Each spring, I wrap up a bunch of these paper pots to start my garden vegetables. It’s a good way to use up paper lying around; junk mail, old papers and, in this tutorial, a dictionary. I have several damaged dictionaries sitting around collecting dust now that my classroom teaching days have ended, and the pages actually make excellent paper pots.
What you will need is a toilet tube and a dowel, rolling pin, or muddling stick. On the toilet tube, make a mark at two inches as a guide for rolling the pots.
I ripped a few pages of the dictionary out and folded them in half long-ways. With the folded edge against the 2″ mark, roll the paper around the toilet tube.
Once the paper has been rolled around the tube, stuff the extra paper at the bottom into the tube. Crunch it in.
Once the paper has been crunched into the tube, and is level with the end of the tube, flip the tube over and smash down the crunched in paper with a dowel, or other implement. Smash the paper until it is level at the bottom and remove the paper pot from the toilet tube.
The end of the paper will stick out and can be a challenge when lining up the pots on a tray. To make them look nice, and line up well, cut the loose end at an angle.
Now the pots are ready for planting! Fill them with soil, plant the seeds and water. The paper pot can be removed when the plant is potted, or transferred to the garden, but it can also be planted with the pot! The pot will disintegrate over time in the garden and serve as compost.
A tip for paper pots: water regularly. They dry out pretty fast.
The Home Ec Lady 
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