Toilet rolls for seeds.....now there's mould!

[Lamboluke]

Thought id try do my bit for the planet and saved up the toilet roll innners to use for seeds this time around.
Sadly my sweet peas which haven't germinated yet have mould on the outside of the toilet roll 'planter'. Do I need to worry or is it good fungi? I can try upload a photo when I get chance but it's a few small patches of white fuzzy fungi.
Thanks.

[Nannysally99]

I think you will be ok Lambo, but someone who really knows what they're talking about will be on soon

[muddled]

It's absolutely fine and normal.

The whole point of using loo rolls is that they eventually break down into the soil and so can be planted out with your sweetpeas inside and therefore minimise root disturbance.
The mould you are seeing is the very first stage of this process.
It's all good. ;-)

[Scarlet]

If you give the loo rolls a quick blast in the microwave before you fill them it will stop the mould forming so soon.

[Lamboluke]

Thanks for the replies. Makes sense now.
Hopefully they will germinate soon. Fingers crossed.

[Alison]

Also, it's usually a sign of over watering.

[Kristen]

I believe the mould comes from the glue, rather than the card per se. Its harmless, but watch out for over watering as Alison says.

[Nicola.P]

Can you use the loo rolls as planters for most veg seeds?

[Kristen]

Can you use the loo rolls as planters for most veg seeds?

I use Loo Rolls / Newspaper Pots only when the plant doesn't like root disturbance on planting, or for very tall, narrow, pots. Too much hassle making them for other uses, for me, and its very hard to shuffle them around once made, filled and "planted", so they need to stay in the tray until they are planted out. At least 90% of the plants I raise are in pots, I can shuffle those around at will ... as some things move out of the greenhouse others are rejigged to fill the available space. If I had everything on a "tray" it would limit me to multiples-of-plants that exactly fitted the tray.

[Sheneval]

If you give the loo rolls a quick blast in the microwave before you fill them it will stop the mould forming so soon.

Clever - that's a new one for me

[KittyColdNose]

There mushrooms sprouting out of the ones we used last year. I haven't had a microwave for over ten years now so I can't try giving them a blast.

[muddled]

A tip for filling loo rolls.....

Cut the bottom off a plastic milk bottle, take the lid off and turn upside down.
The neck of the bottle fits perfectly into the loo roll making an excellent funnel for compost. Really handy when filling 64 for sweetcorn

[KevinM67]

Sorry to hijack this thread but, regarding newspaper pots - is it possible to start parsnips in them before transporting them to the ground?

[crannman]

useing loo rolls for carrots parsnips this year srart them off in the greenhouse see how they do

[Kristen]

Sorry to hijack this thread but, regarding newspaper pots - is it possible to start parsnips in them before transporting them to the ground?

That's what I do. I chit the seed on damp kitchen towel in a Tupperware container (so it doesn't dry out) and then as soon as the root starts to show I put one seed per "pot". Don't give it too much heat as they need to go out quickly, so not much time to harden off if you were to keep them indoors.

Chums say they plant out the moment that the seed leaves show - as the tap root grows very quickly - I make tall newspaper pots, and plant out the moment that the first true leaf shows - but any later and the tap root is already out of the bottom of the pot!

Here's a picture of my Parsnip seedlings shortly before planting out. My Newspaper pots are about 4" tall and 2" diameter