Greenhouse and Nursery - Alternatives for Plastic Pots 1

There are many alternatives to plastic pots being offered for the greenhouse and nursery trade. The following is the first in a series of posts on this subject (information from the University of Maryland).

Ball Horticultural Company and Summit Plastic Company are partnering to make biodegradable, compostable pots for the Ball Circle of Life sustainable horticulture program. Circle of Life pots, made of rice hulls, are available in six sizes: 3.5 in. (9 cm), 4 in. (10 cm), 4.5in. (11 cm), 5 in. (13 cm), 6 in. (15 cm) and trade gallon. The pots are made from waste rice hulls from China. It would be nice if the pots were made from rice hulls from America but evidently the Chinese are the ones with the patent on this process. The rice hulls are mixed with glue to stiffen them. The pots look a lot like plastic but some are compostable and others can be planted right into the ground and bio-degrade. Ball has come out with an interesting biodegradable pot with slits in the slide of the pot. The whole pot is planted into the ground and the roots grow into the surrounding ground. The pot is supposed to breakdown during the growing season – at least the part of the pot that is placed in the soil.



Rice Hull Pots.

Information from the February 20, 2009 edition of the Greenhouse TPM/IPM Bi-Weekly Report from the University of Maryland Cooperative Extension Central Maryland Research and Education Center http://www.ipmnet.umd.edu/09Feb20G.pdf.