Toilet rolls, the inside story

[andyhol]

What a revolation, having taken a tip for broad beans planting in the innocuous toilet roll inner, I decided to try it on other plants. I tried anything with that had a root based crop, carrots,swede,beetroot,parsnips and turnips,what a blessing! All seem to be doing brilliantly. As a standard I've planted seed in situ as I normally would and the difference is hard to believe standard sowing, although in the same soil as the tubes, doesn't come any where close. From now on tubes will definitely be my regular planting ground for all root crops.

[trebellangeminired]

Massive fan of toilet roll tubes. Whole, halved, saves a fortune on compost and pots. Can get loads of stuff going early and reduce waste. What more do you want!!!

[jackie j]

Good idea to plant in situ will try that myself in future. Thanks for the tip.

[gojiberry]

Can never get enough rolls to be able to plant everything in them. Usually keep them for the parsnips, which are doing great. Just hope that what is underneath is as good as what is in the top.

Ian

[Two_Sheds]

Most of my loo rolls are going to parsnips and carrots; as you say, results are brilliant compared to sowing direct.

We have all relatives, work and the school saving them for us... hung in bags from the rafters until needed (BTW, microwaving them for a minute prior to use, really does reduce the incidence of fungal growth)

[Claire72]

We normally give them to the gerbil to turn into compost ready stuff, but how exactly do you use them? as interested in that. We go through loads of the things, would be good to use them well!

[Norm]

how exactly do you use them?

Fill tube with compost, put seed in top at required deepth, stand in tray, water. When seedling is at appropriate size, plant out. The tube rots in the soil and doesn't impede the growth of the plant.
The upside is that most seeds will germinate.
The downside is that as you usually only need one seed per tube, so it is a bit time consuming and you need a shed full of bog rolls

[trebellangeminired]

Thanks for tip about microwaving, will try with next batch. Cutting them in half makes them go further. I also use cut down kitchen roll tubes.

[citygirl]

kitchen roll tubes....hmm...now then, would they be good for doing carrots? filled with sand, perhaps...being long and cylindrical, would make sense. the beans i planted in my toilet rolls are just sprouting now, and they're fantastic. but how do you fill the buggers without it all fallen out the bottom?

[Duronal]

I've got to say that trying to grow garlic in peatstyle pots is a complete waste of time. The pots are too small to accomadate the swelling bulb. I'm pretty sure i could get away with toilet tubes though.......

I've grown my peas in tubes this year and they germinated in record time and appear to be thriving.

[Norm]

how do you fill the buggers without it all fallen out the bottom

The trick is, put the roll on something solid and stuff the compost in. Inertia does the rest

[hamsterqueen]

The hamsters will hate me, but their supply of loo rolls will be cut now!

[trebellangeminired]

I stand mine in seed trays then fill. Half toilet rolls fit level with top of tray so plenty of head room for seedlings. Whole rolls are better in a propagator. Depending on the make of tray/propagator, I can get 28-32 half or whole rolls in. I find the roots don't knot together making transplanting easier. I like the idea of carrots grown in the kitchen roll tubes...

[Duronal]

I germinated mine in a cold frame sitting in a saucer of water. It's the only propergator i've got.

[littlewin]

I'm going to give this a go, sounds good to me.