Plastic Bottle Planters

Around here we are always trying to find a second (or third or fourth) life for things before we recycle them or turn them into papercrete. I haven’t achieved the Johnson family’s success on not taking things into the house in the first place but a girl needs an aspiration! I came across this planter idea earlier this summer and just absolutely loved it! It’s reusing a plastic bottle and giving it a new life.

Step 1: Materials Needed

Materials:

Xacto knife (I prefer it to scissors- but be careful!)

measuring device (a ruler would qualify)

plastic bottle (it’s a no starter without one)

muslin fabric (about a 2″ diameter circle)

rubber band

Step 2: Instructions

1. Mark 1/2 way on the bottle (this does not have to be exact, just somewhere close to the middle).

2. Cut the bottle on your mark

3. Take the cap off

4. Take the muslin and cover the mouth of the bottle. Secure the fabric with the rubber band around the neck of the bottle.

5. Take the top half of the bottle and fill it with dirt about half way up.

6. Take a small plant and put it on top of the dirt. Take more dirt and fill in around the edges. Make sure you have about 1″ of space above the dirt to the top of the container.

7. Put the top 1/2 of the bottle into the bottom 1/2.

If you like this come check out my blog at Mike and Molly's House!  My husband and I are wanna be DIY superheros trying to discover our superpowers!  You can follow us tinkering around our spread outside of Santa Fe, NM.

Comments

[shesparticular]

You can also do something really similar with wine bottles - kind of a fun twist on it.

[dimtick]

I have several of these planters that I made with 2 liter bottles but my wife doesn't like them because they're......well......ugly. I really like the wine bottle version. It's a much more visually appealing. Think my wife will go for that.
Thanks for the tip.

[doo da do]

Be artistic and paint them different colors.

[CJSudduth]

How about painting them?? I know there is paint available for painting plastic .. why not try that... maybe even painting the planter the same color as the house or fence (where ever you choose to hang the planter) to make it appear that it is just hanging ...

[Chicken Girl]

I'm with your wife on the ugly thing. I stuck rocks in mine hoping it would make them a bit nicer but they just look like plastic bottles with rocks in them. I'm hoping the wine bottles work because they are so much more attractive!

[lnesbitt]

How about recycling some other materials lying around into planter boxes? Set the bottles inside and voila! mess contained in the bottles, plastic hidden and possibly enough light prevention to prevent algae growing.

[Chicken Girl]

HA! This spring I was looking to do something with my wine bottles (just a small collection ;) ) and could not find anything on the internet. Glass is so much classier than plastic too.

[antling]

I agree with CJSudduth.
I tried and even planted tomatoes, same method, yield was relatively low. but end of the, the water containment unit has to be cleaned regularly due to algea/mould infestation!
Somehow, this method will be great for seed germination though. Short runs..
Cheers!

[tacamaral]

I might be wrong, but if you paint the plastic entirely (the bottom half) with a thick coat of paint, not enough light will go in for algae and/or mould to grow.

[antling]

Painting to eliminate the penetration of sun seems good, but if we are going to do this on a low budget setting, then thick coat of paint is out as it is not meant for long term solution.
Anyway, place where i come from, cost of paint is high thus not advisable.

[shesparticular]

Cutting them can be tricky, but when you get the hang of it they turn out really cute :)

[Chicken Girl]

I have plenty of 2 Buck Chuck bottles to mess up on!

[sunshiine]

So pretty! Thanks for sharing!
Sunshiine

[dimtick]

i recommend adding some cotton string that will soak the water in the basin and take it up to the top.
check out:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Self-watering-recycled-plant-pot-for-growing-herbs/

i've built a bunch of these and they've worked out well.

[Chicken Girl]

I did that at first but it didn't seem to do much. I live in a very arid climate and the plants were drying out. Great suggestion- I think I'm just an exception :)