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Step 4Using the bottle
The bottle's function is to get the water close to the roots of the plant and not waste it in the rest of the soil or to the atmosphere. The best way to do this is to plant the bottle close to the young plant, such as when you plant your seedlings out, with just the top of the bottle sticking out of the ground.
You water the plant by pouring water into the bottle. You can use a funnel or a watering can with a narrow spout. If you live somewhere particularly dry or hot, you can save the lid and replace it between waterings to stop evaporation.
As the plant grows, its root system will grow around the bottle, all the better to absorb the water, plus any nutrients you add. This may reduce the roots' ability to support the plant (because they're all bunched up around the bottle instead of spread out to catch "wild" water), so taller plants may need supporting somehow, possibly with canes or netting.
If your plant has a limited lifespan, the bottle can be dug up and used again, but you may want to wash or replace the fabric inside the bottle to prevent passing any infection from old to new plantings.
You water the plant by pouring water into the bottle. You can use a funnel or a watering can with a narrow spout. If you live somewhere particularly dry or hot, you can save the lid and replace it between waterings to stop evaporation.
As the plant grows, its root system will grow around the bottle, all the better to absorb the water, plus any nutrients you add. This may reduce the roots' ability to support the plant (because they're all bunched up around the bottle instead of spread out to catch "wild" water), so taller plants may need supporting somehow, possibly with canes or netting.
If your plant has a limited lifespan, the bottle can be dug up and used again, but you may want to wash or replace the fabric inside the bottle to prevent passing any infection from old to new plantings.
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I really love the idea, and will be 'planting' some 2 liter bottles with my tomatoes and peppers. I think between each plant should work, soaking the soil and encouraging the roots to stretch out!
I remembered some other instructable or another piece of information about similar problem and the solution was perlite or vermiculite. I don't know their properties and have no idea whether or not they will get rotten in a bottle, nonetheless these materials are volcanic glass and a natural mineral, respectively (info: wikipedia), so they should stay fresh longer, at least.
The idea with a bottle made me think of another thing: if the container, which gets the roots of the plant all around it, is with a wider opening, then it will be possible to replace the old absorbent with fresh.
One more idea: maybe it is sufficient to add perlite or vermiculite directly to the soil.
Wish you ever blooming and growing plans; all the best.
Over 35 years ago I started using this buried bottle technique for when I would be "out of town" for a few days. When home I used conventional watering with a sprinkler [early morning to reduce evaporation of the flying water droplets].
As ac-dc states to "conserve" the water in the bottle, and thus expand its duration, simply put fewer holes [it doesn't take many anyway to keep the soil aroung the plant's root system damp].
Also, instead of puttng the holes ALL THE WAY around the bottle, I only put them on the side closest to the plant. There is no sense in watering the soil AWAY from the plant location.
The soil itself kind of clogged the bottleneck and allowed the water to come out veeeery slowly, and as very little air would come in to substitute the water, the bottles got smashed by the atmospheric pressure when they got empty, telling me that it was time to refill it.
I believe this solution will not apply to everyone's soil but it worth the try.
A second trial was to simply make the tiny holes, fill the bottle and close it tightly so the same effect as above could take place. Worked also.
Try these ideas made in Brazil, and tell me how good it is for your place.
Greetings!
1) You do not need something to slow water escaping, merely putting fewer holes in will suffice and the dirt around the bottle also slows it's escape some, plus if you try to limit water escape too much you will be giving the plant insufficient amounts of water for optimal growth.
2) Plant root growth greatly increases in softer damp soil, in many regions you may effectively stunt root growth quite a bit if you aren't watering the soil sufficiently that this saves very little water compared to just putting a ground covering like plastic over the soil, or putting the plant in a pot with no drain holes on the bottle though this former option requires very careful attention to water levels so excessive water does not accumulate.
Obviously you know that it is oxygenated water vapor that root hairs crave the most.
You might also recall that myccorhizal bacteria and myccorhyzal fungi vastly improve a plants ability to recover nutrients, minerals and from the soil enviorment ( with woody-dendrogenous plants myccorhizal fungi increase the plant's ability to absorb water and nutrients 134 times-- that's right 134 times).