How to Make Newspaper Pots for Starting Seeds

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Spring is here, so now is the time to start garden seeds indoors to prepare for the growing season. Starting seeds early gives plants a head start in cold climates where the growing season is short. Starting plants from seed is also a great way to save money compared to buying garden plants at a nursery.

To start your own seeds, you don’t have to go out and spend a ton of money on starter trays or plastic pots; they can be made for free using newspaper. Not only are these free, but they are 100% biodegradable, so when it comes time to transplant the seedlings to the garden, you can just plant the whole pot in the ground and leave it.

My daughter came home from school one day last spring with some little pots like this that her class made for a project. I had never heard of using newspaper pots, and I had my doubts about how well they would hold up, but they ended up working perfectly. 

I wanted to make more pots for our garden seedlings, but my daughter couldn’t remember exactly how her class made them. So we went on an online search and found two different ways to do them, shown below. 

2 ways to make newspaper pots for starting seeds

This first method just involves folding the newspaper to make a square pot. See the video for full instructions. They’re super simple to make!

 

And using this method from HGTV, round pots can be made using a bottle or can as a guide. Simply roll folded newspaper around a cylindrical object, fold in the edges at one end to create a base, and fold over the top edges to make the rim of the pot. See the full instructions here.

Once your newspaper pot is complete, fill it with potting soil, plant the seeds, and put them in a waterproof tray in a sunny window or greenhouse. When the seedlings are ready to transplant, just dig a hole large enough to plant the whole pot in the ground. It doesn’t get much easier than that!

Be sure to check out our article on biodegradable seed starter pots to see more ideas of free materials you can use to make pots. You probably have most of these items sitting around your house right now, so might as well use them for gardening!