Introduction: Recycled Flower Pot From Tin Cans

About: Trying to make the world a little better, about 14 projects at a time. Find me on Instagram as @that_severin, and as @tiefpunkt pretty much everywhere else online (twitter, github, ...)

I started growing some plants in a seed starter greenhouse. They were getting quite big, so I had to replant them into pots. Unfortunatly, I didn't have any proper pots around, so I decided to make my own.

Materials:

  • Tin can
  • Potting soil
  • Plant

Tools

  • Hammer
  • Nail or screw

Step 1: Clean Your Can

Clean your can from the inside, and peel off the paper on the outside. It might help to get the outside wet to solve some of the glue.

Step 2: Make Drainage Holes

To make sure you don't overwater your to-be replanted mini-plants, I decided to make some drainage holes into the bottom of the can.

Flip the can upside down, on a hard surface. Take the screw, place it where your want your hole, and hit it with carefully with the hammer. No need for much force, the holes should be rather small so the soil cannot fall through them.

Repeat as much as you like. Bonus points for awesome patterns.

Step 3: Replant

Fill your pot with soil, add the plant, and fill up around it. If you planted your seeds in a starter thing, like I did, try to cover it with soil, but don't get it up too high (or the starter thing too deep in the pot).

Step 4: Water Your Plant, Label, and Enjoy

Water your plant to compact the soil. You might need to add some more soil afterwards. Be careful, you might have dirty water leaking out the bottom, so don't do it on your $$$ dining table.

You can label the pot with a sharpie. Super useful, if you have many different small plants, that look all the same.

Place it in an appropriate spot for the plant in question. Remember you have drainage holes, so there might be dirty water leaking out the bottom of your pot, so place it on something that can get dirty. When in doubt, place it on a small plate.