Toilet rolls

[firsttimersue]

I've been reading a bit about the use of toilet rolls, which I thought I'd try for my second sowing of leeks. (hoping I'm not too late!)

What are the advantages of growing in toilet rolls and do I fill the compost all the way up or just partly?

Sue

[roitelet]

Hi Firsttimersue,

Welcome to the Vine I hope that you enjoy it and get some good advice.

As for toilet rolls the advantages are that

1 they give deep rooted things a chance to put their roots down deep.

2 You can sow seeds singly if they are big enough if not then you can easily thin to one plant per roll.

3 The plants don't suffer root disturbance when you plant them out.

4 They are FREE

Fill the rolls to within 1 cm of the top and then sow the seed if it is small or fill to the required sowing depth sow the seed and top up the rolls. The only thing that I have discovered is that when I pulled up my Broad Beans the rolls on some of the plants were intact and hadn't broken down as I expected. Next year I will slit them as I transplant to make sure that the roots are not restricted.

Leeks, give them a try but I don't think that you will get very big ones.

Happy gardening.

[DirtDobber]

I planted in them very successfully this year and plan to use them again. the slitting the sides my be a good idea...I had mine in plastic boxes just short of their height and stood them up straight and wedged enough in that they were packed tight, they were so easy to move around like that..

[firsttimersue]

Thanks, I'll try some broad beans.

[Flummery]

For the first time I used them for pre-chitted (on kitchen paper in a poly bag) parsnip seeds and I can truly say that yesterday and today I harvested the 2 biggest, straightest, cleanest parsnips I have ever grown. They were true testament to the loo roll middle school of parsnip husbandry. It's an 'every year from now' experience for me!

[jacob marley]

if your interested in growing longer leeks something i saw today that made me think abit was plastic pop bottles with the top and bottom cut of then placed over the leek plant an slowley filled up with soil the one's that had the treatment were at least 6 inches longer than the untreated i have never seen this method before but it seemed to be working jacob