Gardman 8cm Fibre Pots Round Value Pack (Pack of 48)

These are great little pots. I had these on my window sill for several weeks holding sweet peas, pelargoniums, fuschias etc that mail-order companies send out as tiny little plugs. As you generally want to keep plugs and seeds on the dry-side to prevent damping-off when indoors anyway, I didn't experience any problems with disintegration as others have mentioned. When the weather warmed up I planted them straight into the soil without having to tip anything upside-down and tease roots apart. All the plants seem to have taken well, so I believe the pots are now disintegrating as they are designed to do. I would definitely use them again next year!

I've been using these in preference to plastic cell trays or plastic pots for a while now. There are a few advantages, in my view, although they also have quite a few disadvantages - suppose it depends on where your priorities lie. These create no waste, can be planted with the seedling (although you need to ensure they're covered right up - I usually end up breaking off the top edge to ensure the remaining pot is completely buried) and if the seedlings don't grow, they can be composted. One of the main advantages is that you don't need to disturb the roots when planting out, so the seedlings grow on a lot quicker than they otherwise would. Also, roots develop well in these, as they're "air-pruned" when they reach the edge of the pot. If you pack these in tightly, and/or place the pots over moist gravel or something similar, the roots will continue to grow once they penetrate the pot wall. If the pot is standing alone, the root tips die off once they penetrate the wall, but this does not harm the plant at all, rather, the root is stimulated to branch, creating a better root ball. This can be very good for trees, for example, if you want to continue growing them in pots, as it prevents them growing one long tap root and ensures a good root ball develops right from the start. The disadvantages are that these can get very soggy and start to disintegrate, so are not really suited to anything that needs more than a few weeks to be ready to plant out/pot on. Another issue when growing outside is that these attract woodlice like crazy, which will eat the pots (of course, they're wood fibre!), so the pots disintegrate even quicker than they otherwise would. Have even found woodlice indoors on occasion, no doubt attracted by the delicious pots. Also, have found that the woodlice don't always stop with the pots - always thought them harmless for plants, as had read they only eat decaying plant material, but have found woodlice on seedlings, and am pretty sure they totally peeled away the bark from a young tree I was growing, as the bark was gone and the only thing I could find on the tree was loads of woodlice.. so not so harmless after all, it seems.. Another issue is that if you pack these in quite tightly, for example, in a tray, the roots will tend to penetrate the pot wall and grow into the neighbouring pots, so, if like me, you sometimes don't plant out/pot up as soon as you should, the roots of the neighbouring plants start growing together, and have to be torn apart again. Which can be tricky when the pots have started disintegrating, so you loose the benefit of not disturbing the roots. Also, these work out quite expensive when using them exclusively. You can't really re-use them, unless seeds fail very quickly, and from a hygiene point of view, this is probably not desirable anyway, although I have on occasion re-used some without any ill effects. This was the cheapest offer I could find for these pots, but if you sow a lot of seedlings, you go through them quite quickly and its an added cost. Also, the sizes available are limited and the shape is not ideal for plants that develop long roots - I find them a bit too wide and shallow, even this size, which is the largest widely available - the smaller size is only suited to quite small plants or ones you plant out quickly. Another issue, which for me isn't a problem, but some people might find off-putting, is that a white mould can develop on the pots. My understanding is that as long as mould is white rather than green, black or blue, it's harmless or beneficial, depending on the situation, and it's never seemed to be detrimental the plants or seeds, so I've just ignored it. Overall, for things like beans, tomatoes, peppers, and other veg, they're fine. For anything slower growing, I tend to now use the small white bags made from non-woven fabric - made from stuff similar to the fleece fabric you get for plant protection. These don't disintegrate and come in a greater range of sizes, although they tend to be quite unstable due to their shape and the fact that they're soft, so need propping up and tend to tip over really easily when moving. The bags are a lot cheaper than these pots, too, so have switched to them from an economic point of view, as they offer the same root pruning benefits, and can be re-used if the seeds don't come up or the seedlings fail (I rinse them in hot water first). These bags are not so readily available, and took me a while to discover them - they are sold here on Amazon, though and I've come to prefer them for slower growing seedlings. At first, I'd sow some seeds in the bags and some in these pots, but those in the bags seem to do just as well, better even, sometimes.

Ideal for starting seedlings or for planting on, going straight into the ground where they rot, saving plastic

I used these pots to pot up seedlings. They were easy to separate and handle whilst potting and of a good thickness. Good value for money.

Very difficult to get these apart. You either have to be a strongman or like me have to fold each one to be able to remove it from the other. Great once past this process although I don't leave them around the plant when I transfer them as I find it seems to restrict the growth. The plants I left in the pot when transferred outside didn't do as well as those I removed from the pot.

Absolutely perfect for my need to transfer home grown chilli seeds which soon became seedlings and required individual potting into these 8cm little jobbies. And because they're made from natural fibre material, when they need re-potting to much larger pots, they can be transplanted directly whilst still in these fibre pots, thereby not having to disturb the already established roots of the larger seedlings. Well made, well packaged, arrived in good time and ideal for the job. Friendly and polite customer service from the seller too, hence all five stars awarded!

hard to separate and and brake easy trying

Grow well in these pots and you don’t need to repot just plant and time will take care of it.