Recycled UTZ Pretzel Container

Click to enlarge. This is an an UTZ pretzel container that was recycled to make this sub-irrigation planter. It was made using the same technique as the soda bottle planters .

The plant is a Schefflera arboricola that has been growing in one of my other sub-irrigation planters. It is now over 8 years old and in extremely good health.

There is one change that improves these planters. If you insert a strip of polyester backing material (1" wide in this planter) (AquaPad ) under the cap you will create a very functional wick. Just lay the wicking strip inside the cap and screw it on. This fastens it and creates a wick for capillary action from the reservoir into the potting soil.

Using this method the cap or lid in this case does not need to contact the bottom of the reservoir. The polyester wick bridges the gap between the cap and the reservoir bottom.

This planter is equivalent to an 8" grower pot. It cost nothing and is in my opinion better than the majority of so-called self-watering planters sold at retail.

You can see everything that’s going on…reservoir, soil moisture and the root system. You can either use it free standing with a high-tech look or install it in a decorative cachepot.

NOTE
Sorry that comments don’t work. There's a software bug that I don't know how to fix. Please email your comments, questions and suggestions until I can get comments working again. Thanks!
e-mail Bob Hyland
bobhyland[AT]insideplantslive [dot]org

A Message From Greenscaper If you’re top watering your houseplants, there’s a better way...for both you and your plants.

Follow the advice you read here and that of Dr. Bill Wolverton, retired NASA scientist and author of the most popular houseplant book "How to Grow Fresh Air: 50 Houseplants that Purify Your Home or Office".

He correctly recommends hydroculture first and subirrigation second. He rates drench and drain top watering as a poor third choice.

There is no advice here about sub-irrigation or hydroculture that you cannot prove to yourself. It doesn’t take a sophisticated plant lab. Just do it! You and your plants will find the benefits in short order.

Click for more ABOUT this public service weblog updated weekly when time permits.

Welcome if you're a newcomer and welcome back if you've been here before. Keep on coming back!

Tell a friend and remember to be a green greenscaper!

ALSO VISIT GreenScaper.net, a companion blog.

Trader Joe’s Sweet Basil

Click to enlarge.

And there it was on display outside the entrance to Trader Joe’s for just $2.99. Into my basket it went and now the Sweet Basil is living happily in a 3-liter recycled bottle. The bottle planter will be around long after the 1-gallon plastic grower pot is dropped in the recycling trash.

It took a bit of root pruning to get it into the bottle planter but that’s no big deal. I learned long ago that a sub-irrigation planter acts like an IV, delivering the precise amount of water based on the plants past water usage. Many times I've cut 1/3 to 1/2 the root ball of a plant before installing it in a sub-irrigation planter without the plant even blinking.

There’s no way that primitive top watering methods will produce such evenly distributed moisture throughout the root system—always remembering to never add so much water that it rises to the surface.

NOTE
Sorry that comments don’t work. There's a software bug that I don't know how to fix. Please email your comments, questions and suggestions until I can get comments working again. Thanks!
e-mail Bob Hyland
bobhyland[AT]insideplantslive [dot]org

Recycled 3-Liter Bottle Planters

Click to enlarge. The photo shows the size comparison between 2 and 3-liter recycled bottle sub-irrigation planters.

The 3-liter bottles contained Shasta Twist Lime-Lemon Soda. These planters will hold any 6” size potted plant. You could also use them to start vegetable plants such as tomatoes and peppers.

I would buy this soda just for the bottle planters; they are that good. This is not plastic that will end up in the dump or the recycle bin. These are sustainable planters for maintaining sustainable indoor plants.

NOTE
Sorry that comments don’t work. There's a software bug that I don't know how to fix. Please email your comments, questions and suggestions until I can get comments working again. Thanks!
e-mail Bob Hyland
bobhyland[AT]insideplantslive [dot]org

Recycled Bottles Herb Garden

Click to enlarge. If you want to grow herbs indoors, my first recommendation would be to buy an AeroGarden if you can afford one. Based on all the reviews I’ve read it appears to be a foolproof way to grow herbs even if you don’t have natural light from a window. Using an AeroGarden you can grow herbs in a dark apartment or even a closet.

My next recommendation would to use these recycled bottle planters. The herbs you see here were planted in recycled bottle planters on August 17. The growth rate is impressive. Roots have already spread down into the necks of the bottles. They’re located in a west window.

