Slow soaking hanging soda bottle planter

A different take on the inverted soda bottle planters. I find this is more effective in A) using more of the material being recycled, and B) creating a slow soaking watering system so water will not pour out the bottom after watering.

Step 1: Collect your utensils

I don't drink soda, so I asked friends to collect large soda bottles from their work places where recycling is not exactly custom practice (and my friends recycle at home so they were all out) for me for this project.
You will need:
Large size soda bottle
Duct Tape
Hole punch
Exacto or other blade knife
String, chain or wire for hanging

Comments

[luckyduese]

what keeps the dirt from falling out the neck when it hangs upside down?

[AmyLuthien]

Moistened potting soil sticks together just fine. Even if it becomes bone dry afterwards, it still forms a ball that would stay in there. Also, plant roots would bind the whole thing together. It would actually be a bit of a pain to get the soil to fall out of a small hole like the neck of a soda bottle. So unless you were to use plain, dry sand (not recommended!) the soil falling out isn't a problem in the least. ;)

[urbanwoodswalker]

I was wondering the exact same thing!

[randomsabers]

Try a sock to help guard the bottle from the sun. Just clip the toe off of an old black sock (ok...so I used a hockey sock which is kind of cheating because its close to 24" long, and colored) - but I imagine that the average black sock could still be pulled over the outside of the bottle. Do it before you plant...its much easier, I am sure

[mikitakas]

The Joker, nice song 

[botronics]

Just planted a tomato in a 2 litre bottle.  I will use foil to keep out the sunlight.  I bet the bottle gets too hot in the sun if it is naked. Anyone grown a tomato in a 2 litre bottle? I also planted a bell pepper in a second bottle. Will keep you posted if it works.

[joeymmeezz]

 ive been growing stuff in plastic bottles and ive notice that i get mold inside
has any had this happen to them please reply
thanks..

[bepartial]

When I have used these bottles as pots, I found that I, too, got mold growing, but only when I did not rinse out the bottles with very hot water.  When I did that before using them as planters, I had no mold or fungus.  I'm guessing it might be something to do with the sugar or other chemicals in the soda.

[Kaber]

I found that Arrowhead water makes 3L bottles, that have an invert iin the bottom- I will be seeing how well it works. I think I'll combine your water soaking idea with the inverted bump idea of 'Matt's Hanging Planter'
I planned on sewing a cover with some fabric scraps.

[DELETED_madscientist167]

(removed by author or community request)

[AubreeMarie]

????

[DELETED_madscientist167]

(removed by author or community request)

[AubreeMarie]

You weren't clear in what you were referencing as sounding wrong, you could just as easily have been saying my materials list sounds like it is wrong.
Either way, it's a song lyric, and I don't need an imagination when the innuendo is more than implyed.

[bamboochik]

Great! I made something similar last year and made a pretty skirt out of material I had around..took all of five minutes with fabric glue. Using these bottles for cherry tomatoes works great. Mine were loaded. Keep up the imaginative work!

[AubreeMarie]

aw, thanks so much. It's good to hear yours worked so well with the cherry toms. And oddly enough, as a fashion design student I didn't even think to make little skirtings for them _{but looking back to my food catering days when we put table skirtings on the tables, it would be an easy enough neat idea.}

[hybridracers]

As mentioned, sunlight and roots dont mix, this is why planter bukets are opaque. Ive yet to see someone make this work with a tomato plant as well. Id like to though, I made four of these, painted the outsides and planted tomato in them. I think either our nightly winds have stunted and killed off 3 of the 4 or the container is just too small for tomato. If anyone has one of these 2 liter planters that works please feel free to chime in with a pic of a producing tomato plant in it.

[fw2000]

Watching roots is fun but watch closely for the deadly equation. "Moisture + nutrients + light = Algae. How often do you have to water?

[fw2000]

Try reversing step 2 and step 3. When you are OCD like Monk and myself the bottom of the label is a good cut line and is much easier to see than an illusionary seam that I cannot see even with my readers.

[hooner26]

Easiest and cleanest way to remove the label is to add hot water while your rinsing it. Let sit for a sec with enough hot water to cover the label. Then just gently peel it off. Normally you can remove the label in one whole piece glue and all.

[l8nite]

great idea, Im just wondering if a 2liter has enough root space for a tomato plant. Can you document the growth through the season for us and show your results?

[AubreeMarie]

Mhm, that I sure can do. I also recieved a much larger sized soda bottle that I'm using for tomatoe as well to contrast and compare. I only imagined that they would suffice given the size of the mass marketed 'topsy turvey" systems. Granted they are larger than a 2-liter soda bottle, but I figured I would give it a go anyhow.

[PuQuak]

You could use an old towel to make a curtain around the bottle to cover the bottle and still let you peek at the roots.