Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Vertical Gardening Part 2: Bottle Towers

So not everyone has furniture to grow in or a wall to put stuff on, that’s why bottle gardens are becoming more and more popular. Not only is it easy to build, but is also cheap and effective!

Materials needed:
-power drill
-1inch diameter drill bit
- plastic bottles (preferably 2L, but anything above 500ml is ok.)
-zap straps
-a trellis if you don’t have a pole or fence to zap strap the bottles to



First, take the 1 inch diameter drill bit and drill a hole at the bottom of each bottle. This hole will be how the bottles stack on top of each other. Once all the bottles you are using are drilled, stack them on top of each other. The lid part of each bottle should fit exactly into the hole you just drilled at the bottom of the bottle. 




Second, cut a square out on the side of each bottle, making sure that the bottom of each square is left uncut. This cutout will be where the plants go, and leaving the portion of the bottom uncut gives plants support to stay up and in the bottle.

Next, poke holes into the caps that came with the bottles and then screw the caps onto each bottle. (you will have to put your hand into the cutout you just made to screw the caps in place) This not only secures the bottles to each other, but allows for drainage throughout the system.


After, secure the bottle tower onto a pole or fence using zap straps.

Finally, fill with soil, and transplant your plants into each bottle.


Tips for success:
-Don’t use nestle water bottles, as their caps/lids only fit their bottles
- Stick to bottles that have openings that are 1 inch, meaning no gatorade bottles.
- If using 2L bottles, Presidents Choice is the best, as their bottoms are flatter, making it easier to drill as well as a better seal when it comes to putting on the cap/lid.
- You may want to drill longer and put pressure on all sides of the hole, as the bottles fit really snuggly, which may make it extremely difficult to stack the bottles on top of each other

-Cut the top of the top bottle completely off, this makes the whole system easy to water as water should flow from top to bottom

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