You can clearly see everything that is happening with the plants. The status of soil moisture and root growth are in plain sight. The biggest mistake made with sub-irrigation (aka self-watering) planters is adding water to the reservoir without checking the soil moisture. Over watering is the usual result.

It is most important to never add so much water that it rises by capillary action all the way to the soil surface. The top layer (approx. ¾”) should always be dry.

My belief is that if your natural light level is in doubt, auxiliary light from one or two CFL desk lamps would accomplish successful herb production. I have not tested artificial light herb growing but plan to in the future.

NOTE
Sorry that comments don’t work. There's a software bug that I don't know how to fix. Please email your comments, questions and suggestions until I can get comments working again. Thanks!
e-mail Bob Hyland
bobhyland[AT]insideplantslive [dot]org

Cool Bottle Recycling Bins

These cool looking bottle bins from Israel could be a supply source for arguably the best sub-irrigation planters and propagators you can make. This is win-win recycling! What a great project for school kids.

Couple recycling with plant sustainability for a truly green world of indoor plants.

Via: designboom

NOTE
Sorry that comments don’t work. There's a software bug that I don't know how to fix. Please email your comments, questions and suggestions until I can get comments working again. Thanks!
e-mail Bob Hyland
bobhyland[AT]insideplantslive [dot]org

Recycled Bottle Propagators

Click to enlarge.

Here’s another application for recycled bottles . The tops are clear plastic deli containers. They happen to be a perfect press fit to the circumference of 2-liter plastic bottles. You couldn’t manufacture them to spec any better.

The shorter ones on the left (16 oz deli containers) are propagating Ficus pumila (Creeping Fig) cuttings. The medium is coir . The taller one (24 oz deli container) on the right contains 3 Schefflera arboricola (Dwarf Hawaiian Schefflera) cuttings.

They are located on a shelf under a 4' fluorescent shop light. I’ve observed roots on the Ficus pumila cuttings in about 2 weeks.

You could make them taller simply by using a taller top (cover) section. Also note air holes poked in the propagator second from the right. I don't think they're necessary. We'll see.

I now have 20 recycled bottle planters and counting. They contain a variety of plants including an assortment of herbs. I’ll post photos of the herb planters soon.

Of all the smaller size sub-irrigation planters I’ve designed over the past 9 nine years these are proving to be the best. I’ve watched plant roots making a beeline to the bottom like a dog chasing a bone.

The interesting aspect to all this is that these recycled bottle planters are so good they’re worth manufacturing. Someone could be recycling them on a larger scale. I have some ideas to pursue.

NOTE
Sorry that comments don’t work. There's a software bug that I don't know how to fix. Please email your comments, questions and suggestions until I can get comments working again. Thanks!
e-mail Bob Hyland
bobhyland[AT]insideplantslive [dot]org

Volksplanters

Click photos to enlarge.

I have a house full of plastic containers collected over the past 9 years of making sub-irrigation planters. It’s turning out that of all of them the recycled plastic bottle planters may be the best yet. They certainly are from a learning standpoint. Only time will tell, but they have definitely made a very positive first impression.

It’s all right there before your eyes, ABC simple. Add a measured amount of water to the reservoir. Watch it move up by capillary action over time. Observe the soil moisture and root system growth through the crystal clear plastic.

Look at the roots formation in the bottle on the left. I’ve been amazed at how quickly they grew. It's only been a few weeks since I started making these planters.

One thing to look out for is algae. If the planter is in low light, the algae will be slow to grow. If the planter is in high light, you will probably need a decorative planter or opaque cover of some type. It appears so far that blue and green plastic bottles inhibit algae growth.

I’m very curious about the rapid root formation and if there’s any connection to the humidity chamber created by the lower (reservoir) section. It will probably be necessary to do some root pruning not too far down the road. It will be no big deal to remove the plant, prune the lower 'neck' and replace with fresh potting mix. I'll post about whatever happens.

Because they cost nothing and are so easy to make, I’m calling them ‘volksplanters.’ Have you tried them yet?

