Root Trainers aid Vegetable Gardeners.
Root trainers are an aid to vegetable gardeners which help plants establish quickly. New root trainers are on the market and worth investigating.
Root trainers are long pots, which encourage the growing roots to grow down, instead of becoming a tangled mass, going round and round a pot. Root trainers allow young seedlings to be transplanted with minimal disturbance to the roots.
A compact rootrainers pack from www.ronaash.co.uk contain separate books of rootrainers that fit into the rapid drip tray, which will fit onto a window sill.
They also have a gutter type, called a rowplanter, which is ideal for rows of peas.
The seedlings are slipped out of the’gutter’, and planted straight into the row in the vegetable garden- and the roots are not disturbed at all.
Plants develop more quickly in root trainers and help the vegetable garden get away to a good start.
I’ve made my own equivalents of these products using loo roll innards and plastic bottles donated by neighbours - much cheaper !
Comment by VP - February 13, 2008 8:51 am
Hi Vp
I have my own collection of loo rolls, too! In fact also have a kitchen towel roll - & have spent hours deliberating how to make the most of that one!
TopVeg
Comment by TopVeg - February 13, 2008 9:00 am
I am going to try and grow carrots in the loo rolls as you call them ( in the US they are toilet paper rolls, or t.p.rolls). We have very rocky soil so maybe the rolls will help the carrot grow straight. It will take a lot of rolls, however, but since zero carrots have been harvested after several years of attempting them, this might be the answer. Thanks for all you helpful info.
Frances at Faire Garden
Comment by Frances - February 13, 2008 9:13 am
Frances
t.p.rolls sounds good! I am sure they will help your carrots.
Growers of prize carrots use drain pipes to help produce long, straight carrots, so I am sure your t.p.rolls will do the job.
Thanks for visiting
TopVeg
Comment by TopVeg - February 13, 2008 9:23 am
Frances,
I’ve grown peas and a few other things in loo rolls. They work well, only one thing to be aware of: sometimes, when you’ve planted them, during the night, small mushrooms come up from the loo rolls. they die back by morning, and i wouldn’t eat them, but if you get worried.. don’t, i don’t think they’re anything to worry about - we’re still here after a year of eating veg from the loo rolls!!
keth
xx
Comment by kethry - February 13, 2008 9:27 am
Why would mushrooms grow from the rolls, do you bury the edges, or leave them up a bit out of the ground? I want to do this right.
Frances at Faire Garden
Comment by Frances - February 13, 2008 9:36 am
Frances - don’t worry - the cardboard in the t.p.rolls will break down in the garden - and add to the organic matter. Mushrooms like to grow on organic matter - so perhaps that is what is happening. I have never seen this, I wonder if anyone else has?
I would place the top of the t.p.rolls below the soil level, so that they keep damp. This will help the roots within the t.p.rolls to grow & eventually to burst through the rotting t.p.rolls!
Remember to thin your carrots when they are big enough, so you just have one per t.p.rolls
TopVeg
Comment by TopVeg - February 13, 2008 10:24 am
I have a problem with mold on my loo rolls, but think that’s more due to the climate inside of the glas bell where I put them. Right now I’m experimenting with egg shells too, and I may continue using only shells in that one.
I’ve come across people growing false morels that prepare the soil by burring large amounts of news papers underground and then ‘plant’ mycel on them. Perhaps paper of more coarse quality is easy to digest for the mushrooms?
Comment by Rosengeranium (Indoor Gardener) - February 13, 2008 12:19 pm
Hi TopVeg,
I like the conversation’s that started on here! I just cut up the kitchen paper innards to t.p. size - makes 2 or 3 this side of the pond. I do the same with Xmas wrapping innards - makes about 5
Comment by VP - February 13, 2008 2:31 pm
Rosengeranium & VP-
this is an interesting theme - particularly if we can double up our production from the feral mycelium that takes a fancy to our cardboard rolls.
We tried to put cores of mycelium into our sawn off tree trunks. They took about two years to produce oyster mushrooms - but by then we had lost confidence & didn’t dare eat them! It would have been easier with t-p rolls!!
Comment by TopVeg - February 13, 2008 3:57 pm
I have read about these once before. TP rolls would be a great biodegradable alternative.
Comment by Curtis - February 15, 2008 12:42 am
Frances - i heard that a good way to stop carrots from ‘forking’ in rocky soil is to use the end of the rake or something long and cylindrical to make a deep narrow hole, fill it with lovely fine compost and sow the seed directly on top of the compost. Even with a bit of soil movement this should still help you have relatively normal shaped carrots.
Comment by Caroline - March 29, 2008 4:01 pm
Hi Caroline
That is a useful bit of information. We have created a post about it at http://topveg.com/2008/03/30/how-to-grow-straight-carrots/
Thanks for your comment
TopVeg
Comment by TopVeg - March 29, 2008 7:41 pm
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