Recycle this: Origami seed starter pots
By Rick Wendling

Seed starter pots are small pots usually made from cardboard or peat for germinating garden seeds that can then be planted directly in the garden—pot, plant and all. Using seed starter pots instead of transplanting small plants from seed trays to the garden minimizes the handling required and reduces the stress on a young plant’s roots and stem. You can make your own seed starter pots from copies of Atención by following the instructions below.

I’ve used color newsprint pages to make these directions easier to follow. However, some color inks contain metals that may be harmful to plants and the people that eat them. Unless you know the color ink in your newspaper is safe, you should only use pages with black ink for your recycled newspaper seed starter pots.

1) Take one or two full sheets of newspaper and open them up flat on the table. I use two sheets so that the finished pot holds together better when wet. I’ve labeled the corners of the sheet of paper in the accompanying photos ‘A’ through ‘H’ to help in following the instructions.

2) Fold the paper in half so that ‘A’ through ‘D’ are facing up.

3) Fold it in half again so that ‘A’ and ‘B’ are facing up.

4) Fold it in half one more time so that corner ‘A’ is visible.

5) Now fold the lower right corner up to the center along the spine to form a triangle. When done correctly, corner ‘G’ will be at the upper left and corner ‘F’ will be at the upper right.

6) Flip your project over and do the same thing folding the lower right corner up to the center. Corner ‘E’ should now be at the upper left and corner ‘H’ should be at the upper right.

7) Now fold the wing labeled ‘E’ onto wing ‘H’. You should now see corners ‘A’ and ‘B’. Next flip your project over and repeat folding wing ‘G’ onto wing ‘F’ so that corners ‘C’ and ‘D’ appear.

8) Now fold the wings in to meet at the center crease.

9) Fold the wings in to the center crease a second time.

10) Flip your project over and repeat steps (8) and (9). Your pot should now look like the photo above.

11) Fold the top flaps down and staple or tape them in place. (Masking tape degrades well.)

12) Now you can open your paper pot and square up the bottom so that it sits level.

13) Add soil and seeds from your favorite plants.

Rick Wendling lives off the grid near San Miguel de Allende and is the mapmaker for Green Map San Miguel at http://greenmapsanmiguel.org/