Helpful information
Timing: All year round
Where to do it: Indoors
Garden space: Large garden, small garden, balcony, indoor space
Making your own plant pots from newspaper is a cost-effective and environmentally friendly way to grow young plants. Follow our step-by-step guide.
- A sense of caring for the environment, as your own homemade pots will simply biodegrade after use
- Creating paper pots uses fine motor skills and dexterity
- Preparing pots for planting can create a sense of optimism and excitement for what you may grow in them
There are many ways you can create your own plant pots at home. Making newspaper plant pots is a particularly simple, cost-effective way to start growing plants. You can do it with just two items of equipment!
You can use your newspaper plant pots for sowing seeds into, such as:
- Sunflowers
- Tomatoes
- Peas
Simply fill the newspaper pot with seed sowing compost and plant as sow seeds following the instructions on the seed packet.
Once your plant has germinated and is ready to be planted out, because newspaper is biodegradable, you can plant it in the pot and it will break down naturally in the soil.
Essential items
- Newspaper
- A straight-sided glass or plastic tumbler
Optional items
- Sellotape
- Pot maker
Follow these steps to make your newspaper plant pots with ease.
Step 1: Make two folds in a sheet of newspaper
A sheet of newspaper is folded along the long edge just further than the middle
The other long edge is then folded across, creating an overlap with the first
Take a sheet of newspaper. Fold one of the long sides in. You want to fold it just beyond the middle.
Now, fold in the opposite long edge. This will overlap the first fold. You will now have a long strip of newspaper that is thick enough to make into a pot shape.
Step 2: Wrap it around your tumbler
The newspaper strip is wrapped around the tumbler with some of the paper sticking beyond the top of the glass
Take your glass or plastic tumbler. Wrap the newspaper carefully around it. It will probably go round more than once.
You want some of the newspaper to be beyond the top of the tumbler. Around 3cm extra is good. This part will become the pot base.
It's important to have a glass or tumbler with straight up and down sides for this. Anything with sloping sides will be very tricky to wrap newspaper around. You could also use a clean tin can, such as a soup can, for this. Just beware of any sharp edges.
Make it easier
If you have any challenges with dexterity, you may prefer to use a plastic tumbler to avoid any risk of broken glass.
Another option is to buy a pot maker from garden centres and online retailers. This is designed to help you easily wrap and create pots, sometimes in a variety of sizes.
Step 3: Tuck the newspaper around the top of the glass
The newspaper is folded around the rim of the glass
Take the length of newspaper sticking out beyond the glass. Fold this gently all the way around the rim of the glass.
Step 4: Carefully remove the glass
The glass tumbler is removed from inside the newspaper cylinder
Turn the newspaper cylinder / glass upside down. Very carefully and gently remove the glass from the newspaper and put it to one side.
Step 5: Create your newspaper base
A base is created at the bottom of the newspaper cylinder
You will now be able to reach inside the cylinder and gently push down the folded bits of paper to create your base. Try to avoid having a big hole in the base, but don't worry if there's a little one.
This step can be a little bit fiddly. You may find it helpful to use your knuckles to flatten the base.
Your newspaper plant pot is now ready! You may choose to use a little bit of sellotape to hold a loose side in place. Keep in mind that sellotape is not biodegradable, so you would need to remove this if you are planning to plant your newspaper pot in the ground.
A finished newspaper pot with a small piece of sellotape holding the side in place
As soon as you are ready and the timing is right, you can fill your newspaper plant pots with compost and get sowing!
It's a good idea to place your newspaper pots on a tray or shallow container once you've sowed your seeds. This way you can water gently from above and the water will collect in the tray below.
You may find making several pots and placing them next to each other on a tray will help them support each other.
Related content
How to make a grass hand print
Combine nature, art and fun as you sow your own grass hand print. This can be a good activity to do with others and is suitable for children.
