Repurpose Empty Toilet Paper Rolls To Help Protect Your Plants From Damaging Pests

An empty toilet paper roll typically gets tossed in the recycle bin, but it actually has quite a few useful roles around the garden. You could repurpose them as simple DIY seed-starting pots, or add to your DIY budget-friendly compost bin to balance out green matter. But the benefits don't stop there: To help existing plants, cut empty TP tubes to make wrap-around collars that protect plant stems from pesky pests such as cutworms. Since the tubes are biodegradable, they'll break down over time on their own, and they're easy to replace as needed. 

Cutworms, the colloquial name for the larvae of various moth species, wrap around the stems of plants and munch through them, effectively cutting the plants down near ground level. Some cutworms climb plant stems too, and a wall made of toilet-paper-tube cardboard prevents them from accessing the stems at all. A cardboard collar also keeps certain vine-borer moths from laying eggs on the stems of squash plants. Normally, when the larvae hatch, their way out is through the plant stems, destroying the plants in the process. If the moths can't lay eggs there, there are no larvae to damage your plants. 

To make collars from cardboard toilet paper tubes, slice each tube vertically all the way up, with the tube upright. Place one tube around each plant stem, pushing the bottom end into the soil an inch or more to keep it in place. If your plant is still young and not tall enough to stick out of a toilet paper tube, cut the tube down to an appropriate height. Overlap the edges of the tube so there are no gaps for pests to enter. If you're having a hard time getting a tube to stay closed, a couple of pieces of tape or jute twine will do the job (the twine will break down over time, but the tape won't). 

Cutworms are most active at night and usually hide during the day, so you'll likely find signs your garden has a pest problem rather than finding the actual pests. Your cardboard plant collars also help keep snails and slugs away from plant stems, giving the plants a chance to grow strong. 

If exposed to a lot of moisture from rain or due to watering, the tubes will start breaking down and may need to be replaced. Inspect them regularly: It's worth keeping a small bag or bin of tubes to use them as needed in the garden.