NOTE
Sorry that comments don’t work. There's a software bug that I don't know how to fix. Please email your comments, questions and suggestions until I can get comments working again. Thanks!
e-mail Bob Hyland
bobhyland[AT]insideplantslive [dot]org

Recycled Bottle Art

A long time ago, I collected antique bottles by digging in abandoned trash mounds in the woods around Princeton, NJ. I also bought them at farm auctions. It was a lot of fun. These recycled bottles are reminders of those days. They're really cool art pieces. Nice work!

Note the two (top left) with inverted necks. Look familiar? These could work for sub-irrigation by lowering the height of the bottom sections.

When I was a kid, I cut bottles by tying a kerosene soaked string around the bottle, lighting it, and then plunging the bottle into cold water. That was a long time ago but I do remember that it worked. That was in my Popular Science Magazine days before basketball and girls.

Via: Inhabitat

NOTE
Sorry that comments don’t work. There's a software bug that I don't know how to fix. Please email your comments, questions and suggestions until I can get comments working again. Thanks!
e-mail Bob Hyland
bobhyland[AT]insideplantslive [dot]org

Is There a Good Solution?

In the garage, shed or basement of nearly every gardener, you will find stacks of plastic pots. Then there are mulch bags, pesticide and fertilizer bottles, flat trays from six-packs of annuals. We think of our gardening as greening the world, but it generates an awful lot of plastic garbage.

Beth Botts, who writes a blog for the Chicago Tribune also wrote a thought provoking article about the problem with used plant plastics. It elicited comments from McConkey Company and Ball Horticultural, which she posted on her blog. Obviously, this problem is easier to define than to solve.

It’s a timely subject in light of recent posts about recycled plastic bottle planters. I’ve been making more of them because they make neat sub-irrigation planters. The recycling part of it is a noble idea, but isn’t likely to make a dent in our plastics disposal problem.

NOTE
Sorry that comments don’t work. There's a software bug that I don't know how to fix. Please email your comments, questions and suggestions until I can get comments working again. Thanks!
e-mail Bob Hyland
bobhyland[AT]insideplantslive [dot]org

Recycled Plastic Bottle Planters

Click to enlarge. Here is a great way to teach yourself, kids, grandkids, nieces, or nephews about growing plants using modern sub-irrigation methods. You can probably tell that these plants are living in recycled soda bottles. So, the cost is zero and you’ll be demonstrating recycling along with how to grow a plant inside a building.

There’s no finger poking and guessing involved. You can see what’s happening—leaves, stems and roots. What you’ll also see is that your plants are as happy as clams at high tide.

These sub-irrigation planters will work using either potting soil mix or expanded clay pebbles.

Linda at Topper’s Place has an excellent tutorial on how to make them. That’s how I got started after finding her from a web search. I've used her basic instructions to make bottle planters that look good enough to use inside your home.

The first thing I do is remove the label and adhesive residue. Fill the bottle with hot water. In most cases, the label will then peal off easily and it's a lot easier to remove the label adhesive residue when it's full of water. Save the water for your plants.

You can remove the adhesive residue with peanut butter believe it or not. It works on most bottles. If that doesn’t work, I use Goo Gone. I’ve also used Goof Off which is stronger, but it clouds the surface of some clear plastics, so test it out first.

You can vary the height of the planter dependent on where you cut the bottle. To start I used a 14 oz soup can to mark a cutting line with a Sharpie marker.

Working on a flat surface, lay the marker pen across the top of the can. Holding the pen with one hand move the bottle in contact with the tip and rotate the bottle. Using this method, you will mark a perfectly straight line to follow when you cut the bottle. You can vary the location of the cut by using spacers from items typically found in kitchens such as lids, caps, etc.

I start the cut using a box cutter heated on my gas stove. This makes it easy to create a starter slit precisely on the marked line. Then I use a pair of flat scissors to cut the bottle carefully following the line. You’ll get the hang of it after you do one or two bottles.

You may have to do some trimming after you cut the bottle so that the neck of the bottle (with the cap on) touches the bottom of the lower (reservoir) half. Doing this will create a perfect wicking mechanism.

Poke a series of holes around the neck of the bottle. I use a heated skewer. Any pointed steel instrument will work. Also, poke holes in the bottle cap or use a power drill.

Install the plant in either soil mix or expanded clay pebbles. Add a measured amount of water and watch it move up by capillary action into the root system. This will likely take a few days.

Very important! Never add so much water that it rises all the way to the soil surface. Doing so will most likely lead to over watering and the propagation of fungus gnats.

