Newspapers and Your Greenhouse
There are a many uses for newspapers in the greenhouse that you may not have thought about. For instance, newspapers can easily breakdown and be absorbed in soil.

Posted Thursday, April 13, 2006

When you are using newspapers in your greenhouse or for gardening be sure to only use the black and white sections. Any colored and glossy sections of the paper prove difficult to absorb into the soil and do not absorb water well.

You can cut up or shred newspapers and put them at the bottom of your pots before you place dirt in them. This will hold water better.

You can use newspapers on your shelving to keeps messes under control. When you spill dirt or make a mess trimming plants you can easily wrap up the newspapers and dispose of them.

When you find that you are running short on pots right in the middle of planting, you can take a section, form it into a plastic cup, and with a little piece of tape (tape takes a long time to disintegrate into the soil) or a rubber band, you can add soil and plant your seeds! The paper cup will hold up long enough during the growing process for the plant to be strong enough to transplant.

While it is not as pretty as mulch, you can substitute newspaper. To keep your plants moist, cut up or shred paper and put over the top of the soil. The newspaper doesn’t allow the sun to bake the moisture out of the soil. When you are planting your outdoor garden, you can use newspapers between the rows of your plants. This will help keep weeds to a minimum.

Give newspaper recycling a try in your gardening and you may be surprised the money and time you can save!