Sowing in cardboard boxes!

[veggiechicken]

We hear a lot about making paper pots or planting in toilet rolls so............why not plant into cardboard boxes - the small ones that would be binned. Here are some I prepared earlier.

The 3rd photo shows the method! Cut down the corners to the halfway mark, fold in the sides and you have a double/triple skinned box. If you want them shallower, either cut off some of the cardboard at the top, or fold the card down into the box and up the other side. It takes seconds to turn a bit of waste packaging into a planting box.
Now to fill some with compost and see how they perform when wet The plan is to plant out the complete box with contents undisturbed.

[mothhawk]

I'm not a fan of paper/cardboard pots because they dry out so quickly, and I'm not great at remembering to water.

[out in the cold]

KCN is good at origami. Do you think it would work with paper boxes too VC? She would use a4 printer paper.

[veggiechicken]

I've no idea OITC! Try it and see - then report back
For me, its a way of recycling rubbish (if it works)

[Newton]

Great idea.......let us know how it works........

[KittyColdNose]

A-ha, is this like you "volunteering" me for baking goodies for the maths base?

You go git me the paper and I'll make a box. Don't think one sheet would be thick enough though...

[Newton]

And what you plant in them.....

[Bigmallly]

I'm currently using cardboard milk cartons for my toms as I needed more depth due to them becoming leggy. I'm not worried about them absorbing the water as they don't absorb the milk. My concern is whether they will break down if I plant the whole pot. I don't know what the inside is lined with.

[veggiechicken]

Mine are just ordinary cardboard boxes, no lining at all. Maybe you could slit your cartons when you plant them?

[Bigmallly]

Isn't that defeating the object?..........I need to find out if they are compostable.

[KittyColdNose]

Are they like tetrapak cartons?

[veggiechicken]

Probably - yes! Are they Tetra paks with a silvery inside? They're not recyclable (here) so probably wouldn't decompose either.

[KittyColdNose]

Recycle now - Recycling drinks cartons

It looks like they are laminated with plastic.

[out in the cold]

I'm currently using cardboard milk cartons for my toms as I needed more depth due to them becoming leggy. I'm not worried about them absorbing the water as they don't absorb the milk. My concern is whether they will break down if I plant the whole pot. I don't know what the inside is lined with.

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Mally, I remember my colleague who takes to do with our school allotment complaining that she had been constantly digging up tetrapack cartons when they were clearing the site, so I don't think they break down too easily

[Bigmallly]

Thanks for the input, from what I can find out, it appears they are lined with some kind of wax. Never mind, they'll just have to go in the bin when finished with.