Biodegradable nursery pots

I'm not one to plug products, but I love the idea of CowPots™. I've just filled up my test set of 12 with potting mix, and am letting it warm up on the heating mat out in the shed overnight.

I'm not sure how warm it will get; the mat's not the one I used last year. Hmm, maybe that one's down in the (still dark) basement?

I'm planning to sow seeds of hardy greens in them for transplant. It's still much too early to think about warm season veggies, but a round of kale, collards, and winter spinach is worth a try.

CowPots™ are made of composted dairy cow manure, after most energy has been converted to methane gas (used to power dairy operations) and the liquids returned to crop fields. It's a sterile, quickly biodegradable, mildly nutrient rich medium for a pot - how cool is that?

I'm SO tired of nursery pots made of non-recyclable PP plastic. Sure, I can reuse them to some degree, but what about all the pots that are thrown away? CowPots™ are similar to peat pots, but decompose more readily apparently, so will be perfect for vegetables. Longer-lasting coir- and paper-based pots may be an alternative for plastic for containerized plants, too.

Black nursery pots, made of HDPE plastic, are recyclable, of course, along with plastic milk jugs, shampoo and vitamin containers, and a variety of other products.

Comments

  1. Nice pots. I like the idea of these as well. As for the black plastic ones....one can only recycle what the recycling center will accept. I just hope more centers broaden the scope of what can be recycled.

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  2. Wow. Someone tweeted about these this morning and I sent them over here~I hope she stopped by. They look interesting and worth trying. I must have hundreds of the black pots...I'm holding on to them until I can find a place to recycle them. gail

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  3. I just planted seeds of winter greens in the dozen or so that I received (as a freebie from a Garden Writers Association vendor).

    I think they look great product; Gardener's Supply is selling them and promoting them heavily. The main drawback seems to be that they break down relatively quickly

    Lisa

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  4. Hello... your readers might want to keep in mind that even though nursery pots are coded for recycling, the recycling people do not like them and often throw them away. Better to return them to a nursery so they can be re-used. Some have been re-used to the point of no longer being useful, however. I try to cull these, though here in Tally I can't recycle them. :~/
    Maybe I'll have better luck with recyclers in the Upstate! :~)

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