Nifty, Trifty, Micro Garden From Plastic Bottle Trash (cheapest Fastest Setup).

INTRODUCTION (my set up and some background)

As the title says this is more of a story if you want to jump right in scroll down to the build process below. Okay, so I have been thinking a lot about the whole clearing out of forests for agriculture and increasing population etc. So I soon stumbled upon vertical farms and it was not so strange after all, (I am a gardener, and planting in pots and vertically wasn't new to me).

So I decided to try this little hydroponics setup to see if it would be okay for some micro greens in the area, besides, I would simply love to bring plants in without the soil (I ordered a couple of grow lights too).

Alright I didn't have a pump for the water so I wondered if I could somehow get the water to be released periodically or steadily, well I tried two methods, one failed and the other succeeded, then it struck me, I could incorporate this into the pot plants, Well I checked online to see if it happens and voila! there were even self watering pots.

So in the spirit of (cheap, easy) D.I.Y I present "Nifty, Thrifty, Micro garden From Plastic bottle trash"

(you can see the little sprouts from the success above)

This should be on the Next slide but here it goes.

• plastic bottles.
• knife/scissors.
• wick material. (cotton, actual wick, anything the will absorb water easily and retain 'form')
• potting soil.
• water. (of course)

what i mean is don't go thinking tissue paper. ☺

In this 'ible you will learn how to build the cheapest and easiest self watering system, and how you can stack small plastic tubs/ bowls to get more depth.

SELF-WATERING SYSTEM

First, what is a self watering system? well self-watering systems work with a reservoir in which there is water storage tank I put mine at the bottom of the container, and then had a wick suck up the water by capillary action (hmm, yeah I know, thanks).

STEPS

1) Gather the plastic bottles, as many as you want and in all colors you can get them. (Now is a good time to clean them out too) I will be adding 3 more to my collection for the purpose of this 'ible

2) Next we cut them up into 2, you should consider the depth of your plant's root, and how much water you want stored, TIP: this system uses a lot less water. In the image I cut around the half mark.

3) Prepare the 'wick', I simply got a piece of old cotton sheets, like in the image, and then i cut slits in it,

4) Pass the 'wick' into the bottle (top part) as shown.
If the material is not enough to create a plug in the hole, simply cit a smaller hole in the cap and fit the wick it then screw the cap on.

Notice I did not cut completely through (green bottle cap) this is because I am trying to use the entire bottle without leaving any bits that become micro-plastics.

STEPS
1) get your pot mix or compost, potting soil, etc (mixed in some tiny sand rocks stuff, really tiny; to improve the water take up I guess I may be wrong)
2) fill up the pot now, while ensuring the wick strands sort if mix evenly into the soil. I don't really know how to get this part across but I hold all strands straight up and fill around, then I spread them out and fill to a level, then I fold the ends over the new layer and fill again, on and on till the top. Snip off any bits that extend beyond the soil level.

3) Place the filled pot in the cut off bottom part, and yes fill the bottom with water. Voila a self watering system.

You can always lift the top to add water to 'reservoir'

Tip: don't fill beyond the bottle cap area.
Also leave it as it is for a few minutes to an hour for it to 'soak' if it does you are in business, else, you can try 'priming' it by wetting from the top. I don't actually see why it would not work.

With these I can grow more vegetables for use when i cook which I sometimes do.
Taking this to the next level, let's try adding some grow lights, different setups, etc.
We can take it bigger.
I even remove the bottom of two three plastic food containers and 'stack them as shown' bit I have not added this self watering thing to them.
You can try all these and share your story here, click the i made it button to share pictures, and feel free to make comments too, love you, I would really love to see the day we cut our current agricultural land in half and can still produce more than we currently do, the future is farming towers. Cheers.

plastics are a blessing, single use plastics however, are the CURSE!