate...You are really on to something. Personally, I don't like taking tests and it showed when I only scored -3% on my final test.