This is as good a way as I know to learn and demonstrate how capillary action (sub-irrigation) works to produce healthy indoor plants .

I'll post photos of more recycled plastic planters in the near future so check back.

NOTE
Sorry that comments don’t work. There's a software bug that I don't know how to fix. Please email your comments, questions and suggestions until I can get comments working again. Thanks!
e-mail Bob Hyland
bobhyland[AT]insideplantslive [dot]org

Earthstone

Wouldn’t it be cool if one day in the future we were growing our interior plants in a media made from recycled glass bottles? How green is that!

It’s a possibility if we can bypass the reactionary drench and drain gardening lobby.

The bottles are crushed and ground into an extremely soft powder. It’s so soft, it feels like flour. That’s because the average particle size of the “flour” is one-fifth the size of a human hair.

The flour is the main component (up to 99%) of Earthstone materials. Natural foaming agents and additives customize the material’s properties for different applications. Customization can create a material that is more or less abrasive, harder or softer, stronger but with controlled breakdown, or more or less porous.

The finished product probably needs to be a more natural earth tone color, but it's a good start.

Visit Earthstone to learn more.

Seeing Clearly

Click to enlarge. This is the back-story about the plants in the Greenscaper Lab. Behind the scenes, most of them live in some kind of clear plastic container. In my experience, the best planters for subirrigation (and hydroculture) of indoor plants are food service plastics. Just add an AquaPad (polyester batting, aka backing material) underneath to trigger capillary action.

You’ll find containers like these in your kitchen, or perhaps from the snacks or kitchen departments of stores like Costco, Trader Joe’s, Target, Bed, Bath & Beyond, The Container Store, and many other retail stores. Curiously, the last place I find good planters, either utility or decorative, is in a nursery or houseplant department.

I remove the plant from its opaque grow pot and repot into clear plastic so that I can easily inspect the most important part of the plant, the soil and root system. Opaque plastic grow pots prevent this. Does it make any sense that the most important area of the plant is hidden from your view?

It doesn’t make any sense for other than the greenhouse growers. They use opaque pots to prevent algae from growing in the greenhouse under relatively high light (2-3000 foot-candles) and high humidity. Typical interior light in a building, however, is more in the range of 25 to 200 foot-candles coupled with low humidity.

Algae is not a problem with clear containers if you install them inside a decorative cachepot. It makes plant care much easier and it looks immeasurably better than a plastic grow pot sitting in a saucer. I see photos of these rather homely plants all the time on my travels around the web.

New and recycled food containers work really well. Save and recycle all kinds of clear plastic food containers. All you have to do is drill some small holes at the bottom for capillary action to take place.

You will soon find which ones work best for you. Recycled clear plastics are good for the caretaker, good for the plants and, when recycled, good for the environment. They’re a winner all around!

There are a number of examples in the photo above. Future posts will show photos of the finished products.

1. Microwave food covers – These cost about $2 at Wal-Mart and Target. They make excellent containers for tabletop plants in shallow bowls. Use them in melamine bowls ($6-9) from stores such as Target, The Party Store and Bed, Bath & Beyond.
2. Party cups – 9oz squat, 9oz tall, 16oz, etc. These work well inside tumblers, tall narrow vases, etc. These are available everywhere at retail. Recycle them from your party.
3. Basket liners – These are available in the houseplant or garden department of nurseries and big box stores in 6”, 8”, and 10” diameters. Use them inside various food service and decorative bowls.
4. Food storage containers (Rubbermaid, Glad, etc.) – These are widely available at retail. Cut the upper rim off as you see in the photo.
5. Clear plastic cookie containers – Laguna Bakery Oat Bran with Raisins 98% fat free cookies from Costco are a favorite snack. They’re even more favored because of their 10” diameter x 3 ½” tall clear plastic food container packaging. There are many dozens of them now housing indoor plants in the lab. Trader Joe’s also has many sizes of clear food containers housing cookies and other products.

Most of these containers are made of PET (Poly Ethylene Terephthalate) plastic and although thin walled are as tough as nails. Having accidentally dropped one of these planters from a height of 5 feet with no damage to the plant or container I can attest to their toughness.

6. Plastic Colanders – Although not clear these make excellent planters in certain size bowls. Eight and 1/2" colanders are available at Target for about $2.